Conducting a Gap Analysis

Compare your current computing environment to your future environment based on your project objectives. The gap between the existing environment and your goals will help identify which Windows 2000 features you want to deploy. The primary steps for performing a gap analysis are:

• Identify the gap between the way employees work today and how you want them to work when the deployment is complete.

  Computers and operating systems are only of value to your business if they are of value to your employees. A successful deployment closes the gap between the way employees work today and the way the new system will empower employees to work when the deployment is complete. Later, when the team begins to measure the rate of success, the primary measure will be how it has improved the work of those who are using the system.

• Review documents, if any, from previous computer and network upgrades. In addition to providing useful information about the current computing environment, existing documents could provide a template to follow as you move through the decision-making process.
• Review documents obtained from hardware or software vendors. Documents that relate to the current hardware and software in your infrastructure will help you decide whether to upgrade or replace computing resources.
• Identify tasks and determine resource requirements for each task. After you have identified the tasks and determined what resources are required to accomplish those tasks, you can determine which groups within the organization need to be involved and whether you will need additional resources outside the organization.
• Update any documents such as spreadsheets or schedules with planning, work, and resource assignments. Keeping documents up-to-date will make it easier to plan work schedules and to allocate resources.
• Send the gap analysis documents to the appropriate decision makers in your organization for approval. If approval is granted, then the project can begin; if not, you need to make changes to the documents and put them through the approval process again before you begin implementation

Specific planning and design guidelines are provided throughout this book.

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