> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://honeydew.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Evaluation Process

This guide outlines a suggested 4-week evaluation process designed to
help you evaluate Honeydew's capabilities and demonstrate its value within
your organization.

The evaluation process is structured to progressively build your understanding
and showcase Honeydew's capabilities through hands-on experience.

<Note>
  We recommend working closely with the Honeydew team throughout the
  evaluation period. You can reach out to [support@honeydew.ai](mailto:support@honeydew.ai) to guide you
  through the evaluation process and provide support
</Note>

## Overview

This suggested 4-week evaluation process is designed as a template, to help you:

* **Explore** whether Honeydew fits your specific use cases
* **Define measurable value** through concrete business scenarios
* **Build up internal expertise** and confidence in the platform
* **Lay the groundwork** for broader organizational adoption

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Week 1: Foundation" href="#week-1-foundation">
    Prerequisites and initial setup
  </Card>

  <Card title="Week 2: Core Modeling" href="#week-2-core-modeling">
    Build your first semantic model
  </Card>

  <Card title="Week 3: Integration" href="#week-3-integration">
    Connect BI tools and test APIs
  </Card>

  <Card title="Week 4: Advanced Capabilities" href="#week-4-advanced-capabilities">
    Explore advanced capabilities
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Prerequisites: Business Use Case Definition

Before beginning the evaluation process, it is recommended to identify
a clear business use case for testing Honeydew.
This ensures your assessment is focused and meaningful.

There are three common approaches to selecting a use case:

### Re-implement Existing Dashboard

**Recommended for:** Organizations with existing analytics infrastructure

**Benefits:**

* Direct comparison of numbers and behavior
* Validation that Honeydew produces consistent results
* Reduced risk through familiar scenarios

**Process:**

1. Select an existing dashboard with well-understood metrics
2. Document the current data model and calculations
3. Identify the underlying data sources and transformations
4. Define success criteria (performance, accuracy, ease of use)

### Implement New Use Case

**Recommended for:** Organizations exploring new analytics capabilities

**Benefits:**

* Demonstrates ease of solving new business problems
* Shows Honeydew's flexibility and speed of implementation
* Provides fresh perspective on analytics workflows

**Process:**

1. Identify a business question that lacks current analytics support
2. Define the required metrics and dimensions
3. Map available data sources
4. Establish success criteria for the new capability

### Migrate from Existing Semantic Model

**Recommended for:** Organizations with existing semantic layer solutions

**Benefits:**

* Accelerated implementation using automated migration tools
* Preserves existing business logic and definitions
* Reduces risk through guided conversion process
* Demonstrates Honeydew's ability to replace existing solutions

**Process:**

1. Document your current semantic model structure and definitions
2. Identify key entities, metrics, and business rules to migrate
3. Work with Honeydew's onboarding automation tools for conversion
4. Validate migrated model accuracy and completeness
5. Test performance improvements and new capabilities

<Tip>
  It can be effective to combine both the existing dashboard and new use case options,
  as this approach helps validate results while highlighting Honeydew's versatility.
</Tip>

## Week 1: Foundation

### Days 1-3: Initial Setup

Complete the core Honeydew setup following the
[Initial Setup guide](/initial-setup):

1. **Honeydew Application Setup**
   * Org provisioning and admin user creation
   * Network access configuration (if required)
   * User authentication setup (and SSO setup - if required)

2. **Git Integration**
   * Set up version control for semantic definitions
   * Choose between Honeydew-managed or self-hosted repository

3. **Data Source Integration**
   * Configure Data Source ([Snowflake](/integration/data-sources/snowflake),
     [Databricks](/integration/data-sources/databricks),
     or [Google BigQuery](/integration/data-sources/bigquery)) access and permissions
   * Test basic connectivity
   * When Snowflake is used: install Snowflake Native Application

4. **Team Onboarding**
   * Consider inviting key team members
   * It is recommended to schedule a training workshop session with Honeydew,
     to accelerate onboarding
   * It can be helpful setting up a dedicated support channels
     (Slack/Microsoft Teams) with Honeydew team
   * Consider scheduling regular check-ins or office hours with Honeydew team

5. **MCP Setup** *(optional)*
   * Set up the [MCP server](/integration/mcp) for coding agent tools
     (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, etc.)
   * Initial semantic modeling can be done via MCP — you can create entities,
     define metrics, and explore your warehouse through natural conversation
     directly from your IDE or CLI

### Success Criteria for Week 1

* [ ] Honeydew application accessible to all team members
* [ ] Data Source integration functional
* [ ] Git repository configured and accessible
* [ ] Team members can log in and navigate the interface
* [ ] Support channels established
* [ ] MCP server connected (if using AI coding tools for modeling)

## Weeks 1-2: Core Modeling

### Days 4-7: Basic Semantic Model

Build your first semantic model based on the use case defined in prerequisites:

1. **Data Source Configuration**
   * Connect to your data sources in the data warehouse
   * Validate data access and permissions
   * Review data quality and structure

2. **Entity Modeling**
   * Define core entities (customers, products, orders, etc.)
   * Establish relationships between entities
   * Configure entity attributes and hierarchies

3. **Metric Development**
   * Create business KPIs as metrics
   * Implement calculated attributes
   * Test metric calculations and validation using Honeydew's Playground

4. **Dataset Creation**
   * Create dynamic datasets for analysis
   * Test query performance and results

