Readiness Now that we have built the system we are ready to move to the readiness phase in which you will need to verify your implementation meets the objectives of the project vision and also start to prepare the environment for the new MetaFrame Farm. This is accomplished through the following: Testing your new MetaFrame farm Pilot Implementation Rollout any remaining MetaFrame servers Implement Change Management policies and procedures 2. Testing your New MetaFrame Environment You will now need to test your new MetaFrame environment to identify and correct any issues with the MetaFrame XP architecture and implementation prior to the production rollout. You will be tasked to test the functionality and stability of the new farm. Keeping with the scope of this document you will not be required to perform full regression testing but you will need to test all the components / features to verify that they meet the requirements set forth in achieving the vision of the project with room to grow. This is done by testing all the features of MetaFrame from a variety of clients that you will be supporting. You will also want to clean up any error messages that might appear in the Event Viewer of a MetaFrame Server. In the following sections you will find a pilot / test user that I feel is a great starting point to test your farm. If you pass all the questions and have completed any additional testing you will be ready to move on to a pilot rollout in which you will assist with further testing your new environment. 3. Pilot Implementation Now we are ready to present the new MetaFrame farm to a select group of end-users in the form of a Pilot rollout. A pilot implementation will help further the process of testing and at the same time, be a proving ground for the MetaFrame implementation. The pilot consists of an actual production environment with live users. The pilot provides the baseline environment on which additional enhancements can be tested. Throughout the Pilot you will want to verify and document the following: User experience. Business functionality. Overall usability This is accomplished by putting real end-users to work and the polling them on the above topics. You will need to work with your customer to derive a well rounded list of end-users to test the environment. I mean, you will not want only the most savvy users testing the farm but some middle of the road users and a few of the most remedial of all the end-users. This will give your polling data a well rounded edge and more accurate results. End-user polling results can be derived through a multitude of ways. The following are just a few: Provide the end-users with a evaluation sheet that asks them their perception of their new environment Go out and talk to the end-user base face-to-face and get their true opinions. Once you have completed the pilot testing you will be ready to compile the results and present them to the customer in a formal move on to the rollout phase. 3. 1. Test Schema for pilot user / test user The following tables are a good starting point to verify the stability and functionality of your new MetaFrame farm. | Dear Pilot User It has been requested of you that you participate as a pilot user of the new application deployment mechanism designed to address the rapid deployment of applications and provide a consistent perception of performance and high user availability from any device, over any network, from anywhere. On the following pages you will find detailed instructions of how to log in to your new environment and a questionnaire to complete as part of your obligations as a pilot user. If you have any questions please contact: pilotadmin@mycompany.com Thank you, MetaFrame Rollout Team |
Please fill out the following questions: | Outlook Check Schema | | | Is Outlook configured with your own mail box when started | | | Logoff and start Outlook again do you have access to the same mail box | | | Make some personal settings, e.g... then logoff and start Outlook again do you have the same settings. | | | Is it possible to send a mail to your colleague | | | Is it possible to receive a mail from your colleague | | | It possible to send a mail to a mailing list | | | Do you have access to the Address book | | | Do you have access to public folders | | | Is it possible to print a mail | | | Is it possible to use hotkeys in Outlook | | | | | | | | | Comments: | | | Word Check Schema | | | Make some personal settings, e.g... then logoff and start Word again do you have the same settings. | | | Is it possible to open a document from your x-drive | | | Is it possible to open a document from your x-drive | | | Is it possible to save a document to your drives | | | Is it possible to use a template | | | Is it possible to print from Word | | | Is it possible to use hotkeys in word | | | Is it possible to insert a picture in a document | | | Is it possible to use the Spelling and Grammar | | | | | | | | | Comments: | | | Excel Check Schema | | | Make some personal settings, e.g... then logoff and start Excel again do you have the same settings. | | | Is it possible to open a file from your P-drive | | | Is it possible to open a file from your G-drive | | | Is it possible to save a file to your drives | | | Is it possible to use a template | | | Is it possible to print from Excel | | | Is it possible to use hotkeys in Excel | | | Is it possible to use a Macro | | | Is it possible to create a new Macro | | | | | | | | | Comments: | | | PowerPoint Check Schema | | | Make some personal settings, e.g... then logoff and start PowerPoint again do you have the same settings. | | | Is it possible to open a presentation from your P-drive | | | Is it possible to open a presentation from your G-drive | | | Is it possible to save a presentation to your drives | | | Is it possible to use a template | | | Is it possible to print from PowerPoint | | | Is it possible to use hotkeys | | | | | | | | | Comments: | | | Access Check Schema | | | Make some personal settings, e.g... then logoff and start Access again do you have the same settings. | | | Is it possible to open a Database from your P-drive | | | Is it possible to open a Database from your G-drive | | | Is it possible to save a Database to your drives | | | Is it possible to use a template | | | Is it possible to print from Access | | | Is it possible to use hotkeys in