» Optimize Phase Overview
- Ensure customer’s network is operating at peak performance.
- Ensure customer’s network is resolving problems quickly.
- Ensure customer’s network is adapting the architecture, operation, and performance to chnaging business goals.
» Business Case Alignment
- Assess the ROI
- Assess other business benefits of the solution.
» Technology Assessment
- Assess the routing and switching system.
- Drive continuous improvements by recommending remediation measures including:
- Device configuration optimization.
- Capacity planning.
- Traffic analysis.
- Security assessment.
- Quality issue resolution.
- Technology Assessment Activity:
- System performance analysis
- Measure the solution performance, availability, capacity, security, and software functionality
- Security review of infrastructure
- Develop and deliver technology assessment report
» Operations Assessment
-
Assess the current state of customer operations and network management.
-
Identify issues and opportunities for improving the management of their routing and switching system.
-
Operation Assessment Activities:
» Security Assessment
-
Obtain, review, determine, and document security procedures.
-
Upgrade requirements.
-
Evaluate the efficiencies of the security infrastructure.
-
Security Assessment Activities:
» Recommended Skills
-
Typical job roles include AM’s, SE’s, FE’s, and network consulting engineers (NCE’s).
-
The recommended skills needed to fulfill the defined activities are:
-
Demonstrate an understanding of the existing routing and switching network.
-
The ability to assess the customer’s evolving business requirements and identify trends in operational processes.
-
An understanding of account management, market conditions, sales methodologies, industry routing and switching operations, and security leading practices.
-
The capability to recognize opportunities to position and sell additional routing and switching technologies.
REFERENCE: Cisco PEC (Requires valid user login)
“The only difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how we use them.” – Author unknown
Filed under: » CQS-ARSFE, » Lifecycle, » Review Notes
» Operate Phase Overview
- Ensure the solution is operating efficiently.
- Ensure the solution is highly available.
» Operations Setup
- System administration and backup.
- Assessment management.
- Scheduled maintenance.
» Systems Monitoring
- Monitor, manage, and report on service level metrics and abnormal events or trends that may effect the enterprise routing and switching system.
» Incident Management
- Classifying and prioritizing the incident.
- Isolating and resolving the incident.
- Scheduled maintenance.
- Recovering from the incident outage.
- Validating the resolution.
- Tracking and monitoring progress.
- Closing the incident.
» Problem Management
- Identify, as well as resolve, recurring incidents.
- Analyze incident trends.
- Activities:
- Identify problem
- Manage problem
» Change Management
- Originate and evaluate changes.
- Accept and schedule changes.
- Execute changes.
- Communicate changes.
- Conduct post-change evaluation.
- Accept and close changes.
» Configuration Management
- Check that changes in the system infrastructure have been recorded correctly.
- Monitor the status of components.
- Activities:
- System configuration management database
- Verify configuration management database
» Supplier Management
- Check that changes in the infrastructure have been recorded correctly.
- Manage requisitions with suppliers.
- Manage settlements and billing activities.
- Manage contracts between the enterprise and suppliers.
» Security Management
- Define processes and principles to address security-related issues.
- Provide ongoing management to protect confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information.
- Security Management Activities:
- Security incident management
- Identify management
- Security configuration management
- Security content delivery management
- Security policy administration
» Service Review
- Assist customer in identifying best practices to monitor system performance and respond to trouble reports.
» Recommended Skills
- Typical job roles include AM’s, SE’s, and FE’s.
- The recommended skills needed to fulfill the defined activities are:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the proposed routing and switching solution.
- The ability to support a routing and switching solution and troubleshoot network problems.
- The capability to provide configuration, change management, incident, and problem management activities.
REFERENCE: Cisco PEC (Requires valid user login)
Filed under: » CQS-ARSFE, » Lifecycle, » Review Notes
» Implement Phase Overview
- The new technology solution is installed with minimal disruption to the existing network.
- Vulnerabilities are assessed and minimized.
