Introduction

  • Article

This document is designed to assist organizations using BDD 2007 in deploying Windows and the 2007 Microsoft Office system or Microsoft Office 2003. Using this guide, an organization can assess its readiness for the Windows and Microsoft Office deployment and ensure that any steps required to improve its readiness for this deployment are performed. It guides the team through the infrastructure remediation tasks and checkpoints. This material is intended for information technology (IT) professionals, SMEs, and consulting firms responsible for preparing for the BDD 2007 project. Anyone using this document must be familiar, at a minimum, with Microsoft management technologies, products, and concepts.

When preparing to perform infrastructure remediation, the most important factor that organizations must rely on is network documentation; yet, documentation is often one of the aspects of network management that obtains the least funding from the overall networking budget. If this is the case for the organization’s network, use the BDD 2007 project to improve network documentation, and then maintain that documentation after the project is complete.

Documenting the network environment is part of the larger computer deployment project and must be managed as such. This means that decisions made during the infrastructure remediation process must align with the overall project goals and that the deliverables must be well integrated with the total deployment project.

On This Page

Background Background
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Assumptions Assumptions
Education and References Education and References

Background

This guide describes a process to help organizations better understand their infrastructures. Although achieving this understanding is an iterative process in this guide, it can also be performed as part of MOF. This approach is recommended but is not discussed here. If the MOF concepts are not familiar or more information is required, see the “Education and References” section of this guide.

After the Infrastructure Remediation feature team collects and analyzes the data, the team works with the lead team to include the data in the functional specification to help build the deployment process that the MSF Release Management Role Cluster will use. The Development Role Cluster also uses the information in this guide to create and implement modular changes to a deployment plan throughout the Stabilizing and Deploying Phases.

The examples in this guide of possible risks to the deployment are not meant to be exhaustive. These sample risks have been encountered by other project teams while performing similar types of engagements. The intention is to help readers identify risks to the deployment and operation of the project.

Prerequisites

To help gather the required information for this phase of the project, certain prerequisites must be met or recognized. Performing the tasks described in this guide requires the following resources:

  • An inventory collection and reporting tool. Examples of tools or utilities that can perform this role are listed in the “Software Inventory Tools” section of “Appendix A. Taking Inventory of the Network.”

  • Infrastructure remediation job aids. The BDD 2007 project includes three job aids to assist the Infrastructure Remediation feature team with assessment and upgrade planning:

    • Assessment Template. This template maintains project data for the entire project through all phases. Multiple teams will contribute to the assessment and planning required to complete this document.

    • Current State Assessment Template. This is a step-by-step guide to assessing the current infrastructure.

    • Network and Workstation Hardware Upgrades. This spreadsheet lists planned upgrades and expected cost.

Assumptions

As part of the BDD 2007 project, the current desktop applications are collected for analysis and testing. For more information about data collection and application compatibility analysis, see the Application Compatibility Feature Team Guide. It is assumed that the steps for application compatibility database collection, as documented in the Application Compatibility Feature Team Guide, have been completed before undertaking the procedures discussed in this guide.

Various network management platforms may already be in use. These tools can collect the various types of information and diagrams that this guide describes. A systems management tool can also be used as an inventory and discovery platform to provide information about connected devices and also details about the current distribution of computers and applications. Although not required for the deployment, these tools often present a much clearer and more consistent picture of the environment.

Anyone using network management tools or the Microsoft Application Compatibility Analyzer to collect information must have adequate rights to computers, servers, and network devices to obtain useful information. Without appropriate access, inaccurate information will be captured and reported to the application.

This guide does not provide a detailed analysis of the data. However, its examples, while not exhaustive, help demonstrate and explain some common issues that are encountered in similar types of deployments. It is recommended that each organization have the appropriate levels of expertise to review the collected data and provide recommendations to the appropriate role clusters.

Education and References

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