The comparison sheet still has blanks marked “still unknown.” Someone is already circling next Monday. Do not close the comparison while key points are unknown. The sheet allows only three conclusions: keep the current system; limited trial; switch when written conditions are met. There is no fourth called “go live and see.”
One sheet: test task, expected, actual, status
Each critical requirement has four cells: test task, expected, actual, status. Status may only be: pass, fail, still unknown. A verbal “yes” or one coached success cannot become a pass.
Scene: the payment-path row has an empty actual, yet status was flipped to pass because a card was swiped in the showroom. That cell goes back to “still unknown” until people on this shop’s shift did it on this shop’s devices and network.
While unknown cells remain, do not write a cutover date. While fail cells remain, do not sell a limited trial as a decision to replace.
Keep the current system
The current system still passes this shop’s critical checks; workarounds are written and controlled; the candidate’s downtime, training, cost and unknowns do not add up to worth it. Write “keep as-is” as a reasoned decision on the same sheet — not only as “we have not switched yet.”
Scene: Friday menu changes still need someone standing at the table, but once a week, handwriting covers it, and day-end balances. The candidate’s sample is unfinished and rollback unrehearsed. The conclusion can be keep, with reasons and when to reassess. That is a decision, not delay.
Limited trial
Some passes, but critical unknowns remain, or you need evidence under real load. This is not the vendor’s promo trial, and not “install the whole shop first.”
Write in black and white: scope — which stations, shifts, features, and what stays on the old system; start and end dates; rollback path open; who may expand, stop or roll back, on which signals.
Scene: bar only for two weeks; dining room stays on the old till. Peak merges and splits stay on the old system. If a written signal like “cannot close the day” appears within two weeks, the deputy may cut back that day without another meeting. Missing any of scope, term, path, signal — it is not a limited trial yet, only dragging unknowns into service.
Switch when written conditions are met
Full service-day test passed, failure test passed; hardware and support boundaries clear; migration and exit paths checked and workable in this shop; rollback rehearsed and executable. Open items become conditions, not verbal promises.
Conditions must be checkable: for example sample counts and identifiers match, rollback drill completed in order, kitchen printer model has a dated written note, exit samples open on this shop’s computer. Any unchecked line means the cutover date has not arrived.
Conclusions may change, but only into one of these three, and the sheet’s statuses change with them. Empty critical cells are not a reason to ask someone to fill in “pass.”
Back to Stay or switch? Restaurant POS Hungary checklist.