WINDOWS 1002000 PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE KIT [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Determining a Preferred Client Configuration

Users in large organizations typically have a wide variety of skill levels. They use a variety of applications and hardware, and often work in widely distributed locations. Numerous studies have identified these diverse usage patterns and a lack of client configuration standards as among the most significant factors behind rising IT support costs. This section will help you define basic client configuration standards that serve the needs of your users.

Assessing Your Current Client Configuration

Planning client computer standards requires both technical and organizational knowledge. You must understand your current computing environment and identify the needs of both your users and your organization. You must also decide which Windows 2000 Professional capabilities you want to enable and then document the changes needed to meet your goals. To determine a preferred client configuration you need to assess the following:

Users and their computing requirements.

Applications and application requirements.

Hardware and software requirements.

Significant support issues and solutions.

Based on your research and an understanding of the new client features in Windows 2000 Professional, you can plan your configuration standards.

Defining User Types

Large organizations have many different types of users. The following are some of the things that influence a user's pattern of computer usage:

The organizational unit (OU) to which the user belongs (such as accounting, engineering, or marketing).

The type of work the user performs (technical, executive, or administrative support, for example).

Where the user performs his or her work (such as in an office, from a remote location, or at a shared computer).

The degree of autonomy the user requires to do his or her job.

The amount and type of support the user requires.

In addition, it is also important to notice whether the user is:

Roaming Many users move from one computer to another. Roaming users typically do not take a computer with them when they move from one location to another; instead, they use the computer at the location where they are working. Receptionists or bank tellers who often work at several different desks are examples of roaming users.

Mobile A growing number of workers travel regularly and perform their work using a portable computer. While traveling, they are frequently disconnected from the network, and often connect to the network using low-bandwidth connections. Sales people and consultants are frequently in the mobile user category.

Remote Remote users differ from mobile users because they generally connect to the network from a fixed location, such as a branch or home office that often involves a slow or intermittent network link.

Task-based Users who require a computer to perform a specific, limited set of tasks, such as entering orders. The task-based user might only require a computer running Terminal Services. Receptionists and bank tellers are examples of task-based users.

Knowledge-based Users, such as engineers, lawyers, graphic designers, and programmers, who place the greatest demands on their computers, often require specialized applications and customized configurations.

Assessing Software Standards

To develop your client application standards, address the following questions regarding operating systems, generic commercial applications such as word processing software, and line-of-business applications that have been developed internally to perform tasks such as client management or order fulfillment.

What software is mandatory for your organization?

What software is required for a particular job or business unit?

What software is optional for the organization, business units, or workers who perform a particular type of job?

How often do software requirements at your organization change?

Who determines which software is used—throughout the organization and in specific workgroups?

How is software customized?

How is software distributed?

How is software configured?

How do you install new client software?

How do you upgrade existing software?

How do you pilot or evaluate new software?

At the same time, decide which software to deploy with Windows 2000 Professional—and how to deploy it. Software that is not installed along with the operating system can be made available to users on an as-needed basis.

Basic Users

Basic users might require a standardized configuration of the operating system and the minimum number of corporate-standard applications, such as e-mail and word processing, along with the specific applications they need to do their job (for example, an order entry application). However, basic users would not be permitted to install optional applications, and more complex application features, such as pivot tables in spreadsheet applications, can be disabled.

Advanced Users

Advanced users frequently require advanced operating system features such as the ability to create personal network shares. They also commonly require additional optional applications and features, which they can install as needed. However, you can still prevent them from installing unapproved applications.

Defining Hardware Standards

The applications that your users need to perform their jobs determine your company's hardware requirements. However, planning hardware budgets generally involves longer lead times than planning for software upgrades. Therefore, plan carefully and allow enough time to provide your users with the computer hardware they need when they need it.

The following are some of the questions you might ask regarding your organization's clients:

How fast are the processors in your current client desktop computers? How fast are the processors in your portable computers?

How fast is the network connectivity for your current clients (including portable computers that are network connected and modem connected)?

How much RAM and hard disk space do they have?

Are Windows 2000 Professional drivers available for current network adapters and other peripherals?

What file systems do they use?

Are current computers running other operating systems that need to be upgraded, or do you need to perform clean installations?

Can current computers use remote boot technology?
Do they have remote boot-compatible network adapters? Can they use a remote boot floppy disk?

Will you be using network shares to store user data and configuration data?

