Using This Guide

Article
03/05/2008

This guide is intended to be used as a part of the Microsoft® Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD). This document is designed to guide a specialist team through the preparation of deployment images and their associated checkpoints. This process is part of the larger desktop deployment project and must be managed as such. This means that the decisions made by the Computer Imaging System feature team must align with the overall project goals and the deliverables must integrate well into the total desktop deployment project.

Note In this document, Windows applies to both the Microsoft Windows® XP and the Windows Vista™ operating systems unless otherwise noted.

Setting Up the Team

The specialist team responsible for ensuring the success of computer imaging is the Computer Imaging System feature team. A feature team is a cross-organizational team responsible for solving a defined problem. Within BDD 2007 for Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system, the Computer Imaging System feature team is one of several feature teams that work with a lead team on the project.

Feature teams are an important component of the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) Team Model. Given the ability to split a large and complex project into smaller sets of related tasks, teams can work on many tasks in parallel, with the application of specialized expertise where needed. A great advantage of this approach is an enhanced ability to manage large projects with many simultaneous tasks.

For the approach to work, however, it is vitally important that the teams synchronize their efforts and maintain active communications among teams and with the project management team. This is particularly important in complex projects, where there is a danger that a feature team may focus on its portion of the project to the exclusion of the role it plays in the overall project.

Communication

Team members’ ability to communicate and cooperate both internally with one another and externally with other feature or function teams and project stakeholders is key to successful project implementation. Within the team, each role is equally important, and decisions are made jointly.

Across teams and between individual feature teams and the project management team (defined as the lead team in this document), the process is more formal, with well-defined paths of communication. This formality does not prevent informal communication between the teams, which is encouraged, but it does ensure that important communications are well documented, occur at the appropriate level, and are directed to the appropriate team members.

An important consideration for feature teams is communicating with the project stakeholders, which typically include various entities within the customer organization. To avoid confusion, incomplete or conflicting messages, or misunderstood expectations, all communications with stakeholders must be routed through the lead team. This process ensures that management is always aware of the state of the customer relationship, and it helps enhance customer satisfaction in the deployment process.

Additional MSF Team Model Guidance

For additional guidance on the MSF Team Model, see the white paper, “MSF Team Model,” at https://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/msf/default.mspx.

Using This Guide

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Setting Up the Team

Communication

Additional MSF Team Model Guidance

Additional resources