Chapter 13: Application Installation and Configuration

Overview

The purpose of the infrastructure discussed so far in this book is to provide software applications to users. Whether these applications automate the organization (say, using ERP, MRP, or CAD/CAM), provide recordkeeping and documentation for them (with such things as accounting applications, word processors, spread sheets, document management, and so on), or allow the organization to communicate effectively (through e-mail, printing, file sharing, or presentation software), applications have become critical to a vast majority of organizations and their users. Without applications, there is no need for IT infrastructure of any kind.

Since all enterprise organizations (as well as a large majority of small- and mid-sized businesses) today have applications that fill these needs, the debate comes down to how to most effectively and cost-efficiently build an IT infrastructure that provides these applications to users that need them. Additionally, many organizations, as they have grown and become more diverse, desire to deploy these applications to a wider set of users with fewer constraints.

At the core of the on-demand computing (ODC) value statement is providing these applications to users anytime, anyplace, from any device. Of course it goes without saying that the users must be able to run the applications without delay, slowness, or problems, and with the latest base of available features. We have made the argument throughout this book that server-based computing (SBC) succeeds at all of these far more efficiently than standard client-server computing. There is one large caveat though—the applications have to work in the SBC environment. If the applications don't run as well, or better, in an SBC environment as they do from a desktop PC, then the SBC project will fail. With this said, it is obvious that application installation and configuration is the fulcrum upon which any server-based computing project will swing from success to failure.

Chapters 10 and 11 both discussed building a pilot or test environment prior to making any significant investment in SBC infrastructure. The most significant reason for the test environment is to ensure that an organization's applications run effectively in an SBC setting. Although chances are good that most, if not all, of your applications will run in an SBC environment because of Microsoft's push to make application developers want the Windows 2000 and 2003 certifications, there are still older applications, or poorly written ones, that remain at the core of many organizations. The success of any SBC project depends largely on whether these applications can be fixed, upgraded or replaced, run in hybrid mode (run locally on some users' machines while all other applications are run from the server) for a period of time, or relegated to a kiosk where users access it as needed. If none of these are an option, the project simply can't go forward.

This chapter will focus on how applications are installed in an SBC environment, the applications' requirements, some tricks to making non-conforming applications work, application optimization, specific tips and checklists for common applications, and application testing methodology.

The installation and testing methodology presented in this chapter is not only critical at implementation, but throughout the life of the server-based environment. All application installation and updates, even minor hotfixes, must be subjected to a strict systematic installation and testing methodology.