Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (18 page)

often referred to as the “vision of the company,” which are typically shaped by the key

decision makers in the organization (such as the CEO, CFO, CIO, and so on); these goals

are commonly called the “50,000-foot view.” Business unit or departmental goals, or the

2

“10,000-foot view,” are typically shaped by the key executives and managers in the organi-

zation (such as the VP of sales, HR director, site facilities manager, and so on). Most orga-

nizations also have well-defined “1,000-foot view” goals that are typically very tactical in

nature, implemented by IT staff and technical specialists.

It is well worth the time to perform some research and ask the right questions to help

ensure that the networking system implementation will be successful. To get specific infor-

mation and clarification of the objectives of the different business units, make sure the

goals of a technology implementation or upgrade are in line with these business goals.

Although most organizations have stated company visions and goals, and a quick visit to

the company’s website or intranet can provide this information, it is worth taking the

time to gather more information on what the key stakeholders feel to be their primary

objectives. Often, this task starts with asking the right questions of the right people and

then opening discussion groups on the topic. Of course, it also matters who asks the ques-

ptg

tions because the answers will vary accordingly, and employees might be more forthcom-

ing when speaking with external consultants as opposed to co-workers. Often, the publicly

stated vision and goals are “the tip of the iceberg” and might even be in contrast to inter-

nal company goals, ambitions, or initiatives.

High-level business goals and visions can vary greatly among different organizations, but

generally they bracket and guide the goals of the units that make up the company. For

example, a corporation might be interested in offering the “best” product in its class, and

this requires corresponding goals for the sales, engineering, marketing, finance, and

manufacturing departments. Additional concepts to look for are whether the highest-level

goals embrace change and new ideas and processes, or want to refine the existing practices

and methods.

High-level business goals of a company can also change rapidly, whether in response to

changing economic conditions or as affected by a new key stakeholder or leader in the

company. So, it is also important to get a sense of the timeline involved for meeting these

high-level goals.

NOTE

An example of some high-level business goals include a desire to have no downtime,

access to the network from any of the organization’s offices around the world, and

secured communications when users access the network from home or a remote

location.

52

CHAPTER 2

Planning, Prototyping, Migrating, and Deploying Windows Server 2008

R2 Best Practices

Business Unit or Departmental Goals

When the vision or “50,000-foot view” is defined, additional discussions should reveal the

goals of the different departments and the executives who run them. Theoretically, they

should “add up” to the highest-level goals, but the findings might be surprising. Whatever

the case turns out to be, the results will start to reveal the complexity of the organization

and the primary concerns of the different stakeholders.

The high-level goals of the organization also start to paint the picture of which depart-

ments carry the most weight in the organization, and will most likely get budgets

approved, which will assist in the design process. Logically, the goals of the IT department

will play a very important role in a network operating system (NOS) migration project, but

the other key departments shouldn’t be forgotten.

As an example of the business unit or departmental goals for an organization, an HR

department may typically influence the decision for right-to-privacy access to core person-

nel records. Or a legal department may typically influence security access on information

storage rights and storage retention.

If the department’s goals are not aligned with the overall vision of the company, or don’t

take into account the needs of the key stakeholders, the result of the project might not

be appreciated. “Technology for technology’s sake” does not always fulfill the needs of

ptg

the organization and in the long run is viewed as a wasteful expenditure of organiza-

tional funds.

In the process of clarifying these goals, the features of the network operating system and

network applications that are most important to the different departments and executives

should become apparent. It is safe to assume that access to company data in the form of

documents or database information; to communications tools, such as email, faxing, and

Internet access; and to vertical market software applications that the company relies upon

will affect the company’s ability to meet its various business goals.

The sales department will most likely have goals that require a specific customer relation-

ship management (CRM) application as well as access to key company data and communi-

cations tools. Likewise, the finance department will have applications that track specific

AR and AP information and that most likely tie into applications used by other depart-

ments. The IT department will have its key technologies that support the applications in

use, store and maintain the company’s data, and manage key servers and network devices.

It is also worth looking for the “holes” in the goals and objectives presented. Some of the

less-glamorous objectives, such as a stable network, data-recovery abilities, or protection

from the hostile outside world, are often neglected.

A by-product of these discussions will ideally be a sense of excitement over the possibili-

ties presented by the new technologies that will be introduced, and will convey to the

executives and key stakeholders that they are involved in helping to define and craft a

solution that takes into account the varied needs of the company. Many executives look

for this high-level strategy, thinking, and discussions to reveal the maturity of the plan-

ning and implementation process in action.

Identifying the Technical Goals and Objectives to Implement

53

Windows Server 2008 R2

NOTE

An example of some departmental goals include a desire to have secured storage of

human resource and personnel information, 30-minute response time to help desk

questions during business hours, 24-hour support for sales executives when they are

traveling, and easy lookup of files stored on servers throughout the organization.

