The MigrationImplementation Phase: Conducting the Migration or Installation

The Migration/Implementation Phase: Conducting the Migration or Installation

By this point in the project, more than 10% of the organization's users should have been rolled out and tested in the pilot phase, applications thoroughly tested, help desk and support personnel trained, and common problem resolution clearly documented so that the organization can proceed with the migration and installation throughout the rest of the organization.

Verifying End User Satisfaction

A critical task that can be conducted at this point in the project is to conduct a checkpoint for end user satisfaction, making sure that users are getting their systems, applications, or functionality upgraded; questions are answered; problems are resolved; and most importantly, users are being made aware of the benefits and improvements of the new environment.

Not only does this phase of the project focus on the rollout of the technology, but it is also the key public relations and communications phase of the project. Make sure the user community gets the training and support it needs throughout the process. Plan on issues arising that will need support for several days after each department or user group is upgraded. Don't forget the special users with unique requirements and remote users because they will require additional support.

Supporting the New Windows Server 2003 Environment

Before the last users are rolled into the new networking environment, besides planning the project completion party, you need to allocate time to ensure the ongoing support and maintenance of the new environment is being conducted. This step not only includes doing regular backups of the new servers (covered in detail in Chapter 32, "Backing Up a Windows Server 2003 Environment"), but also includes planning for regular maintenance (Chapter 22, "Windows Server 2003 Management and Maintenance Practices"), monitoring (Chapter 25, "Integrating Microsoft Operations Manager with Windows Server 2003"), and tuning and optimization (Chapter 35, "Capacity Analysis and Performance Optimization") of the new Windows Server 2003 environment.

Now is the time to begin planning for some of the wish list items that didn't make sense to include in the initial migrationfor example, a new antiviral solution, knowledge-management solutions, enhanced security, and so on. If you have a lab still in place, use it for testing patches and software updates.