» Project Planning
- Develop project management, escalation, and communication plans.
- Conduct an internal kickoff meeting.
» Project Kickoff
- Conduct the project kickoff meeting.
» Staging Core Network Services: Routed and Switched Environments
- Provide a plan detailing the installation requirement tasks.
- Stage tasks in a controlled implementation environment.
- Activities:
- Install system components per staging plan
- Staging plan (configure and document solution)
- Execute test cases per the staging plan
» Phased Implementation
- Configure and integrate enterprise routing and switching system components for pilot sites.
- Activities:
- Site preparation for system implementation
- Install, configure, integrate, and test infrastructure
- Document implemented components, devices, and applications
- Host hand-off and support introduction meeting
» Full System Migration
- Migrate all sites, end-users and network services.
» Acceptance Testing
- Verify that the system meets the customer’s solution requirements
- Verify that the system is ready for production.
- Activities:
- Prepare for acceptance test plan execution
- Execute systems acceptance test plan
- Present and review test results
» Staff Training
- Develop the class scheduling, enrollment, communication plan, course outlines, training schedule and locations, coordination of training vendors, and training budgets.
» Post Implementation Support Hand-off Meeting (Operations Implementation)
- Coordinate a meeting to provide details on and discuss the ongoing support and services to be provided.
- Activities:
- Review customer operations plan
- Prepare for hand-off meeting
- Host a hand-off meeting
- Execute customer operations plan
- SMARTnet only hand-off meeting
- Operations services hand-off meeting
- Partner value added support hand-off meeting
- Verify customer understanding
» Project Closeout
- Recap the solution implementation to gather customer feedback, gauge profitability, identify lessons learned, and incorporate into leading practices.
» Recommended Skills
- Typical job roles include SE’s, FE’s, and PM’s.
- The recommended skills needed to fulfill the defined activities are:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the proposed routing and switching solution.
- The ability to provide staff training.
- Excellent documentation and writing skills.
- Demonstrate understanding of technical support options.
- Technical deployment and project management skills.
REFERENCE: Cisco PEC (Requires valid user login)
Filed under: » CQS-ARSFE, » Lifecycle, » Review Notes
» Design Phase Overview
- Design solution is developed to meet business requirements, and foresee and prevent potential network bottlenecks
» Design Project Kickoff
- Host a design workshop to:
- Confirm dates, roles, and responsibilities.
- Confirm that all planning information is complete.
- Discuss and document the progress for the remediation plan.
» Detailed Design Development: Design Workshop
- Provide a comprehensive detailed design for the customer routing and switching system.
- Detailed Design Development: Design Workshop Activity:
- Design routing and switching infrastructure
- Design recommendations for a switched environment
- Design recommendations for a routed environment
- Design MPLS WAN
- DMVPN design development (Here is a tutorial of DMVPN by Petr Lapukhov of Internetwork Expert)
- Design routing and switching security architecture
- Present low-level design to customer
» Detailed Design Validation
- Validate the design of the:
- Routing and switching WAN infrastructure.
- Routing environment.
- Security architecture design.
- Interfaces to third-party systems.
- Present the low-level design validation to the customer.
- Detailed Design Validation Activities:
- Validate design core network services WAN infrastructure
- Validate design routing environment (internal/ external)
- Validate security architecture design
- Validate design interfaces to 3rd-party systems and databases
- Present low-level design validation to customer
» Detailed Design Customer Sign-off
- Review the low-level design with the customer.
- Obtain a signed Letter of Understanding.
» Implementation Plan Development
- Provide a site-specific implementation plan that defines:
- Activities.
- Configurations.
- Commissioning test plans.
- Implementation Plan Development Activities:
- Site-specific implementation requirements
- Create a site-specific network implementation plan
- Gather and verify full system migration requirements
- Develop full system migration strategy
- Define migration team roles and responsibilities
- Develop implementation schedule
- Present final network implementation plan
» Operations Plan Development
- Operational processes for the routing and switching system.
