Overview of the Directory Needs Definition Process

Your boss, coworkers, and customers (users) will measure the success of your directory service on the basis of how well it meets their needs and the needs of the entire organization. Whether this evaluation is formal (for example, part of a yearly performance review) or informal (for example, a casual conversation that takes place near the cappuccino machine), it will take place. The best way to meet everyone's directory- related needs is to gather and understand as many of them as possible up front, and to keep them in mind throughout the stages of directory design and deployment.

Step 1: Analyze Your Environment

The first step in gathering your directory-related needs is to understand the environment in which your directory service will be deployed. Environment is a broad term that covers a wide range of topics, including organizational structure and geography, computer systems, networks, application software, users, the directory deployment team, other system administrators, and any other people the directory serves. Later in this chapter you will learn how to analyze your own environment.

Step 2: Determine and Prioritize Needs

When you have a good understanding of the overall environment, the needs and constraints that come from each area should be gathered and prioritized. The order in which you do this doesn't matter, as long as no stone is left unturned. Later in this chapter you will learn how to accomplish this task. In brief, you will want to look at each of these areas:

• Application needs . Application needs include all the things the directory service must do to help directory-enabled applications perform their own tasks correctly and efficiently . Applications are usually the primary force behind deployment of a directory service. For example, a modern messaging system typically relies on a directory service for its knowledge of e-mail users and groups of users. It may be impossible to deploy the messaging system without first deploying a directory service that holds the required information. Gathering information about the needs of applications can be complex and time-consuming , but it is probably the most important task and, therefore, the one you should spend the most time on.

• User needs and expectations . User needs and expectations include all the things that people who use your directory service expect or desire from it. For example, end users may expect to always find accurate and up-to-date telephone numbers in the directory. Or they may have privacy concerns about the personal data held in the directory service. Your directory service design should consider all the users' desires, although it is often difficult to know what your end users really need ( especially if the concept of a directory service is new to them). One job of a good directory project planner is to listen to what users say they want but deliver what they actually need.

• Deployment constraints . Deployment constraints arise from the organizational situation or the characteristics of the people charged with designing and deploying the directory service. Resource constraints, personal and organizational philosophies, the needs of those who will administer the directory service, and other realities affect your directory design and largely determine your overall approach. Because you are probably a member of the deployment team yourself, you should not have to go far to gather these deployment constraints, but you need to be careful to examine your situation objectively.

• Other environmental constraints . Other constraints may arise from the environment in which the directory service is deployed. These include everything from system- and network-related constraints to any constraints imposed by the other data sources and directories with which your directory must coexist. For example, the computers and operating systems already being used in your organization may limit your choice of directory service software. Also security needs vary depending on the overall audience for your service; if your directory service lives inside a firewall, it probably needs less protection than if it is accessible to everyone on the Internet.

For each of these areas, you must gather information, produce a list of needs, and assign priorities to each item on the list.

Step 3: Choose an Overall Directory Design and Deployment Approach

After you have gathered and prioritized all the different directory-related needs and constraints, it is important to choose an overall approach to directory design and deployment that fits your needs and situation. In this book we guide you through a design and deployment process that has served us well, but your personal philosophy and organizational realities may lead you to adopt a different approach. The amounts of time spent in the design stage, the piloting stage, and in deployment of the initial directory service all vary widely from organization to organization and from project to project. The most important thing is to choose an approach that will help you succeed with your directory service deployment. Later in this chapter you will learn how to make a good choice.

Step 4: Set Goals and Milestones

The fourth and final step in the needs definition process is to set some goals and milestones that will measure the progress of your directory deployment. This seemingly simple task is often overlooked, but it is well worth spending time up front to define goals and milestones. Most projects go more smoothly when people working on them have good targets to aim for. Good goals and milestones are easily understood , realistic, and significant enough to be worth celebrating. Later in this chapter you will learn how to set good goals and milestones for your directory project.

The results of the directory needs definition process feed into the rest of the directory design process discussed in subsequent chapters. The remainder of this chapter is devoted to exploring each of the needs definition tasks in more detail.