Planning for Deployment
Planning for Deployment |
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Organize your deployment team and then assign specific roles to team members. Depending on the size of your organization and the complexity of your deployment, you might also want to create subteams.
Assess the core competencies of your information technology (IT) staff. Also, assess their skill sets with regard to Windows 2000 technologies. Then, decide how you are going to manage any shortcomings. The following list provides options you might consider in regard to managing training issues:
Important
Securing an executive sponsor who can speak for the organization's overall needs for the project is usually critical for success. This person can help ensure that the deployment team understands and achieves its goals.
Although staffing needs can change as you plan and deploy Windows 2000, operating system deployments usually require several team members. For a large organization, include at least two or three operating system administrators on your centralized team. Also, be sure to include help desk or support personnel. From the beginning of your deployment project, try to involve people with a great extent of corporate knowledge and provide them with an overview of Windows 2000 and its benefits; they can help you meet the broader needs of your organization. If yours is an international organization, it is recommended that you include key people from locations in other countries and regions. Include people who are trained in the Windows 2000 operating system and who thoroughly understand your network environment.
A core team made up of experts in security, networking, interoperability, and applications testing could also serve as leaders of subteams within their areas of expertise. Team members require such skills as detail-oriented project management skills, hands-on technical experience, and the ability to be innovative and master new technologies quickly and independently. Team members also need strong analytical abilities to be able to link the project vision with the details needed to achieve the vision.
Using your project scope and objectives document as a guide, identify which subteams will be responsible for planning and testing the deployment of the features you want to deploy. You might consider dividing your core deployment team into a server team and a client team, and then delegate responsibilities to subteams as in the following list:
Plan your teams to reflect your internal structure, business needs, the Windows 2000 features and services you want to deploy, and the way you want to deploy them. The organization of your deployment teams will reflect the roles shown above.
One way you can organize a deployment team is shown in Table 3.2.
Table 3.2 Deployment Teams Example
| Team | Responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Steering | Include the leads from all other teams to perform overall coordination and communications. Include strategic planners who know their way around the organization— people who remember that existing systems are in place and why they are needed, for example. |
| Planning and Coordination | Handles support and training, business planning, premigration planning, mission-critical systems, and third-party consulting. |
| Server | Test and develop solutions in: clustering, Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM), backup, disaster recovery, Terminal Services, integration, and hardware requirements |
| Infrastructure Design | Address the domain model, Active Directory, local area network (LAN) issues, telecommunications, Distributed file system (Dfs), global file access, Domain Name System (DNS), and remote access. |
| Security | Develop standards for Internet, intranet, and extranet services, as well as domain security and policy implementation. |
| Interoperability | Systems Network Architecture (SNA), Kerberos links with mainframes and UNIX, and UNIX/mainframe integration, NetWare and OS/2 integration/coexistence. |
| Application Integration |
Integrate messaging, database, workgroup applications and suites, Internet tools, and line-of-business and third-party applications. |
| Networking | Research, test, and develop directory-enabled networking solutions. |
| Client | Test and resolve application, upgrade/migration, hardware, and laptop issues |
| Desktop Administration |
Test and develop the organization's change and configuration management plans, including Group Policy, software installation, and user data and settings management. |
| Request for Comment Committee |
Comprised of members from the user community. Provide feedback on decisions made by the deployment teams. |
Windows 2000 deployment activities fall into many categories. In small implementation projects, one person might fill several roles; in large implementation projects, several people might be assigned to each role.
Keep in mind that if you enable directory services, Windows 2000 is very different from environments that do not use directory services. To use a directory service, the IT organization needs to be educated and slowly migrated to a new support and administrative structure. This is a change that affects the entire organization and necessitates an even higher level of management education and involvement than a typical upgrade.
Table 3.3 describes the Windows 2000 personnel roles, responsibilities, requirements, and workload variables to consider when you determine your personnel needs.
Table 3.3 Windows 2000 Management Roles
| Roles and Responsibilities | Required skills |
|---|---|
| IT Management or Executive Sponsor Sets priorities for the Windows 2000 infrastructure. Establishes the business case for the project. Defines deployment vision and secures funding. Acts as an advocate to both the team and the organization. Clears roadblocks, drives features versus schedule tradeoffs, and is responsible for the communications plan. |
Understanding of the organization's business problems and the solutions that Windows 2000 will provide.
Knowledge of primary features and capabilities of Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional. |
| Project Management Drives the critical decisions necessary to release the Windows 2000 infrastructure. Conceives solutions and defines deployment scope with the deployment team. Creates the functional specification with other team members. Facilitates the day-to-day coordination to deliver the Windows 2000 systems consistent with organizational standards and interoperability goals. Drives overall critical tradeoff decisions. |
Knowledge of details of Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional functionality.
Ability to coordinate executive management goals with project team goals. |
| Development/Design Evaluates technical solutions to be used in designing and developing the Windows 2000 infrastructure. Defines the strategy for each Windows 2000 feature released during the deployment. Plays fundamental role in designing the initial infrastructure. Designs and builds the infrastructure necessary for implementation. |
Experience in developing complex operating system services. Understanding of technical requirements for the existing and new network infrastructure. |
| Subject Matter/Technical Experts Responsible for designing and developing strategy for their subject areas. Provides leadership for subteams. |
A high level of technical skill in their areas of expertise and with the Windows 2000 operating system.
Detail-oriented project management skills. |
| Testing Assists in developing the initial solutions design. Ensures that all issues are known to the team and addressed prior to conducting production rollout. Designs and builds test lab and performs all testing and validation procedures prior to production rollout. Performs scalability analysis and performance testing. |
Familiarity with Windows 2000 Server and related network hardware, or Windows 2000 Professional connectivity. Experience designing, running, and debugging tests. Experience in testing applications. |
| Documentation Assists in developing project documentation including planning documents, reports, and white papers. Could include writers, editors, and production personnel. |
Familiarity with relevant technologies. Communication, writing, and editing skills as well as technology documentation knowledge. |
| User Education/Training Acts as the user advocate. Assesses user requirements, determines training objectives, and develops education and training programs to enable users to maximize use of the Windows 2000 infrastructure. |
Familiarity with the organization's IT system, network infrastructure, and Windows 2000 features. Knowledge of self-help solutions and presentation software. Communication and training skills. |
| Logistics Management Ensures smooth rollout, installation, and migration to the operations and support groups, including help desk and training. |
Good understanding of Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional features and functionality. |
As you examine your administrative requirements, you might find that you want to make changes to your current organization. Take this opportunity to look at how the system is administered today, and whether a reorganization would be beneficial. For example, if two separate teams administer Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft® Windows NT®, you might want to create a separate team to administer Windows 2000.