Examine deployment guidelines

  • 1 minute

You can accomplish an effective desktop deployment by implementing the following basic guidelines:

  • Take an inventory and establish a network map of the existing client computers, servers, and other relevant networking services to determine the installed application base and hardware types that your organization has deployed currently. You should consider the organization's main operating center and all branch offices and other locations. You should document even small offices located outside the corporate network and any users who work remotely from home offices and while travelling.
  • Determine what hardware you can reuse as part of the new computer deployment and which types you might need to retire. You must fully understand the hardware requirements for a new operating system and how the system will work with existing peripheral devices.
  • Determine which applications you can redeploy on new desktop systems. Start a process for packaging or scripting those applications so that you can reinstall them quickly and consistently without user intervention.
  • Define a strategy for addressing applications that the new platform cannot support. For example, you might have a critical application that a new operating system does not support, but it might be a candidate for virtualization technology such as Hyper-V in the Windows 10 or Windows 11 operating system, or by using RemoteApp in the Windows Server operating system.
  • Reduce costs by utilizing Windows Server Hyper-V, Windows Virtual Desktop, Remote Desktop Services, Endpoint Manager, and the System Center product line. These products enable you to virtualize your enterprise, which might provide an overall cost savings when compared to a physical deployment.
  • Establish a process to capture user data, settings, and preferences on currently deployed systems and to restore the data on newly deployed systems.
  • Provide a method for backing up all the relevant data on currently deployed computers before redeployment. You can do this as part of the user data capture mentioned above.
  • Provide an end-to-end process for the actual desktop deployment. Several Microsoft automated systems tools can do this, all of which are covered in more detail in the next lesson.
  • Create a plan for training users on the updated desktop systems. The new features and functionality of Windows will help to reduce troubleshooting issues significantly post-deployment.