The Microsoft EPM solution or Project Server system has been designed to be scaled out in many different ways to fit many different needs. This, as it turns out, is necessary because growth in usage of these systems sometimes occurs in unexpected ways. A carefully planned department-by-department rollout can be overtaken by enthusiasm or business need. As in many systems, frequently the pilot becomes the production system overnight, literally. Although some of this might be foreseeable, most of it isn't. The best defense is preparation. Carefully read the Microsoft documents that discuss the scalability scenarios of the system, understand the topology of the components, and know where your first expansion points are. Do not relax into a comfort zone after the pilot or the first deployment. Make sure that system monitoring is established (as defined in the following section "Monitoring for Growth") as early as possible. |