Chapter 14. Planning Example

Planning for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 is a necessary step in the life cycle of deploying the product. Planning must be done in advance of deployment to ensure that you meet all of the business requirements, capture all of the technical requirements, and define validation and testing to be performed in a proof-of-concept lab. A well-structured, complete design with the right subject matter experts (SMEs) supported by upper management can mean the difference between success, timely delivery, and being on or under budget versus an out-of-control project that is doomed to failure, cost overruns, and overall dissatisfaction from your customers—the user community.

The outcome of the planning sessions will be a defined set of requirements. These requirements will translate into features in Office Communications Server 2007 R2 that are mapped to your infrastructure.

A final note: Planning is the activity of taking the business requirements and translating them into meaningful technical specifications. The final outcome should convey how technical elements of an application or server will enhance business and user productivity.

Defining a Statement of Work

In our example, Litware, Inc. has requested that we put together a proposal for deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 within its organization. The initial task is to deliver a statement of work (SOW) to Litware. A SOW is a vital part of the planning process. A SOW is not the proposal to do the project but is an outcome of the approved proposal itself. The SOW sets the tone and direction for the project. It defines what will happen, puts a time line in place, and communicates what the project intends to accomplish. A SOW also puts into place a proposed team structure and the budgeted dollars for the project, and it usually includes deployment, hardware needs, and the potential for outside services to assist. The outside services might include, but would not be limited to, consultants, contractors, and other vendors to ensure success of the project.

The SOW will include the following items:

  • Proposed time line, but not the project plan

  • Business needs addressed

  • Definition of internal and external people required and team(s) makeup

  • What the project outcome will attain

  • Estimated cost of the project

  • Risk assessment

What should be clear from the preceding list is that most of the items in the SOW are not yet known. These are rough estimates based on findings from the proposal phase. Management needs to understand that until hard numbers can be obtained during the planning session, budgetary and people requirements may change. That being said, all projects have known constraints.

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