Contents Module 3: Designing a Software Distribution and Management Strategy Overview Determining Current Software Distribution Strategy Determining Software Distribution and Management Needs Evaluating Software Distribution and Management Options 10 Selecting Software Distribution and Management Options 17 Lab A: Meeting Organizational Software Requirements 24 Review 32 Information in this document, including URL and other Internet Web site references, is subject to change without notice Unless otherwise noted, the example companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places, and events depicted herein are fictitious, and no association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, places or events is intended or should be inferred Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document Except as expressly provided in any written license agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property  2001 Microsoft Corporation All rights reserved Microsoft, MS-DOS, Windows, Windows NT, Active Desktop, Active Directory, IntelliMirror, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Visio are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A and/or other countries The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners Module 3: Designing a Software Distribution and Management Strategy iii Instructor Notes Presentation: 75 Minutes Lab: 45 Minutes This module examines how to identify current software distribution and management methods and determine future software management needs Students evaluate four different software deployment technologies to determine whether those technologies address the organizational needs and which ones are appropriate to include in a Change and Configuration Management (CCM) design After completing this module, students will be able to:
Determine how the organization currently manages software distribution
Determine how the organization must manage software distribution
Evaluate possible software distribution options
Select the appropriate options to meet their business needs Materials and Preparation This section provides the materials and preparation tasks that you need to teach this module Required Materials To teach this module, you need the following materials:
Microsoft® PowerPoint® file 2410a_03.ppt
Module 3, “Designing a Software Distribution and Management Strategy”
Trainer Materials compact disc Preparation Tasks To prepare for this module:
Read all of the materials for this module
Read the technical white papers located on the Trainer Materials compact disc
Read any relevant information in the Microsoft Windows® 2000 or Microsoft Windows XP Help files, and the Windows 2000 Resource Kit or the Windows XP Resource Kit
Be familiar with the principles and practice of CCM
Read the instructor notes that precede each module These contain preparation suggestions for each module
Read the review questions and be prepared to elaborate on the answers provided in the text
Complete the lab and be prepared to elaborate on the solutions found there iv Module 3: Designing a Software Distribution and Management Strategy Module Strategy Use the following strategy to present this module:
Determining Current Software Distribution Strategy In this section, students learn how to gather the information required for an analysis of the current software distribution and management environment In addition, students learn how to determine the organization’s current methods, and technologies used for software deployment and management Take the following actions: • Establish that the management of software distribution must be treated as a process, from initial packaging through to final removal of packages As with all processes, it must be managed as a continuous series of activities • The best way to collect information is to treat it as an update of a software management information base, rather than to generate a new report on current software management methods Clearly, this would require some prior planning on how the information base is implemented and managed
Determining Software Distribution and Management Needs In this section, students learn how to identify the limitations and disadvantages of current technologies, and how to identify the organization’s future requirements In addition, students learn how the various CCM technologies can benefit the organization and how these technologies can be mapped onto the organization’s requirements for software distribution and management
Evaluating Software Distribution and Management Options In this section, students identify four different software deployment technologies available for the distribution and management of software in an organization Students then assess the suitability of these technologies to organizational requirements Take the following actions: • Ensure that students understand that available technologies are constantly developing, and that new products may offer new capabilities • The Windows Installer Service is described here for the first time, as a service that can be used by either Microsoft IntelliMirror® or Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS)
Selecting Software Distribution and Management Options In this section, students identify the deployment technologies that are suitable for specific organizational requirements Take the following actions: • Acknowledge that selecting options means deciding whether IntelliMirror is appropriate and sufficient If not, SMS is the best choice Module 3: Designing a Software Distribution and Management Strategy v Lab Strategy Use the following strategy to present this lab Lab A: Meeting Organizational Software Requirements The lab is designed to assist the student in applying the information presented in this module Students are expected to have:
Experience with deploying software to client computers
Basic experience or knowledge of the Active Directory™ directory service
Basic experience or knowledge of Group Policy
Basic experience or knowledge of SMS
The knowledge and skills necessary to define and implement a software distribution and management plan The lab has three scenarios, each of which is based on a company requiring facilities for software distribution and management In this lab, students will review each scenario and determine organizational requirements They will then use information from the module to make a number of design decisions concerning the software distribution and management plan Students will also be asked to explain how they arrived at those decisions To conduct this lab:
Read through the lab carefully, paying close attention to the instructions and to the details of the scenario
Divide the class into groups of two or more students
Present the lab and make sure that students understand the instructions and the purpose of the lab
Explain each of the scenarios and highlight any key information
Remind students to consider the relative merits of SMS and IntelliMirror regarding software distribution and management, and to think about the suitability of each option to the scenarios
