Summary

This chapter introduced a generic approach to the effective design of networking solutions. The essence of the approach lies in recognizing the necessary steps that must be taken during the design process to ensure maximum potential for success during the implementation. The approach recommends the identification and validation of the stakeholder requirements, which result in a set of functional requirements from which a draft design document can be derived.

Skipping the design process or stages thereof and immediately jumping into the solution implementation is not recommended, even if the solution's designer is intimately familiar with the solution's capabilities. Review of interactive revisions of the draft document leads to the final signed-off design document, which serves as the basis for solution implementation. Remember the often-neglected issues of documentation and training during the solution's implementation stage.