When you said "If it is viewed as something done on the side and not part of the real business, then it may be doomed to failure" you hit the nail directly on the head. When I talk of "Pilot" I'm referring to an artificially restricted implementation to test the waters and mitigate risks. I see perpetual Beta as something entirely different. With social media I talk about mitigating risk by restricting the scope (and thereby the required functionality). Then, if you are good enough to garner a community then the community takes over the environment roadmap. This is socially driven perpetual Beta. If you take it seriously, have a purpose and go to it with all you have then I don't care what you call it. The only caveat I will throw out there is that you must understand what the term "pilot" means to the target audience. If they feel the term implies a lack of effort and resolve then adoption can suffer.