2

Identifying the Technical Goals and Objectives to

Implement Windows Server 2008 R2

Although an operating system upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2 might not initially

seem integral to the highest-level company goals, its importance becomes clearer as the

goals get close to the “1,000-foot view.” When the business goals are sketched out, the

technical goals should fall into place quite naturally.

At this point in the process, questions should focus on which components and capabilities

of the network are most important, and how they contribute to or hinder the goals

expressed by the different units.

As with business goals, the technical goals of the project should be clarified on different

ptg

levels (50,000-foot, 10,000-foot, 1,000-foot, and so on). At the highest level, the technical

goals might be quite vague, such as “no downtime” or “access to data from anywhere.”

But as the goals are clarified on a departmental and individual level, they should become

specific and measurable. For example, rather than identifying a goal as “no downtime,”

ferreting out the details might result in a more specific goal of “99.99% uptime during

business hours, and no more than four-hour downtime during nonbusiness hours sched-

uled at least two days in advance.” Instead of stating a goal of “access to data from

anywhere,” a more specific goal of “high-speed remote logon from any corporate regional

office around the world and dial-up or VPN access from the home offices of the organiza-

tion’s senior managers” can more reasonably be attained.

Part of the art of defining technical goals and objectives also resides in limiting them.

Data can be accessed in many different ways, and the complexity of the network environ-

ment can boggle even the veteran IT manager’s mind. So, for example, rather than setting

a goal of “remote access to all employees,” a more focused goal such as “access to email

for all employees, remote access to email and the accounting software for the finance

department, and remote access to email and the customer relationship management soft-

ware for sales executives” is more actionable.

Departmental technical goals can include “10,000-foot” items—for example, implement-

ing a new software application or set of functions that require other network changes,

such as an operating system upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2. The marketing depart-

ment might require some of the advanced features of the latest version of Microsoft

Exchange, as well as enhanced website capabilities that necessitate the implementation of

Windows Server 2008 R2. Or, the sales department might require better remote access to

the company’s data through mobile devices and the Internet, and a solution was already

chosen that requires Windows Server 2008 R2 as the core operating system platform.

54

CHAPTER 2

Planning, Prototyping, Migrating, and Deploying Windows Server 2008

R2 Best Practices

Two key components should also be included in these discussions: budget and timeline. A

huge amount of time in the design phase can be saved if these components are clarified

(and agreed upon) early in the process. Some projects have to happen “yesterday,”

whereas others can happen over a period of quarters or even years. In most cases, the

budget will vary with the time frame involved because longer timelines enable organiza-

tions to train resources internally and migrate in a more gradual fashion. Even if a firm

budget or timeline isn’t available, order of magnitude ranges can be established. If

$500,000 is too much, how about $250,000? $100,000? $50,000? If a year is too long, but

the budget won’t be available for four months, the time frame becomes better clarified.

Defining the Scope of the Work

By now, the list of goals and objectives might be getting quite long. But when the myriad

of business and technical objectives as well as the overall priorities start to become clear,

the scope of work starts to take shape. A key question to ask at this point, to home in on

the scope of the project, is whether the migration is primarily an operating system

upgrade or an application upgrade. Often the answer to this question seems clear at first

but becomes more complex as the different goals of the business units are discussed, so

the scope of work that is created might be quite different than it appeared at first.

Specifically, a decision needs to be made whether the entire network operating system

ptg

(NOS) needs to be upgraded or only a subset of it, and what other infrastructure compo-

nents need to be changed or replaced. This section focuses on the server components, but

later chapters focus on other hardware and software areas that should be reviewed.

Upgrading to the latest version of a key network application (CRM solution, document

management system, or remote access solution) might require a network operating system

upgrade, but it might need to involve only a limited portion of the network (perhaps only

one server). However, if this application needs to be accessed by every member of the

organization, in several offices, and requires upgrades to data storage solutions, tape

backup software, antivirus software, remote access, and connectivity among offices, a full

NOS upgrade might make more sense. An upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2 enter-

prisewide can allow centralization of resources, consolidation of servers, enhanced

management tools, and other features that can make a larger project more attractive.

It is important to also examine how the business and technology goals fit into this plan. If

one of the goals of the organization is 99.99% uptime during business hours, this might

affect the migration process and limit changes to the network to weekends or after hours.

Or, a goal that involves a dramatically short timeline might likewise affect the strategy

and require a partial NOS upgrade.

Questions raised at this point might require further discussion and even research. The

section, “The Discovery Phase: Understanding the Existing Environment,” later in this

chapter examines some areas that generally need review. But with a solid understanding of

the different departmental and companywide goals for the project, you can sketch out a

basic outline of the required configuration.

Identifying the Technical Goals and Objectives to Implement

55

Windows Server 2008 R2

You need to get answers to these sample questions: