Appendix B - Preplanning Phase Steps
Assemble the Team
One of the tasks of the project manager is to assemble a team of IT specialists to fulfill the roles in the planning and deployment processes. Typically, during the same time period, roles are assigned to IT staff members who will manage, maintain, and operate SMS.
Before moving forward with the planning phase, it is recommended that you begin assembling your team. Some of the SMS team members need to participate in the planning phase. Begin assigning roles based on work functions and review your team structure as you complete each step in the planning and deployment phases, because some of the roles might be assigned later on in the project.
Occupation Taxonomy
The number of IT staff members needed to successfully plan, deploy, and administer SMS depends upon many factors. SMS activities fall into several categories. In small implementation projects, one person might fill several roles. In large implementation projects, several people might be assigned to each role. The size and complexity of your organization’s SMS hierarchy will further define the workforce requirements.
Some SMS roles require a good understanding of the Windows operating system, Windows security, and SQL Server. Some of your SMS team members should be familiar with your organization’s network infrastructure and security policies. The occupation taxonomy in Table B.1 is based on the Microsoft Readiness Framework and describes the SMS roles and responsibilities to consider when you determine your personnel needs.
Table B.1 SMS Occupation Taxonomy
Role |
Critical work functions |
|---|---|
Project sponsor |
|
Project manager |
|
Administrator |
|
Programmer |
|
Database administrator |
|
Help desk specialist |
|
Trainer |
|
SMS team: One possible scenario in a large organization
In this scenario, Contoso Pharmaceuticals is a large international organization with 55,000 clients and 1,200 servers running Windows 2000. Contoso is running SMS 2.0 with plans to upgrade to SMS 2003.
The company has one central SMS site, 50 primary sites, and 45 secondary sites, and uses SMS software distribution to deploy over a million software package distributions per year.
Contoso’s IT organization consists of seven dedicated SMS administrators who are responsible for creating packages, and troubleshooting and maintaining SMS sites. In addition, there are 50 non-dedicated (part-time) site-based administrators worldwide assisting the dedicated administrators by providing hands-on support for processes that require physical access to SMS servers at their locations. Two or three trainers provide SMS training and internal training documentation as needed.
In addition, Contoso has 20 staff members who are dedicated to writing and testing the installation scripts and executable files that are delivered by the SMS software distribution process. Each Contoso location has an onsite database administrator who assists with SQL Server troubleshooting and optimization on the local site server.
Contoso’s help desk staff has 300 people using SMS Remote Tools in customized SMS Administrator consoles for remotely supporting end user computers.
Assigning Roles
The roles of project sponsor and project manager are the first roles assigned in the project. The project sponsor determines the business needs, maps them to SMS features, and prioritizes them. The project manager defines the project scope and assembles the team.
The project manager puts together a team consisting of SMS administrators with varying roles. For example, one SMS administrator might be in charge of building the test lab and conducting the pilot deployment. Another SMS administrator might be in charge of planning the SMS hierarchy and monitoring network bandwidth availability during the pilot project. Other administrators might be assigned other tasks as described in Table B.1.
The project manager should locate a trainer who can educate the staff members on several levels of SMS functionality. For example, train your help desk specialists in troubleshooting the SMS client and using Remote Tools. The SQL Server database administrator needs advanced training in performance tuning of the SMS site database. The SMS administrators, however, might require formal training ahead of time in the more technical aspects of SMS and SMS administration.
Typically, your help desk is already staffed and their roles are assigned, so you might not need to assign new roles unless you want to assign an SMS leader for that group. Or, for a smaller organization, you might need to assign some of the help desk personnel various administrative tasks in SMS.
Assign the responsibilities for database administration to a SQL Server database administrator. Also, it is helpful to have a programmer or someone knowledgeable about scripting perform a role in SMS operations.
Support Plan
After SMS is installed in your production environment, it must be supported. It is a good idea to develop your support plan before conducting your SMS deployment so that it is in place when needed. Note that for larger organizations you might develop two support plans, one for before and during employment, and another for after deployment.
When developing a support plan, balance the administrative requirements of supporting your SMS hierarchy with your budget and staffing resources. Keep in mind that effective support helps set a positive tone your SMS implementation. Do not underestimate your support requirements.
The support plan addresses the expectations of both the end users and the IT staff. End users expect timely responses to problem reports. If software distribution is implemented, end users also expect timely distribution of requested software packages. Administrators expect proper tools for client management. Help desk specialists might need the ability to remotely troubleshoot individual client computers.
Some variables to include in your plan are:
The amount of staffing resources you can devote to testing SMS and running the pilot project.
The amount of long-term staffing resources you have during and after deployment.
A support matrix showing who provides support for which group of users (end users, administrators, help desk specialists, and any other SMS users in your organization).
A path for escalating problems to higher-level support tiers.
The hours that support will be available to users.
Methodology for reporting, tracking, prioritizing, and resolving problems.
Service level agreements required for various groups in your organization.
Communication Strategy
It is important that you communicate your plans to other groups in your organization because SMS affects other groups more directly than most other products do. Communication to the management team and all project sponsors is essential.
You can also start building support and acceptance early in the project by having other managers and key personnel review your plans before you begin the deployment phase of the project. Continue to keep these people informed as you make changes that could impact network access and performance.
By defining effective communication channels and methods, you help ensure that:
All participants are regularly informed about the progress of the project.
All participants are aware of their roles and responsibilities.
The project team is aware of problems as they occur.
Your communication strategy should address the needs of the following groups.
IT professionals and SMS users
This group includes administrators, programmers, help desk specialists, database administrators, IT managers, and trainers. Communication with IT professionals and SMS users includes regular risk assessment and updates on progress. Encourage individuals to bring problems to the attention of other IT team members. Meet on a regular basis and maintain a formal record of issues and decisions.
Effective communication among the IT staff ensures that problems and risks are managed efficiently. It also increases project visibility, facilitates support of SMS in your organization, and contributes to the overall success of the project.
Communication with trainers should emphasize SMS concepts and procedures that require further documentation and clarification. On a regular basis, send summaries of problems reported by end users to your trainers so that the more common issues can be communicated during training sessions.
SMS users are people who might not be involved in the SMS project but benefit from it. This can include systems analysts, managers, and other professionals who use SMS features, such as software distribution, reporting, and remote help desk support. Early communication ensures that the deployed system adequately serves their needs.
End users and managers
An SMS user is anyone in your organization who uses or is responsible for a computer that has the SMS client installed on it. An end user is anyone who is somehow affected by the SMS client deployment.
Communicate with end users and their managers to prepare them for the SMS deployment and introduce them to the features of SMS. For those end users involved in your pilot project, proper communication prepares them for their role in the pilot project and encourages them to become active participants.
Methods of Communication
Consider implementing the following communication methods:
Progress updates sent to specific e-mail distribution lists
A Web site for quick access to frequently asked questions, procedures, and status reports
Articles in your organization’s newsletter
A newsletter, flyer, or memo devoted to the pilot project
Online or printed customer satisfaction surveys
If your communication strategy requires that you create a Web site or e-mail distribution lists, create these mechanisms well in advance of the pilot project so that you are prepared to communicate with all pilot participants from the start.
Begin Assembling the Project Plan
After you have documented your environment, assembled your SMS team, and identified your objectives, begin creating the project plan to use in designing, deploying, and configuring SMS. Your designs and plans can change as you proceed through planning, testing, and deploying SMS. Your project plan documentation should be in modular form, so that you can add and remove documents as needed, and it should contain a master schedule.
The plan might be contained in something as simple as a three-ring binder or series of binders. Or, you might choose to use a document management system such as Microsoft Office SharePoint™ Portal Server 2003. For more information about document management, see the SharePoint Portal Server Web site at https://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint/default.asp.
Consider posting this information for access by your IT staff members and project sponsors.
Project Plan Document
You are now ready to define and document a project plan for your SMS implementation. It is recommended that your project plan document include the following information:
Scope and schedule
Define the scope of the project by creating a master schedule indicating personnel and time requirements. The amount of time required to plan an SMS implementation is dependent on a number of factors, including the size and complexity of your organization and infrastructure. Allocate plenty of work hours in the preplanning and planning phases. Do not forget to schedule lab testing and a pilot project before the SMS deployment.
Business requirements and technical objectives
Ensure that your plan clearly states your objectives, and how SMS fulfills these objectives. Ensure that your plan provides methods that measure progress and success.
Risk analysis strategy
Develop a plan for performing a risk analysis at the end of each major step or phase, and add reminders in your schedule to perform this task.
Time and budget reviews
Keep track of your time and budget reviews that are conducted at the end of each phase and throughout the project as needed. Add reminders to the schedule to review any newly introduced budgetary or time constraints, because adjustments to these resources might be required before proceeding to the next phase.
Communication strategy
Assign communication tasks to team members to keep the appropriate people in your organization informed at each phase of the project.
Assumptions
Clarify the tasks that SMS project team members will and will not do.
Overview of the current networking environment
Include the information you collected in step 2, “Analyze Your Environment.” Add a high-level description of what in the existing environment needs to change and how these changes would satisfy project goals and objectives.
Test lab plan
Include a plan that describes your test lab configuration. For more information, see step 7, “Establish Test Lab Environment.”
Test plan and pilot project plan
Include a pre-implementation testing plan, and add testing to your master schedule. This involves tasks such as testing SMS hierarchy design, client discovery and installation methods, and operational scenarios like software distribution. Also, include a plan for your pilot project, where you distribute the SMS client to a limited number of computers in your production environment. For more information about creating these plans, see Appendix E: "Appendix E - Designing Your SMS Sites and Hierarchy."