Who is responsible for backing up the user's data?

How do you bring new computers into your organization? How do you stage new hardware? Does the original equipment manufacturer preinstall applications? Do you remove any preinstalled software from new hardware and then reinstall it according to your own standards?

How do you replace failed hardware? If a hard disk fails, how do you replace it? How do you replace or restore the operating system? How do you replace or restore applications? How do you replace or restore the user's data?

Do you have security requirements for data on the hard disk? Do you use any form of data encryption?

Do your computers have multiple configurations? For example, does a portable computer have one set of hardware features for when it is in a docking station (including a network adapter) and another hardware profile for when it is undocked (and using a high-speed modem rather than a network adapter)?

How long do you spend troubleshooting a hardware problem before you replace the computer and restore a standard operating system and application environment?

For each class of users in your organization, define a standard type of computer that can meet current and anticipated processing needs for two years at a minimum. In addition, try to reduce the number of different hardware configurations that you support to improve your ability to support users and also reduce client support costs.

Conducting a Hardware and Software Inventory

If you have not already done so, conduct hardware and software inventories of all servers and client computers in use on your network. Document all routers, printers, modems, and other hardware, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID) arrays and Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) server hardware. Be sure that you include such details as basic input/output system (BIOS) settings and the configuration of any peripheral devices such as printers, scanners, and input devices. Record driver versions and other software and firmware information.

Your software inventory needs to list all applications found on all computers, and include version numbers (or date and time stamp data) of dynamic- link libraries (DLLs) associated with the applications on your system. Remember to document any service packs you might have applied to your operating system or applications. You can use scripts and a variety of third-party applications to obtain this information from Windows and Windows NT networks that use Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

Identifying Significant Support Issues

Understanding your current support issues can help you improve client configuration standards and reduce support costs. Some questions to address include the following:

What are the top 10 support issues?

List them and develop action plans to reduce their frequency.

How often do users "break" their configuration by attempting to change settings (such as video drivers) and other configuration options?

If the frequency of configuration problems is unacceptably high, you might want to restrict users' ability to change their operating system configuration.

How often do users "break" their configuration by attempting to either add or remove applications incorrectly?

If the frequency of this problem is unacceptably high, you might want to restrict their ability to install or uninstall applications.

Do users install unauthorized software on their computers?

If this is a problem in your organization,
institute corporate policies on whether unauthorized software is allowed.
Even if you allow users to bring unauthorized software into the organization,
define the types of software to allow and the licensing rules by which users must abide.

Has the data on clients been secured? Does it need to be?

Most organizations will want to define security measures for corporate data. The amount of security varies by the type of data involved (financial data or trade secrets require one level of security, public relations releases require another level, for example). You might also want to define who is responsible for security (users versus IT, for example) depending on the type of data.

How much time does your help desk spend trying to fix a broken configuration before they reinstall or reset the basic configuration?

If you do not have time limits on support calls for broken configurations, consider instituting limits. Also, evaluate Windows 2000 Professional features that can be used to back up user data and install or reinstall the operating system and applications. These new features can affect the length of support calls. For example, if it is easier to reinstall a desktop and data than to troubleshoot a broken configuration, you can significantly reduce the length of your average support call.

Your answers to these and other support questions will help you determine which Windows 2000 Professional features and configuration options to implement.

Determining Your Preferred Client Configuration

Whether you choose to accept the Windows 2000 Professional defaults or implement your own configuration preferences, it is recommended that you evaluate Windows 2000 Professional configuration options according to the following criteria:

Are they easy to learn?

Are they efficient to use?

Are they easy to remember?

Can they help address your top help desk issues or concerns?

Do they reduce the number of user errors?

The following techniques might help you to determine a preferred client configuration to best meet the needs of your users:

Focus groups Bring groups of users together for focused discussions about what they like and dislike about their computer configurations, and what changes might make them more productive.

Observational research Watch users while they work on their computers.

Field research Talk to administrators at other organizations about what they have learned.

Expert reviews Study the research that exists about user interface design and user productivity.

User surveys Create a questionnaire and through e-mail or your organization's intranet you can obtain feedback from a broad range of users on their preferences.

A prioritized list of user requirements needs to guide the development of the preferred client configuration. After the entire deployment team has had an opportunity to go through training on Windows 2000 Professional, the team needs to understand the features well enough to map them to the specific user requirements.