Getting Started with the Deployment Center

Application Compatibility. Companies can have thousands of line-of-business applications installed across distributed networks. To ensure that these applications are compatible with a new operating system, it is essential that companies test these applications against the new operating system. Compatibility problems with one or many of these applications can cause costly work stoppages and impact the company's revenue stream.

Imaging. To succeed in deploying an operating system, companies should use the best technology and business processes available as well as the best practices for optimizing those technologies. By developing baselines for the computing environment, companies have a known and fixed configuration for deployment, which lowers the cost of ongoing support, troubleshooting, and other operations. Through imaging, a standard build that includes core applications, the operating system, and any additional company requirements can be used for workstation deployment.

Infrastructure Management. Understanding the network environment is critical for any project that introduces changes. As part of your planning and preparation, you must understand the current status of your organization's environment, identify other sources of change that may affect the project, and develop a risk-mitigation approach to the changes before incorporating them.

Deployment Process. Deployment planning and pilot testing should be part of any development process. Deployment processes will differ primarily around the technologies used for the deployment. The deployment process might seem like a complex task, and the resources required may be unavailable. If so, consider using an information technology (IT) partner to help with the planning and process development to make the task more manageable for your internal IT staff.

Office 2003 Deployment. Office 2003 is an integral part of the business desktop. As a core application, most companies will use the guidance in the Solution Accelerator for BDD to include Office 2003 in a disk image. Alternatively, companies might want to customize Office 2003 and deploy it by using Group Policy or Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003. Following the proven best practices that the Solution Accelerator for BDD provides will help make the transition to Office 2003 Edition easier.

User State Migration. The combination of users' data files and their operating system and application settings is called user state. Settings include items such as screen saver preferences and Web browser favorites. Migrating users' data files and settings means that those users will have minimal interruption after the deployment process.

Security/Patching. For most companies, securing the computing environment is the IT department's highest priority. When deploying new operating systems or computers, making sure that the new deployments are at least as secure as the current environment is critical. In fact, any process for deploying new computers must include deploying secure systems. By using constantly updated baselines and images, you can keep the environment secure while still allowing rapid deployment of new workstations.

Provisioning. Administering and managing your enterprise network can be time-consuming and complex. Many of the common administrative and management tasks can be delegated to managers within your organization, but you still want these tasks to go through an approval process before completion. Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) lets you delegate administrative tasks (known as ZTP services), acquire the appropriate approvals, and accrue charges for the ZTP service. In addition, you can allow users to perform self-administered ZTP services, such as installing an application or upgrading their operating systems.