Network design Topic 1 Business goals

Agenda Network life cycle Network design process Business goals Scope Constraints

Plan – Identify and analyse network requirements Design – Develop the logical design – Develop the physical design – Test, optimise and document the design Implement – Build the network according to the design specifications – Test the network Operate – Monitor the network for performance and faults Optimise – Proactively identity and resolve problems – Tune network performance Retire – Network (or part of) is taken out of production PDIOO Network life cycle

Analyse requirements – Identify business and technical goals – Characterise the existing network – Analyse current and future traffic Develop logical design – Addressing, naming, switching and routing protocols – Security planning and network management – WAN and remote access requirements Develop physical design – Technologies and products selected – Service providers selected Test, optimise and document the design – Create test plans, build a prototype, optimise and document Network design process

Top down design Focus on the customer What the customer hopes to achieve How the business operates, what are the business processes What success will look like, how will business processes change? What are the future needs? Focus on the upper layers of the OSI model before the lower layers Focus on the applications and sessions and how data flows before selecting routers and switches

Gathering information Before meeting the customer: – What does the business do? – Who are the business customers? Where are they? – How does the business operate? – What products or services? – Who are the suppliers? Vendors? Contractors? – Who does the business partner with? – Who does the business complete with? – What is the competitive advantage of the customer?

Gathering information Meeting with the customer – What is the organisational structure of the business? – Who has authority? Who makes the decisions? – What is the overall goal of the project? – What is the business purpose of the project? – What does success look like? What advantages will it bring? – What are the consequences of failure? – Is the new network critical to a vital business function?

What is a business goal? Statement about what the business intends to do – Describes the target to be achieved and clearly describes actions to be taken or tasks to be accomplished. Defining the goal – Everyone knows what they are trying to achieve – Focuses effort and efficiency on achieving the target – Motivates teams to achieve goals (especially when reward is on offer) – Sets priorities for teams – Provides a means to evaluate success

SMART goals Specific – The goal must describe exactly what is expected so that it is clearly understood by everyone and assumptions are not made Measurable – The goal must state how it can be measured (include numbers and percents) so that progress on the goal can be tracked and to identify when the goal has been reached Achievable – The business must have the means and capability to achieve the goal – The goal must be realistic Relevant – The goal appropriate for the context of the network upgrade or design Timely – The date the goal must be achieved by – the start and finish dates

Technologies MUST solve business problems New technology enables the business to meet the goals of the business: – Increase profits – Increase productivity – Increase market share and cash flow – Increase competitive advantage – Increase customer satisfaction – Reduce operational costs (staff and overhead)

Typical business goals Increase revenue and profit – Increase market share, gain competitive advantages and open new markets – Reduce costs, increase employee productivity, streamline processes – Just-in-time manufacturing, plan around component shortages – Offer new customer services, offer better customer support – Open parts of the network to customers, business partners, suppliers, and employees at remote locations – Build relationships and access information

Benefits of new technology Just-in-time manufacturing – Partnerships with suppliers and contractors – More efficient use of resources by reducing operational costs Collaboration – Access to information and services for employees, customers, vendors, partners or suppliers. Streamline processes – Standardise to web based applications – Converge voice and data and video networks Support mobile users – Prevalence of notebooks, netbooks and phones – Remote access users and travelling users Consistent experience – From any location – From any device – PC, notebook, phone

Scope Developing a common understanding of what is included or excluded from the network design project – A single segment, a LAN, a set of LANs, a WAN Scope changes (scope creep) cause grief Scope should describe a successful outcome that is agreed on by the customer and the designer

Defining the scope Identify: – Business processes that will be affected – Business areas/units that will be affected – Business locations that will be affected – Business data that will be changed – Business applications that will be changed – Technologies that will be changed Describe deliverables to be created Describe functionality to be delivered Describe technical structure to be created

Business constraints Identify: Policies regarding protocols, standards and vendors, departmental policies Existing technologies and products Legal, regulatory and contractual requirements Security and privacy policies or law Budget constraints Staffing constraints – Training requirements Time constraints

Business Case The justification for the business goal – Before money and effort are committed make sure that a specific business need is met Includes: – Business goals, scope and constraints – Background of the project The problem to be solved – Expected benefits – Options considered – Costs – Risks

Agenda Network life cycle Network design process Business goals Scope Constraints