Sams Teach Yourself Network Troubleshooting in 24 Hours, Second Edition

Manual Standardization

You don’t really need automated deployment tools in order to get organized. (On the other hand, they do make tasks go a lot quicker and easier.) Regardless of whether you choose to use power tools or a hand drill to automate your network rollouts, in order to be successful, you definitely need a well-defined work plan. (It’s an old saw in the automation game: How can you automate anything that has yet to be done manually?)

Let’s look at the parts of your work plan that need to be addressed whether you automate or deploy manually:

• Divide tasks into workstation-oriented tasks and user setup–oriented tasks

• Make checklists of tasks that must be completed

• Keep good records

• Write down a detailed rollout plan, shoot holes in it, ...