Getting Started with the Technical Environment

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Getting Started with the Technical Environment

• Chapter 9

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Areas of Discussion

• The Technical Environment
• Understanding the User Environment
• TCO and Asset Management
• Standards
• Technology Refreshing
• Additional Resources

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Important Concept
A first-hand knowledge of your IT environment,
its history, users, and operations can help you
to better define needs and future plans, as well
as avoid repeating past mistakes.
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Technical Environment

• Inventory
• Provides a frame of reference
• Helps to identify what you are responsible for
• Helps to provide information for disaster recovery

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Technical Environment cont.

• What Do We Have Here?
• Identifies what you have, how old it is
• Define Scope
• What would you need in order to bring your entire
  IT infrastructure back up after a major failure?
• Diagrams are invaluable

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Technical Environment cont.

• Key Elements to include
• Wide area network environment
• Local area network environment
• Carrier connections
• Server and storage environment
• Workstations
• Application and software inventory
• Vendors

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Technical Environment cont.

• WAN Environment
• Site locations, types of connections, backup
  communication facilities, carriers, bandwidth,
  firewalls, DMZs
• Types of servers, number of users, IP addressing,
  key contacts, street addresses
• Who is responsible for what

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Technical Environment cont.

• LAN Environment
• Topology, location, and connectivity of switches,
  routers, and hubs.
• Types of cabling
• Room locations of network equipment, model
  numbers of key components, IP addresses, wireless
  capabilities
• Voice environment to include switch, voice-mail
  environment, trunks

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Technical Environment cont.

• Carrier Connections
• Circuit numbers, circuit endpoints (building and
  room numbers), carriers, type/speed of line (T-1,
  analog, ISDN), phone numbers to report problems.

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Technical Environment cont.

• Server and Storage Environment
• E-mail
• Active directory
• Storage area networks
• Understand how each of these are set up

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Technical Environment cont.

• Workstations
• Total number of workstations
• Workstations by Operating systems
• Average age
• Current standard configurations (make, model,
  disk, memory)
• Type an duration of warranty/support (desktop vs.
  laptop)
• Record by department or location
• Travelers
• Home employees

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Technical Environment cont.

• Application and Software Inventory
• Application name
• Brief description
• User community (departments, number of users)
• Current version number
• Vendor
• Database environment
• OS environment(s)
• Any interfaces to other applications
• Support/maintenance arrangements in place and
  expiration
• Where the application is considered critical

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Technical Environment cont.

• Application and Software Inventory
• Which server(s) the application runs on
• Which IT team is responsible for that particular
  application
• Where to find a copy of the current version
• Installation instructions
• Special considerations
• Special backup requirements
• Peak periods of use
• Executive usage
• Who needs to be notified when scheduling downtime
  or when there is an unexpected change

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Technical Environment cont.

• Vendors
• Support arrangement
• Phone number and account number
• Levels of coverage
• Contract expiration date

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Technical Environment cont.

• Tools for Tracking the Technical Environment
• Companies that provide management tools
• Cisco
• Hewlett-Packard
• Dell
• IBM
• Altiris
• Microsoft
• NetIQ

• Tools for Tracking the Technical Environment
• Companies that provide management tools
• LANDesk
• NetSupport
• Peregrine
• Computer Associates
• Remedy
• Opsware
• Sunflower Systems
• Novell
• Ipswitch

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Technical Environment cont.

• The Value of Good Infrastructure Documentation
• Easily readable format
• Diagrams, charts, schematics
• Available to those who need accessibility
• Refer to diagrams and information during staff
  meetings so that employees are aware of the tools
  they have

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Technical Environment cont.

• Value of documentation
• Uncover under- or over-utilized resources
• Potential problems and risk areas
• Outdated technology no longer needed or needs to
  be upgraded
• Duplication of resources
• Knowledgeable IT staff about IT resources

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Understanding the User Environment

• Users are customers
• Who are they
• How do they use your services
• What additional services may they be able to use
• Essential to maintain a good relationship with
  your users
• They should see you as available, reliable,
  dedicated to service, and having their best
  interest at heart.

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Understanding the User Environment cont.

• Determine who your users are
• Executives
• Assistants
• Local users
• Remote users
• Finance

• Determine who your users are
• Marketing
• Warehouse
• HR
• Facilities

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Understanding the User Environment cont.

• Find out who your department thinks its users are
• Who are you trying to serveinside and outside
  company
• Find out who they are, where they are, and how
  they are functioning within their company, what
  relationship you have with them or want to have
  with them

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Understanding the User Environment cont.