While students are completing the lab, take the opportunity to assess each student’s comprehension of the technology features of SMS and IntelliMirror presented in the module
Allow some time to discuss the solutions after the lab is completed A solution is provided on the Trainer Materials compact disc Encourage students to look critically at one another’s solutions and to discuss any ideas for improving the designs Module 3: Designing a Software Distribution and Management Strategy Overview Topic Objective To provide an overview of the module topics and objectives Lead-in In this module, you will learn the principles of evaluating software distribution and management options based on business needs, and the current and planned environment
Determining Current Software Distribution Strategy
Determining Software Distribution and Management Needs
Evaluating Software Distribution and Management Options
Selecting Software Distribution and Management Options *****************************ILLEGAL FOR NON-TRAINER USE****************************** As the administrator or designer of your network, you will provide a plan for distributing and managing the software on client computers The technologies available to deploy and manage software can reduce an organization’s total cost of ownership (TCO) and can streamline the desktop delivery and configuration of application packages This module examines how to identify current software distribution and management methods and determine future software management needs You will evaluate four different software distribution technologies to determine whether they address the organizational needs and which ones are appropriate to include in your Change and Configuration Management (CCM) design After completing this module, you will be able to:
Determine how the organization currently manages software distribution
Define a strategy based on how the organization needs to manage software distribution
Evaluate possible software distribution options
Select the appropriate options to meet your business needs Module 3: Designing a Software Distribution and Management Strategy
Determining Current Software Distribution Strategy Topic Objective To identify the steps required to determine the organization’s current software management environment
Determining Current Software Management Process
Collecting Software Management Information Lead-in
Identifying Current Software Environment It is important to determine your existing environment to identify where and how different software management technologies can help your organization *****************************ILLEGAL FOR NON-TRAINER USE****************************** One of the first tasks to help you to create the software distribution and management plan is the assessment and analysis of the existing software distribution methods and environment In this section, you will learn how to gather the information that is required for the analysis of the current software distribution and management environment In addition, you will learn how to determine the organization’s current methods, and you will learn about technologies used for software deployment and management Module 3: Designing a Software Distribution and Management Strategy Determining Current Software Management Process Topic Objective To define the stages of the software management process Lead-in Each organization has its own approach, but any approach involves standard stages
Packaging—Preparing an Application for Installation
Distribution—Replicating Package Files to Distribution Points
Targeting—Specifying Which Client Computers Will Receive the Package
Installation—Getting the Package onto the Client Computer
Removal—Removing Old Applications *****************************ILLEGAL FOR NON-TRAINER USE****************************** Before you can successfully create and implement a software distribution and management plan, you must be aware of the basic process flow that your organization currently uses:
Packaging—preparing an application for installation Packaging is the process of preparing an application to be installed by a software deployment technology This may involve third-party packaging tools
Distribution—replicating package files to distribution points Distribution is the process of setting up and managing distribution points or server shares where client computers can access the package, and replicating the package files to those distribution points
Targeting—specifying which client computers will receive the package Targeting is the process of specifying which client computers must receive the package It also determines if the user or the computer is the target for packages
Installation—getting the package onto the client computer Installation is the process of getting the package onto a computer in a running or ready-to-run state After a specific user or computer receives the targeting information and package details, installation must occur to complete the deployment
Removal—removing old applications Removal is the process of how the organization removes installed applications from client computers At some point, your users will no longer require certain software, and you must know how to remove it Module 3: Designing a Software Distribution and Management Strategy Collecting Software Management Information Topic Objective To explain how to determine the organization’s current methodology for software distribution and management
Lead-in To create a software management strategy, you must determine which methods the organization currently uses for software distribution Collection Techniques
Questionnaires
Interviews
Brainstorming sessions *****************************ILLEGAL FOR NON-TRAINER USE****************************** Your CCM infrastructure plan for software management will include assessing whether you can improve upon current methods by using the technologies that this module identifies Collection Techniques To determine the strategies mentioned previously, you must obtain information from the relevant parties This information must be useful, manageable, and given in a timely manner to fit in with your plan schedule You may decide to gather the appropriate information in one or possibly all of the following ways:
Questionnaires
Interviews
Brainstorming sessions The information that you collect will help you determine the effectiveness of the current strategy and identify where new technologies may provide more benefit to you Collect and document the responses that you receive from these methods in a document called a planning worksheet ... methods, and you will learn about technologies used for software deployment and management Module 3: Designing a Software Distribution and Management Strategy Determining Current Software Management. .. stages of the software management process Lead-in Each organization has its own approach, but any approach involves standard stages
Packaging—Preparing an Application for Installation
Distribution? ??Replicating... Distribution and Management Strategy
Evaluating Software Distribution and Management Options Topic Objective To identify the available software distribution and management options Lead-in You