- A plan to implement the new processes.
- A process readiness test plan.
- Operations Plan Development Activities:
- Review existing process and flows
- Develop methods and procedures
- Develop plan to implement operations
- Develop test plan for operational processes
- Present operations plan
» Staging Plan Development
- Provide a plan detailing the installation requirement tasks.
- Stage the tasks in a controlled implementation environment.
- Staging Plan Development Activities:
- Collect and verify staging requirements
- Staging plan development
- Present staging plan
» Systems Acceptance Test Plan Development
- Verify that the deployed system meets the customer’s needs.
- Verify tat the system is ready for the production environment.
- Systems Acceptance Test Plan Development Activities:
- Collect and verify solution accepted requirements
- Acceptance test plan development
- Present acceptance test plan
» Staff Plan Development
- Assess the skills and knowledge required to support the customer’s proposed system.
- Analyze and define the training and development requirements for each support role.
» Recommended Skills
- Typical job roles include AM’s, SE’s, FE’s and PM’s.
- The recommended skills needed to fulfill the defined activities are:
- The ability to manage complex projects and demonstrate an understanding of the solution.
- The ability to design a solution that meets the customer requirements.
- The ability to validate the routing and switching design.
- An understanding of the routing and switching implementation and operational requirements.
REFERENCE: Cisco PEC (Requires valid user login)
Filed under: » CQS-ARSFE, » Lifecycle, » Review Notes
» Plan Phase Overview
- The physical and network infrastructure are analyzed.
- Routing and switching solution recommendations are introduced.
» Planning Project Kickoff (Deployment Project Management)
- Provide resources to manage the planning, design, and implementation phases.
- Develop and execute a project management program.
» Systems Requirements Validation
- Perform an analysis of the customer’s technical and business requirements.
- Provide a remediation plan.
» Network Readiness Assessment Including Physical Network Assessment
- Assess the customer’s existing network infrastructure.
- Analyze the physical and logical configuration of the network.
- Analyze network design and integration issues.
- Network Readiness Assessment Including Physical Network Assessment Activities:
- Prepare for site readiness assessment
- Gather and verify customer network information
- Conduct facility sites survey:
- Perform site assessment gap analysis
- Assess existing infrastructure
- Assess existing WAN
- Assess existing IP address assignment or breakdown
- Assess existing routing protocols
- Consolidation assessment
- Backup and recovery assessment
- Perform gap analysis
- Present network readiness assessment report and network remediation plan
» Operations Readiness Assessment Including People, Process, and Tools
- Assess the customer’s current operations and network management infrastructure.
- Identify issues pertaining to the proposed system service-level requirements.
- Identify the customer’s support model.
- Operations Readiness Assessment Activities:
- Prepare for operational assessment
- Conduct operational assessment
- Perform operational assessment gap analysis
- Produce operations readiness assessment report
» Security Architecture Assessment
- Integrate the new routing and switching system.
- Protect networks and information against intruders.
- Security Architecture Assessment Activities:
- Prepare for security analysis
- Conduct security analysis
- Perform security gap analysis
» Service Assurance
- Assess network and operational readiness.
- Complete the service assurance process by identifying potential points of vulnerability.
» Recommended Skills
- Typical job roles include AM’s, SE’s, FE’s and PM’s.
- The recommended skills needed to fulfill the defined activities are:
- The ability to manage complex projects and demonstrate an understanding of the solution.
- The ability to assess customer’s existing core infrastructure.
- The ability to conduct interviews.
- Knowledge of industry routing and switching network, system, operations, security, and leading practices.
REFERENCE: Cisco PEC (Requires valid user login)
Filed under: » CQS-ARSFE, » Lifecycle, » Review Notes
» Prepare Phase Overview
- Analyze and evaluate business and technical requirements.
- Identify the appropriate products or solutions.
» Account Qualification
- Conduct customer interviews
- Conduct interviews with executive sponsors.