Access | | | | | | | | | Comments: | | | Publisher Check Schema | | | Make some personal settings, e.g... then logoff and start Publisher again do you have the same settings. | | | Is it possible to open a file from your P-drive | | | Is it possible to open a file from your G-drive | | | Is it possible to save a file to your drives | | | Is it possible to use a template | | | Is it possible to print from Publisher | | | Is it possible to use hotkeys in Publisher | | | | | | | | | Comments: | | | MultiLanguage Check Schema | | | Is it possible to change language | | | Logoff and then start an Office application, does this start in the selected language | | | Check the Spelling and Grammar tool | | | | | | Comments: | | | Internet Explorer Check Schema | | | Make some personal settings, e.gthen logoff and start IE again do you have the same settings. | | | Is it possible to print from IE | | | Is it possible to use hotkeys | | | Is it possible to add a page to your Favorites | | | Is it possible to open a PDF-file | | | | | | | | | Comments: | | | Acrobat Reader Check Schema | | | Make some personal settings, e.g... then logoff and start Acrobat Reader again do you have the same settings. | | | Is it possible to open a file from your x-drive | | | Is it possible to open a file from your x-drive | | | Is it possible to print | | | Is it possible to use hotkeys | | | Is it possible to open the same PDF-file from your Internet Explorer | | | | | | | | | Comments: | | | Desktop Check Schema | | | Is it possible to create a shortcut on the desktop | | | Is it possible to rename the same shortcut on the desktop | | | Is it possible to delete the same shortcut on the desktop | | | Is it possible to empty the Recycle Bin | | | | | | | | | Comments: | | | Helpdesk Check Schema | | | Is it possible to contact the Helpdesk? | | | | | | | | | Comments: | | | Printers Check Schema | | | Do you have a default printer | | | Is it possible to change the default printer | | | Is it possible to delete your own print jobs | | | Is it possible to delete a print job from a colleague | | | Is it possible to print a document with your local characters | | | Is it possible to change the settings on the printer to print from another feeder | | | | | | | | | Comments: | | | File access Check Schema | | | Do you have access to your x-drive | | | Do you have access to your x-drive | | | Is it possible to create folders on your drive | | | Is it possible to create a document directly from this folder | | | Is it possible to delete a document | | | Is it possible to move a document | | | Is it possible to move a folder with its contents | | | What drives do you have access to | | | | | | | | | Comments: | | |
The following is an example of a Help Desk Feedback form. | Please fill out the following feedback on your experience with MetaFrame page | Help Desk Feedback Form | | | Date: Name: | | | Application: Version: | | | File (and location) used: | | | Problem: | | | Comments: | |
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The following in an example of an Test-user Feedback Form. | Please fill out the following feedback on your experience with MetaFrame page | Test-user Feedback Form |
| | Date: Name: Office location: | | | Application: Version: | | | File (and location) used: | | | Comments: | | | Once that you have fully tested a few servers and verified that the installation procedures followed were correct, you will be ready to deploy any remaining servers. This is accomplished by following the installation procedures and rapid server deployment procedures documented during the implementation phase. Follow these installation procedures to rollout any remaining servers. Once you have completed the installation of all the servers you will need to retest the farm and then perform a full Pilot to analyze the completed farm for any issues. Once completed you are ready to continue with the rollout phase and proceed to go live day. When administering a MetaFrame XP environment, it is important to have a stringent change control process in place. An unmanaged MetaFrame environment creates instability and is difficult to maintain and support. Throughout the lifespan of a deployment, many changes are made to the environment and the servers themselves. Changes such as additional services brought on line, additional hardware or software and changes to the MetaFrame servers themselves. These changes directly impact the stability of the MetaFrame farm. With this in mind, it is your responsibility to implement a change process to track these changes to insure the stability of the MetaFrame environment. Keeping with the scope of this document I recommend sticking with these basic rules. 1. Test all software on a test MetaFrame server prior to installing on the production network 2. Implement a change management log for all the MetaFrame servers. Every change made to a server should be documented. You will find a MetaFrame Log Book template located in the templates folder of the MIAB1.0.ZIP file. (downloaded from: http://www.dabcc.com/projectinabox/MIAB1.0.zip) Note: For more information on change management please view the following presentation. Change Management in a MetaFrame XP environment Presented by: Rick Dehlinger and Norm Erlendson: Hey, hey, we made it! OK, now we have created a vision, defined the scope, filled out the scope in to a full fledge project plan, designed and documented the MetaFrame environment, built and tested it and have finished the pilot only to come to the end of another phase and arrive at another checkpoint. Now that you have completed the Implementation phase you will be ready to call another meeting and present your findings and request to move on to the rollout phase. You will find the following Readiness Phase examples and templates located in Methodology in a Box 1.0. (MIAB1.0.ZIP) | Path \ Filename | Description | | Templates\TEMPLATE - Pilot User Welcome Letter | Microsoft Word template file for a Pilot User Welcome Letter | | Templates\TEMPLATE - Pilot Application Test Sheet | Microsoft Word template file for a f a Pilot Application Test Sheet | | Templates\TEMPLATE Test User Feedback Form.doc | Microsoft Word template file for a f a Test User Feedback Form | | Templates\TEMPLATE Help Desk Feedback Form.doc | Microsoft Word template file for a f a Help Desk Feedback Form | |