Overview

This guide is intended to serve as a part of Microsoft® Deployment Solution Accelerator documentation, to guide a specialist team through Microsoft Deployment tasks and checkpoints. Microsoft Deployment is the next version of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007. The goal is to ensure that the deployment is managed as a specific initiative of the specialist team within the scope of a larger deployment project. The objective is to have the decisions that the Deployment feature team makes within this initiative align with the overall project goals and have the deliverables well integrated into the total migration project.

Note   In this document, Windows applies to the Windows Vista®, Windows® XP Professional, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows Server® 2008, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems unless otherwise noted.

The work described in this guide typically begins in the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) Planning Phase, after a commitment to plan the deployment has been established. The work continues through the Deploying Phase, when the new Windows operating system images are deployed.

The MSF Release Management Role Cluster is the primary consumer of the work in this guide, because the guide focuses primarily on the actual deployment in the production environment. The Release Management Role Cluster must work closely with all the other feature teams to ensure a timely and successful deployment. In particular, the Release Management Role Cluster will rely heavily on the development teams that created the computer images, the Windows User State Migration Tool (USMT) process, application packages, network analysis, application remediation strategies, and hardware inventories to act as escalation contacts for troubleshooting and resolving problems that arise during deployment.

Because this guide contains only guidance on building the appropriate teams, milestones, and high-level tasks in the deployment process, review the guides listed in Table 1 for more information about deployment in the environment.

Table 1. Deployment Guidance in Microsoft Deployment

Before beginning deployment, identify the high-level steps in the Microsoft Deployment process. Figure 1 illustrates the Microsoft Deployment process for deployment. It includes an Envisioning Phase—the part of a project during which initial thinking and project planning occur. That phase ends with the scope of the project defined. This guide does not include information about the project Envisioning Phase, because this preliminary planning will have already taken place. This guide begins with the Planning Phase.

Figure 1. The Microsoft Deployment processes for deployment

The steps within the deployment process of Microsoft Deployment are grouped by the corresponding MSF phases of the project. Based on their MSF role, team members might need to read only portions of this guide. In most instances, team members should read all the sections in this guide.

On This Page

Prerequisites
Lab Setup
Set Up the Team
Education and References

Prerequisites

Installing, configuring, and using this process for deploying Windows operating systems requires personnel who understand and meet certain prerequisites. Those who execute this deployment process should be familiar with the following tools and concepts:

• USMT version 3.0.1

• Systems Management Server 2003 (minimum of Service Pack 2 [SP2]) 

• SMS 2003 Operating System Deployment (OSD) Feature Pack

• System Center Configuration Manager

• Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007

• Windows Deployment Services

• Windows Server 2003 with SP1 or later

• Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) version 2.0, included with Windows Vista for Windows Vista deployments

• Windows PE version 1.5, through the Microsoft Preinstallation Environment support site

• Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) version 5.0

• BitLocker™ Drive Encryption

• CD image creation

• Network infrastructure, including routers, switches, and firewalls

• Networking services infrastructure, including Domain Name System (DNS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS), and remote access

• Active Directory® directory service infrastructure, including logical and physical infrastructure design

• Server capacity planning

• Target computer image creation

• Automated application installation

Lab Setup

Before deploying the operating system in the production environment, the Deployment feature team must test the deployment processes and procedures in a test environment. The test environment should match the production environment as closely as possible. For example, include at least one of each type of target computer in the test environment to ensure that processes and procedures will work for all types of target computers during deployment in the production environment.

For more information about the requirements for the test environment, see the Microsoft Deployment document, Test Feature Team Guide.

Set Up the Team

The specialist team responsible for ensuring the success of the operating system deployment in the production environment is the Deployment feature team. A feature team is a cross-organizational team responsible for solving a defined problem. Within the Microsoft Deployment project, the Deployment feature team is one of several feature teams that work with a project management team to accomplish specific tasks. The Deployment feature team can be involved with the Microsoft Deployment project as early as the Envisioning Phase and is involved through the Deploying Phase.

Feature teams are an important component of the MSF Team Model. Splitting a large and complex project into smaller sets of related tasks allows work on many tasks to be performed in parallel, with the application of specialized expertise where needed. A significant advantage of this approach is an enhanced ability to manage large projects by executing many tasks simultaneously.

For this approach to work, however, it is vitally important that the teams synchronize their efforts and maintain active communication among themselves and with the project management team. This is particularly important during complex projects, when a feature team might focus on its portion of the project to the exclusion of the role it plays in the overall project.

Communication

Key to successful project implementation is the team’s ability to cooperate and communicate both internally with its own members and externally with other feature or function teams within the project, and with project stakeholders.

Within the team, each role is considered to have equal importance, even though the roles might vary. Important team decisions are characterized by joint decision making. The communication process across teams, between individual feature teams, and with the project management team (defined as the lead team in this document), is more formal, with well-defined pathways. This formality does not prevent informal communication among the teams—in fact, informal interaction is encouraged. However, it does ensure that important communications are well documented, occur at the right levels, and are directed to the appropriate team members.

An important consideration for feature teams is communicating with the project stakeholders, which typically includes various entities within the customer organization. To avoid confusion or misunderstood expectations resulting from incomplete or conflicting messages, it is important that the product manager on the lead team act as the official project voice to the stakeholders. This way, management is always aware of the state of the customer relationship, and customer satisfaction in the deployment process is enhanced.

Additional Guidance on the MSF Team Model

For additional guidance on the MSF Team Model, see the white paper, “MSF Team Model,” at https://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/msf/default.mspx. For additional information about the Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF), visit https://www.microsoft.com/mof.

Education and References

The following educational and reference resources can assist in training Deployment feature team members.

• Microsoft Windows Scripting Self-Paced Learning Guide

• Microsoft TechNet Windows XP Service Pack 2 Resources for IT Professionals

• Microsoft TechNet Windows Vista Resources for IT Professionals

• Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment Support

• Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Reference (Deploy.chm)

• Microsoft TechNet Script Center

• Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment User’s Guide (Winpe.chm)

• Microsoft TechNet

• Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN)

• MSF Team Model

• Image Engineering Feature Team Guide

• Deployment Customization Guide

• Deployment Customization Desktop Samples

• Deployment Customization Server Samples

• BitLocker Drive Encryption Technical Overview

• Toolkit Reference

• User State Migration Guide

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