» Account Planning
- Conduct sales strategy planning sessions.
» Business Requirements Development
- Identify and assess customer business requirements.
- Produce and present business requirements.
- Business Requirements Development Activities:
- Prepare for business requirements workshops
- Conduct business requirements workshops
» Technology Strategy Development
- Analyze customer business requirements.
- Identify and assess technologies and services.
- Produce and present a technology requirements document.
- Technology Strategy Development Activities:
- Preliminary technical discovery
- Technology strategy meeting
- Develop technology strategy
- Present solution requirements
» Customer Education (Product and Technology Demo)
- Prepare and conduct customer demonstrations.
- Provide examples of technology features and functionality.
- Provide examples of the achievable performance of the most recent product.
» High-Level Design Development
- Analyze technology and operational requirements.
- Identify hardware and software.
- Produce a high-level design solution and review with customer.
- High-Level Design Development Activities:
- Identify products that meet customer’s requirements
- Produce high-level design
- Present high-level design
» Business Case Development
- Review the business and technology requirements document.
- Review high-level design and operations technology strategy.
- Develop a financial analysis.
- Produce a business case.
- Business Case Development Activities:
- Review business and technical requirements
- Determine solutions for the customer’s business and technical requirements
- Business initiatives ROI
- Produce a business case
- Present business case
» Proposal Development
- Develop a written proposal or request for proposal (RFP).
- Generate planning and design a statement of work (SOW).
- Develop an executive presentation.
» Deliver Proposal
- Deliver the executive presentation.
» Recommended Skills
- Typical job roles include AM’s, and SE’s.
- The SE’s provide sales support and technical expertise.
- The recommended skills needed to fulfill the defined activities are:
- A background in account management.
- The ability to recognize and qualify opportunities.
- Knowledge of market conditions, sales methodologies, and technology solutions.
- Sales expertise and technical knowledge.
REFERENCE: Cisco PEC (Requires valid user login)
Filed under: » CQS-ARSFE, » Lifecycle, » Review Notes
16-August-2008 • 12:20 am
» Cisco Lifecycle Services Approach
- Can be used to conduct successful and profitable business engagements.
- Defines a minimum set of activities needed to help customers successfully:
- Deploy and operate Cisco technologies.
- Optimize performance.
- Phases of Cisco Lifecycle Services:
- Prepare: Service components that help customers make sound financial decisions by establishing the financial justification for making a technology change and developing a high-level architecture.
- Plan: Service components that help customers assess the existing environment to determine whether it can support the proposed system.
- Design: Service components that help customers develop a comprehensive detailed design that meets business and technical requirements.
- Implement: Service components that help customers integrate devices while minimizing disruption to the existing network.
- Operate: Service components that help customers maintain network health through day-to-day operations.
- Optimize: Service components that help customers achieve operational excellence through ongoing improvement of system performance and functionality.
» Partner Value of Cisco Lifecycle Services:
- Help gain opportunities to increase profitability.
- Help improve productivity.
- Help improve customer satisfaction ratings.
- Help reduce risk in deploying and supporting complex technologies.
» Customer Value of Cisco Lifecycle Services:
- Help increase the network’s business value and ROI.
- Help increase network staff productivity.
- Help improve network availability, resiliency, security, and scalability.
» Account Team and Project Team
- Utilizes sales, consulting, engineering, and project management includes the:
- Account Manager (AM).
- Systems Engineer (SE).
- Project Manager (PM).
- Helps establish credibility and build customer confidence. The project team includes:
- Account Managers (AM’s).
- Systems Engineers (SE’s).
- Field Engineers (FE’s).
- Project Managers (PM’s).
- Provides a step-by-step approach to sell and deploy technology solutions.
- Provides a methodology to guide and support customers.
To learn more, here is a flash presentation from Cisco:
REFERENCE: Cisco PEC (Requires valid user login)
“Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.” – Chinese Proverb
Filed under: » CQS-ARSFE, » Review Notes