• Find out who your boss thinks your users are
• Important perspective
• Insightful as to how your boss views the
  organization's world
• Alert you to where some of the challenges are
• Also communicate with department heads regarding
  users

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Understanding the User Environment cont.

• Meet the users
• Meet them
• Establish a relationship with them
• Determine their needs
• Share information regarding the IT projects
• Listen, take action, follow up
• Most important asset your earslisten!!!

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TCO and Asset Management

• TCO sum of all costs associated with a computer
  in addition to costs of hardware and software.
• Cost of support (staff, consultants, vendors)
• Network facilities (servers, applications,
  cabling, routers, hubs)
• Training
• Administration (purchasing, inventory, auditing)
• Money costs (capital, depreciation)
• Consumables (diskettes, toner, paper)
• Wasted user time (playing games, changing
  settings of fonts, colorsfutzing)
• Downtime from problems like viruses and crashes
• Co-workers time (interruptions)

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TCO and Asset Management cont.

• TCO
• Calculating the TCO
• First, calculate the current TCO
• Evaluate which costs can be reduced
• Implement cost reductions
• Re-measure your TCO
• Recognize there are a lot of costs associated
  with information technology
• Opportunities for tremendous savings by managing
  these costs

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TCO and Asset Management cont.

• Asset Management what a manager does to keep
  TCO costs down.
• Techniques
• Maintaining hardware and software standards. The
  fewer number of technology products, the easier
  to support, maintain, and administer.
• Outsourcing functions
• Using tools to automate repetitive procedures
• Investing in software distribution tools
• Employing disk cloning technology
• Proactively checking for problems and performing
  preventive maintenance
• Have your hardware reseller preload your standard
  disk image

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TCO and Asset Management cont.

• Asset Management what a manager does to keep
  TCO costs down.
• Techniques
• Using inventory tracking software
• Implementing restrictions so that users cant
  change system confirmations
• Proactively deciding on upgrades and replacements
• Defining and setting appropriate hardware and
  software defaults
• Providing support personnel with resources to do
  their jobs
• Tracking software usage (license metering)
• Performing upgrades only when they are deemed
  necessary and have been tested

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TCO and Asset Management cont.

• Asset Management
• Goal to figure out which might be the most
  worthwhile for your needs for the least cost.

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Standards

• Yes, we are a firm believer in
  standardizingthat is why we have so many
  standards. Joke in the industry
• Benefits
• Eases support burden if have fewer products to
  service
• Less spare parts in inventory
• Inventory of consumables is simplified
• Smaller vendor list
• Shorter delivery times and better volume
  discounts
• Review standards periodically

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Standards cont.

• Standards for Users
• Commoditized products
• Computers are now being built and assembled,
  using many of the same components, by third
  parties in foreign countries.

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Standards cont.

• Standards for Users
• Issues that users care about
• Issues that relate to how the product impacts
  their daily life, as opposed to pure performance,
  are important to users

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Standards cont.

• Possible Issue Items
• Cordless mouse and keyboards
• Coolest looking cell phone/handheld device
• Flat-panel monitors
• Lightest and smallest laptops

• Possible Issue Items
• Tower units to go under the desk
• Desktop units
• Privacy and anti-glare screens
• Leather laptop carrying case vs. canvas
• Preference for devices in certain colors

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Standards cont.

• Regardless of standards you set, you will always
  get requests for exceptions
• Rank within organization does have privilege

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Standards cont.

• Standards Issues that IT Cares About
• Hardware configurations (memory, disk)
• OS and application software (vendor and version)
• Software configuration (options, settings,
  directory and menu location)

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Standards cont.

• Non-standard requests
• Does IT support
• Does IT expand standards

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Standards cont.

• Standards for IT
• Infrastructure
• Servers, routers, switches, storage solutions,
  gateways, network operating systems
• Engage IT employees when determining standards

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Technology Refreshing

• When do you replace equipment?
• The cost of vendor warranties after a certain
  point
• How easy it is to replace a device that fails
• How accounting depreciates IT assets
• How your company views IT spending

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Technology Refreshing cont.

• Considerations for refreshing a piece of
  technology when organization can no longer bear
  the cost of it
• Vendor support is unavailable or cost prohibitive
• Technology is no longer meeting your needs
• Technology presents risks to the environment
  (reliability or security)
• Technology is holding up other IT projects
  (latest software wont run on your current
  equipment)

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Summary Slide

• Technical Environment
• Understanding the User Environment
• TCO and Asset Management
• Standards
• Technology Refreshing