### Success Criteria for Week 2

* [ ] Semantic model accurately represents business entities
* [ ] Core metrics calculate correctly
* [ ] Dynamic datasets deploy successfully
* [ ] Query performance meets expectations
* [ ] Complex business contexts (if applicable) are properly modeled

## Weeks 2-3: Integration

### Days 8-14: BI Connection and Integration

Connect Honeydew to your existing BI tools and workflows:

1. **BI Tool Integration**
   * Configure connection to your primary [BI tool](/integration/bi-tools/supported-tools)
   * Test data source connectivity
   * Validate metric and dimension availability
   * Create sample reports/dashboards
   * Test any additional BI tools as needed

2. **API Testing**
   * Test [GraphQL API](/integration/graphql-api) endpoints
   * Validate API responses and performance
   * Document integration patterns for your team

3. **Snowflake Native App**
   * Install and configure [Snowflake Native App](/integration/snowflake-native-app)
   * Test [native app endpoints](/integration/snowflake-native-app#usage-examples)
   * Test [dbt integration](/integration/etl-tools/dbt) (if applicable)

4. **SQL Interface**
   * Explore [direct SQL interface](/integration/sql-interface) capabilities

### Success Criteria for Week 3

* [ ] BI tool successfully connected to Honeydew
* [ ] Sample reports/dashboards created and functional
* [ ] API endpoints tested and documented
* [ ] Snowflake Native App operational
* [ ] Team comfortable with integration patterns

## Weeks 3-4: Advanced Capabilities

### Days 15-20: Optional Advanced Capabilities

Explore Honeydew's advanced capabilities based on your organization's needs:

#### AI Integration (Optional)

<Note>
  For some companies AI integration is optional, while for others it is a core requirement.
  If AI integration **is** a core requirement, it is recommended to start the AI setup
  earlier in the evaluation process (during Week 2), to allow more time for testing and refinement.
</Note>

* **Slack/Microsoft Teams Integration**: Set up the AI analyst chatbot
  for [Slack](/integration/context-layer/slack-app) or [Microsoft Teams](/integration/context-layer/teams-app)
* **AI metadata setup**: Create a domain for AI interactions.
  Add AI descriptions and metadata for entities and attributes when needed.
* **AI Workflow**: Test AI-driven data exploration and [maintenance workflow](/integration/context-layer/ai-workflow)

#### Performance Optimization (Optional)

* **Acceleration Capabilities**: Implement query acceleration by defining
  [pre-aggregates](/performance/aggregate-awareness), and validate performance improvements.
* **Performance Monitoring**: Track and optimize query performance

### Success Criteria for Week 4

* [ ] Advanced capabilities evaluated and tested
* [ ] AI integration functional (if implemented)
* [ ] Performance optimizations implemented (if applicable)
* [ ] Pilot outcomes documented and evaluated

## Evaluation Summary and Next Steps

### Evaluation Assessment and Planning

To ensure the evaluation provides clear outcomes, we recommend documenting results across four dimensions:

1. **Technical Fit**
   * Benchmark Honeydew's performance against your current approach
     (speed, accuracy, reliability)
   * Capture any technical challenges and how they were resolved, limitations and workarounds

2. **Business Impact Assessment**
   * Quantify improvements in time-to-insight (e.g., reporting cycles, query response times)
   * Track adoption indicators such as how quickly new users build confidence in the tool
   * Estimate ROI by comparing effort/cost saved with current workflows

3. **User & Team Experience**
   * Collect feedback from all evaluation participants
   * Note training requirements and any friction points - both will inform scale-up planning
   * Identify best practices or workflows that emerged during the evaluation period

4. **Forward Planning**
   * Outline a strategy for scaling Honeydew across teams or departments
   * Map out priority use cases for broader rollout
   * Define the support, training, and success metrics needed for a smooth adoption

### Success Metrics

Key metrics you may find useful during the evaluation period include:

* **Technical Metrics**
  * Query performance (response time, resource usage)
  * Data accuracy and consistency
  * System reliability and uptime

* **Business Metrics**
  * Time to create new analytics (days/weeks)
  * User adoption and engagement
  * Reduction in data inconsistencies

* **User Experience Metrics**
  * Learning curve and training time
  * User satisfaction scores
  * Support ticket volume and resolution time

## Support and Resources

### Dedicated Support

* **Real-time Support**: Dedicated Slack/Teams channel for immediate assistance
* **Regular Check-ins**: Weekly progress reviews with Honeydew team
* **Expert Consultation**: Access to Honeydew solution architects

### Training Resources

* **Training Workshop**: Free 1-hour session scheduled for Week 2
* **Documentation**: Comprehensive guides and examples
* **Best Practices**: Proven methodologies and patterns
* **Hands-on Assistance**: Help with specific modeling or integration challenges

### Community and Learning

* **Example Models**: Reference implementations and templates
* **Use Case Library**: Industry-specific examples and patterns
* **Knowledge Base**: Searchable documentation and FAQs

## Getting Started

Ready to begin your Honeydew evaluation? Follow these steps:

1. **Contact Support**: Reach out to [support@honeydew.ai](mailto:support@honeydew.ai) to initiate the evaluation process
2. **Schedule Kickoff**: Set up an initial meeting to align on objectives
   and timeline
3. **Complete Prerequisites**: Define your business use case and gather
   requirements
4. **Begin Week 1**: Start with the foundation setup outlined above

<Note>
  Think of the evaluation process as a flexible framework you can adapt.
  Timeline and focus areas can be adjusted to suit your organization's needs,
  and the Honeydew team can work with you to tailor the process for the best results.
</Note>