Naming conventions
Document your SMS site codes, server names, and other SMS elements in your project plan. Consider standardizing the names and locations of all your documentation relating to the project.
Site and hierarchy design
Include your SMS site and SMS hierarchy design, which documents the full SMS hierarchy structure, site boundaries, site systems, site connection methods, etc. For more information, see Appendix E: "Appendix E - Designing Your SMS Sites and Hierarchy."
Deployment strategy
Include your deployment plans. For guidelines, see, “Planning to Deploy SMS 2003.”
Security strategy
Include a well-documented plan for your security strategy. For more information, see Scenarios and Procedures for Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003: Security.
Recovery plan
Create a plan describing your recovery strategy. For more information, see Scenarios and Procedures for Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003: Maintenance, Backup, and Recovery.
Upgrading to SMS 2003 (if applicable)
Include your plan for upgrading to SMS 2003, if this project is not a new installation of SMS 2003. For more information, see Appendix H: "Appendix H - Upgrading to SMS 2003."
Staffing and support plan
Document the assigned roles that you define when you assemble the team. Create a support plan that defines support roles on your team. The support plan also outlines the escalation path and criteria, and defines service level agreements for the various groups in your organization. Create a template for a standard service level agreement and include it in your project plan documentation.
Training strategy
Create a plan to train the appropriate staff in installing, using, and supporting SMS. This includes a current skills assessment for each team member, the level of training needed, and the source of that training. For more information, see step 6, “Learn SMS” later in this document.
Operations
Plan how to operate, manage and maintain your SMS sites after deployment. For more information, see Part 2 of the Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 Administrator’s Guide, “Maintaining SMS in Your Organization.”
Learn SMS
This section describes developing a training and education plan for learning SMS. Your test lab and pilot project can provide valuable hands-on training for many people involved in the project.
Groups to Train
It is recommended that your training plan address the needs of the following groups:
IT professionals
SMS users
End users
IT professionals
This group includes administrators, database administrators, trainers, and any other IT professional or staff member who administers SMS or educates others in SMS.
Training for your IT professionals should address setting up and supporting the SMS hierarchy in a production environment. Site creation, site communication, site system setup, client installation, and troubleshooting procedures are tested in the lab, and are further explored during the pilot project.
Your in-house training staff might also need additional training to expand their SMS knowledge and skills. The higher the skill level, the better equipped your trainers are to develop high-quality training programs that address the needs of user groups throughout the organization.
SMS users
This group includes programmers, help desk specialists, and any other users who take advantage of the features of SMS. Provide the help desk staff members with materials and training that familiarize them with the SMS Administrator console. This includes understanding the SMS hierarchy, navigating MMC, using Remote Tools, generating reports, running queries, using the resource explorer, and tracking software distributions.
Help desk specialists and programmers do not have to be SQL Server experts, but it is beneficial if they are familiar with Windows, SMS, and the corporate network environment. Programmers require training in designing and developing SMS applications, creating scripts, and testing programs.
Provide documented procedures to your SMS users for escalating SMS issues to the central SMS team.
End users
End users must understand how SMS affects them, what its benefits are, and what to do if they encounter problems. Effectively educating your users can help set positive expectations of SMS in your user community, in addition to enabling end users to become active pilot participants.
Carefully plan and implement your promotion of SMS features to your organization. Likewise, it is important that you inform your end users of what SMS will not do, such as monitor all computing activities of each user. Consider holding special sessions on this topic for all affected personnel in the organization. This can be beneficial both during and after your SMS deployment.
Training Methods
Training methods can include:
Self-paced computer-based training courses.
Instructor-led classroom sessions.
Webcasts offered online at https://www.microsoft.com/smsmgmt/default.asp.
Printed and electronic product documentation provided by Microsoft and third-party resources.
Internally created printed documentation that is specific to your organization.
Another good way to obtain information about SMS is to monitor user groups and mailing lists that focus on SMS issues.
Training can be conducted in any of the following locations:
On site
Authorized Microsoft training centers, such at the Microsoft Authorized Academic Training Program and the Microsoft Certified Technical Education Center
Third-party training facilities
More Information
The following Web sites provide additional information about SMS and other training options offered through Microsoft:
SMS training Web site: https://www.microsoft.com/smsmgmt/training/default.asp
Microsoft Training and Certification: https://www.microsoft.com/trainingandservices/redirect/mcp.htm
Microsoft Training for the Enterprise (Microsoft Solutions Framework and Microsoft Operations Framework training): https://www.microsoft.com/trainingandservices/default.asp
For more information about training resources, news groups, and mailing lists, see the SMS Resource Roadmap, available for download at https://www.microsoft.com/smsmgmt/default.asp.