Developing a Deployment Plan

To ensure a successful Internet Explorer deployment, you should develop a written plan. Here's a suggested four-step process for completing your deployment plan:

1. Get organization-wide input. Collect information from your project teams, staff, and user groups. You may want to conduct surveys or interviews to determine the full scope of your organization's deployment requirements.
2. Identify and document key topics. Your deployment plan should include sections about the following topics:
   • Deployment goals
   • Critical success factors
   • Deployment tasks, resources, and tools
   • Task and resource dependencies
   • Budget for resources needed to meet deployment goals
   • Task responsibilities and timelines for completion
   • Significant risks and contingency plans

   As you read through the planning sections in this chapter, you can develop your deployment strategies and collect the information needed to write your plan. For example, as you read the "Identifying Client and Server Configurations" section, you should identify and document the number of computers for Internet Explorer installation, the software and hardware configurations, the best types of installations for these existing configurations, the time and cost for additional hardware upgrades, and any network access requirements for deployment.

3. Test the plan. After you write the plan, test it thoroughly. Verify all deployment strategies and identify any potential issues. Then update the plan based on your test results. For more information about testing your deployment plan in the lab, see Chapter 11, "Setting Up and Administering a Pilot Program."
4. Review and accept the plan. The deployment plan should be finalized before Internet Explorer deployment. All project teams should review and accept the contents of the plan before deployment begins.