Defining Client Administration and Configuration Standards

Defining an Administration Model and Standards

Until now, IT managers have been restricted by the inability to delegate IT administration tasks in the best suited way for their organization. Windows 2000 provides significantly improved support for controlling clients and for delegating administration tasks.

Does your IT administrative model reflect the current structure of your organization. If your IT administrative model is out of date, you need to reevaluate all major IT tasks and where they are performed so that they can be delegated and performed more effectively. Some of the questions you need to answer are included here:

Who creates or changes user or computer accounts? How many user or computer accounts are created or modified each month?
In many organizations that have grown rapidly, a single individual or team can no longer update user or computer information on a timely basis. Alternately, organizations that have merged or gone through acquisitions might have multiple individuals or teams performing similar tasks in a redundant manner. You will need to determine the most efficient way to delegate these IT tasks — at the domain level, at the organizational unit level, or at the site level.
Who establishes software standards? Who is responsible for deploying software?
If your organization does not have software standards, the migration to a new operating system might be an good time to institute ones that enable users to communicate and share information more effectively. You might also find that many divisions or organizational units have unique application requirements. When you define application standards, accommodate both the centralized and decentralized requirements of your organization.
Who sets or updates passwords? What are your password or authentication requirements?
Many organizations delegate the authority to reset passwords to their helpdesks. Alternately, password requirements themselves are probably set at a higher level in the organization — and frequently a single set of authentication requirements apply to the entire organization.
Who backs up servers? Who backs up user data? How often are backups performed? How often do you restore data from backups?
In many organizations, only servers are backed up and users are often left to back up their own data — which they do either infrequently or not at all. If your organization does not provide for backups of user data, consider establishing server shares for users and requiring that users store important data on these shares so that it can be backed up regularly.
Does your organization have service level agreements or other explicit service goals? What are your organization's explicit service goals or criteria for success?
A growing number of organizations are setting explicit service goals or signing service level agreements that hold them accountable for reaching quantifiable results. Include existing or new service goals in your Windows 2000 client administration plan. Setting explicit goals will help you refine and shape your client administration plans to meet your organization's needs.

Summarizing Your Administrative and Configuration Goals

Before proceeding, summarize your organization's existing client support plan and the support standards that you want to adopt.

Also, summarize your organization's existing client administration model and the administration model that you want to implement using the features and capabilities provided by Windows 2000.