Novell ZENWORKS 10 CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT SP3 - SYSTEM PLANNING-DEPLOYMENT-BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 10.3 30-03-2010 System Planning Manual

Also see for ZENWORKS 10 CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT SP3 - COMMAND LINE UTILITIES REFERENCE 10.3 30-03-2010: Upgrade guide Reference guide Command reference guide Deployment guide Getting started guide

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Novell ZENWORKS 10 CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT SP3 - SYSTEM PLANNING-DEPLOYMENT-BEST PRACTICES GUIDE 10.3 30-03-2010 System Planning Manual Manual pdf 15 page image

Performing Pre-Design Activities215novdocx (en) 16 April 20102Performing Pre-Design ActivitiesA firm understanding of the organization’s business and technical requirements and the existinginfrastructure components that will take part in the Novell® ZENworks ® ConfigurationManagement system is the first step in developing a solid design that meets the organization’simmediate and future needs.IMPORTANT: Throughout this document, we refer to the need for proper documentation.Documentation is of the utmost importance. Documentation is a complete and accurate reference tothe system you have designed and built, but most importantly, it is a reference for the future. Asindividuals transition in and out of the IT organization, the design documents become a reference asnew employees learn the infrastructure they support, including techniques, policies, and designdecisions. Documentation is also a good reference for others inside the organization who might notbe involved in the day-to-day management of the ZENworks Configuration Managementenvironment, but are involved in the management of other projects that might have an impact on theZENworks Configuration Management environment, including dependencies.The following activities should be performed during the pre-design phase of implementingZENworks Configuration Management: Section 2.1, “Perform a Business Assessment,” on page 15 Section 2.2, “Perform a Technical Assessment,” on page 16 Section 2.3, “Gather Other Critical Information,” on page 17 Section 2.4, “Develop High-Level Design,” on page 18 Section 2.5, “Develop Documentation,” on page 18 Section 2.6, “Outputs from Pre-Design Activities,” on page 192.1 Perform a Business AssessmentYour first need is a detailed business assessment. If you do not have a solid understanding of whatthe overall business (or individual business units) needs or desires, you cannot design a solution tomeet business needs.Systems management software affects the entire business, so the various departments shouldprovide input and influence on what the system should look like. This does not mean thatdepartments outside of IT need to understand the technical complexities of the infrastructure andhow it is designed; they simply need to provide business requirements to the IT organization so thattheir needs are met.The best way to handle this is through a set of informal workshops, which include high-levelintroduction to the technology, what it does, how the departments and end users benefit, andpossibly a short demonstration of the product. The three main reasons you hold these workshops areto inform departments of what you are doing, get their buy-in, and get their feedback in the form oftechnical requirements. The meetings should sufficiently inform department members so they beginto give you feedback as to how they will leverage the system.