| As we already know, the printer subsystem might require the most administration and can possibly cause the most headaches. Knowing this ahead of time gives us the ability to explain it to the customer and in return set the proper expectations. If at all possible it is always wise to create as much structure as possible. This prevents from possible unknowns entering your printing environment. As part of the welcome letter, which will be created in the Readiness phase, you will want to add a policy for adding additional printers. This can be accomplished in multiple ways, an Outlook form, Lotus Notes database, a web page or even easier an email account for the end-users to contact with the brand and driver name of their new printer. You will also want to document exactly how the end users will deliver this information to the administrator. During the infrastructure assessment, you should have gathered a list of supported printers. This is very important because you will take this list and apply any required compatibility mappings and you will be setting the expectation that those will be the printers that will be supported on go-live day and any additional printers might need additional configuration. You can do this in many ways. I recommend sending out an email to introduce yourself and the project at hand while at the same time asking for some information in return. Provide the customers management, administrators and end-users with a form asking what type of printer(s) they have, both make and model. Explain to them that by supplying that type of information will allow their printers to be supported. Let them know that if they purchase a new printer or login from another computer that they might need additional configuration. Once the list is accumulated you will need to present it to the customer for sign off. This will be the list of printers expected to be ready for go-live day. |