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POC, POT & POV: Making Agile Decisions Smarter, Not Harder
How Business Analysts can support the use of quick experiments to validate ideas, avoid costly mistakes, and deliver better outcomes.
Hey fellow BAs! Quick question: do you like experiments? Ever proudly proclaimed “this will definitely work!” — only to nervously whisper, “well, I hope…” five minutes later? Welcome to the thrilling (and slightly terrifying) world of Proof of Concept (POC), Proof of Technology (POT), and Proof of Value (POV), where we test ideas before fully committing, saving budgets, and sometimes our sanity. Let’s dive in!
But what exactly are these proof techniques, where did they come from, and — most importantly — how can we, as business analysts, make the most of them?
Where Did POC, POT, and POV Come From?
These “proof” techniques evolved from R&D-heavy industries like engineering, software, and health sciences — where launching something untested can get expensive fast. In Agile, they’ve been embraced as a way to fail fast, learn fast, and avoid months of building something nobody needs or can use.
While formal project, software and product engineering standards like the BABOK® Guide, PMBOK® Guide and IEEE…
