| One night while sitting in a bar in a small town in northwest Iowa, I was kicking back having a beer with a Senior Systems Engineer who was more than willing to share the knowledge he had learned over the past twenty plus years. This does not always happen, as some people want to horde their knowledge. Fortunately, this gentleman wanted to teach and I was more than willing to learn. In between sips he looked at me and said something that I will never forget, he said, Doug, you are a good engineer and can build a great network, but if the end-users dont perceive it is a great network, then you will NEVER become a great engineer. I looked back at him, with a questionable look, took a sip and asked, What the hell are you talking about? He just looked back at me and in a firm voice said, Doug, let me teach you a bit about customer perception and Project Management. That night, he changed my professional life, changed the way I did business and made me in to the engineer I am now. When I asked how I could thank him, he would only accept a promise from me to carry on the words that he that he shared. This document is me fulfilling that promise; it is the gospel of a successful engineer along with my personal experiences, my opinions and some awesome contributions by some awesome people thrown in the middle. This document is meant to be a project oriented installation guide for the average deployment. I know that a vast majority of the deployments today are far from enterprise quantity but we still need to treat them as such, just on a smaller level. A successful project also shows off the beauty of Citrix MetaFrame and your customer(s) will be more able and willing to grow their farms, directly resulting in more service dollars and product sales. Now what more can you ask for? The Project Management methodology that we will follow throughout this document is made up of the following five phases: 1. Analysis 2. Design 3. Implementation 4. Readiness 5. Rollout I have tried to write this guide in plain everyday language and to explain things in a simplified approach with examples from my days as a MetaFrame consultant. I have broken this document down in to the above five phases. If you follow it through to the last phase, you will be ready start reaping the rewards of a successfully managed project-oriented deployment. At the end of each phase, you will be presented with a checkpoint, where you can present your customer with a deliverable that signifies the completion of the phase. The checkpoints will also act as an opportunity for you to compare your plan against what you have completed and to verify that you are still on track with the original project plan. At this point, you might need to add or subtract items, as it is important to measure your progress and not just blow through each of the checkpoints. It is important to emphasize that if you make a change to the plan, you will need to present the change and the revised plan to the customer for Sign Off. Note: The project examples found throughout this document represent a specific deployment in a specific organization in other words, they cannot be applied directly to other IT environments. It is important to remember that your project(s) will differ from deployment to deployment and you will need to take what you learn in this document and adapt it to your future MetaFrame projects. Throughout a project-oriented deployment, you will be required to conduct numerous meetings with your customer. If you plan them properly, you will be able to steer the project in the right direction. It also gives you the ability to gather all the key players in one room, put them on the same page, work through any issues that might have arisen and make any decisions that need to be made. When I first started running my own projects, I was given some great tips on what makes an effective meeting and felt that it might be helpful if I pass them on. 1. Set Objectives The art of setting objectives is something you will get better at with experience. You will want to give the attendees as much information as possible on why you have called the meeting and what you expect to accomplish. You will also want to set a clear timeline. 2. Establish an agenda and distribute in advance Send your attendees an agenda and a copy of the documentation you will be presenting to them. This gives them the opportunity to become prepared for the meeting and the oportunity to truly participate. Your results will fall short of your objectives if you give a customer a fifty page document and then turn around and ask if he or she has any questions. Send it out a few days in advance and let them know that you are willing to answer any questions they may have. Ask the attendees if they have talking points for the agenda and have them email those thoughts back to you before the meeting so you too will be better prepared. People love to participate. This shows them you are interested in what they have to say and also shows them that you like to be prepared in advance so as to not waste anyones time. 3. Start and end the meeting on time (Dont allow interruptions or sidetracking from the meetings agenda) It is important for you to utilize your time as efficiently as possible. It is a good ideal to set tentative times for each item and then stick to them. You do this by the art of on table / off table. If you find the meeting getting off subject, you will want to take the subject off table. Then when you are documenting and assigning the next steps you will be able to schedule time for those questions / comments, if they are truly important. 4. Work through each agenda item (Assign and document action items) In your agenda you will have documented a list of action items you want to discuss. You will want to address each item and if additional follow-up is needed, assign a party to be responsible for the task and a timeline for completion. 5. Document and assign next steps If you are not able to finalize all the action items, you will need to document the steps required for completion and the individual responsible. You can also take this time to take action on items that you had tabbed off table and make assignments and schedule follow-up. 6. Summarize Meeting To close the meeting, you will want to leave yourself a few minutes to summarize what has been completed and summarize what follow-up is required. You should schedule follow-up meetings for sign-off on any action items that you have scheduled. 7. Minutes Make sure that comprehensive Minutes are taken and distributed. You can do this yourself or assign it to another person.
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