Migration of Network Infrastructure: Project Management Experience

By Tomasz Szymanski

The book describes the network migration project that was carried out between 2019/2020. The information contained relates to management of such projects and technical aspects, including those related to the selection of a solution for the operation and management of a computer network.
The book shows the challenges faced by managers in the case of strategic decisions regarding the technical infrastructure for enterprises administering dispersed IT Infrastructure networks. The examples provided in the book show the status before and after implementation in the form of diagrams and photos along with additional comments and suggestions. The aim of the publication is to share the project experience with readers in order to speed up and simplify future projects.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781291301687

Book preview

Introduction

I wondered for a long time whether I should share my experience and knowledge of solving problems that may be encountered in managing infrastructure projects. On one hand, there are many  studies  showing  correct project management in theory and on the other hand, there are no real descriptions of what it looked like in practice. There is a lack of actual descriptions in practice.

The 100% successful projects myth is still prevalent even though the statistical data does not confirm this and even depicts that projects encounter number of  problems that  contribute to their non-completion significantly. I also came across  projects that were supposed to be an extension of previous ones and the current status showed that former projects had not been even completed.

Traditionally, project management (based on 3 key elements: budget, time, technical resources and human capital), despite the application of new IT technologies in the world, is successfully applied and cannot be replaced by pseudo methodologies and a new agile management method. Despite this, I do not deny that each project management methodology has its place and justification, but it is the experience that suggests and shows which of them is appropriate for a specific project and should be strongly embedded in the organizational culture of a given organization.

Technical knowledge helps in making quick decisions about solving technical problems, while knowledge of management helps in making decisions affecting the duration of the project or components related to its budget. Merely the combination of these two skills increases the chances of completing the project within the assumed time and budget. Or, by interpreting it a bit differently, it clearly reduces the unknowns, which results from experience gained from similar projects.

Usually, when choosing a project book, readers expect practical advice rather than another entry in management theory or project management theory. I think you can directly write about erroneous expectations and disappointments regarding the inability to find practical knowledge. On the one hand, it is understandable, and on the other hand, the reader should also understand that the aim of the article is not to present a draft of a ready-made solution such as: copy-paste, to duplicate it quickly and without restrictions. Project tasks, whether smaller or slightly more complex, require optimization and adaptation to the current progress of work. Deviations from the plan are acceptable, but only in cases where it also affects the faster completion of the project and the simultaneous improvement of quality, which is not as trivial as it turns out in practice.

The possibility of cooperation on the project is always the result of mutual trust and responsibility for the project. In this publication, I show some important elements that should be paid attention by, first and foremost, managers of similar projects. But at the same time, I consciously did not raise the subject of information security and protection, which could have any impact on the functioning of IT systems in the described enterprise.

It was certainly not intended to write a manual for network devices configuration or network security. Rather, it is a guide for people who are a liaison between decision makers and technical people, intended to show one possible way to implement a project that had been implemented with many constraints. The trade names used are only informative regarding the possibility of verifying the functionality and the devices themselves, and not as an incentive for use and implementation.

The existence of standards allows for different manufacturers and solutions yet it requires a needs analysis, a detailed plan and technical knowledge of device management. I encourage you to do your own analysis, both technical and design, because there is no better way to gain experience than to learn from others' and own mistakes and avoid them. I hope that my description meets these expectations and I encourage you to share your feedback.

The Business Model of the Enterprise

The described implementation project concerns a European market operating company, in the construction sector, specifically in the following areas: maintenance of construction facilities, revitalization / expansion/ reconstruction and adaptation of large-area facilities for lease to customers. The preferred clients are companies with planned rental or long-term leases, minimum of 2 year period and also companies requiring flexibility in the use of space for warehousing, logistics or manufacturing activities. The need to diversify sources of income and the ongoing analysis of customer requirements has shown that the potential new market can also include companies interested in leasing for a period less than 2 years and those requiring only office space for work with the possibility of obtaining fast and stable Internet access. The whole is complemented by a comprehensive offer of meeting rooms for large groups of people, including seminars and conferences.

A comprehensive offer should be understood as a full service and organization of meeting places, including aspects such as technical support, catering, marketing activities and broadly understood assistance, e.g. providing office or advertising materials. The above-mentioned three main types of offers for clients (long-term rental, short-term leases and conference arrangement) constitute the company's operating strategy and are the basis for creating or distinguishing new offers. As an operator of building facilities, the company has a positive impact on the local market by inviting local entrepreneurs to cooperate (e.g. in revitalization projects) and simultaneously becoming a place for people running a business, offering opportunities to establish new business contacts or helping owners through the offer of administrative services.

The profiles of cooperating companies and the area of their operational scope show that companies opting for cooperation are not only local ones, but also branches of international enterprises, including a growing number of companies in the research and development sector, such as software development, AI and electronic systems design, including , for instance, automotive batteries and accumulators.

Therefore, choosing the right headquarters that will help in the further development of the company is crucial for the operation of companies. This is due to many factors, including those related to the physical location of the building (including travel time and technical infrastructure) and the macroeconomic potential at the national and regional level. When using the term location, I refer to the place of business. It can be a single floor, a building or a set of buildings, as well as an area which may include production halls, warehouses or other industrial facilities.

Activities related to the revitalization and re-branding of facilities, through the use of technical standardization of equipment or the color of facilities, allow it to be perceived as a unified and coherent vision by customers, presented as an offer that meets the market needs of potential customers. Several facilities together are often referred to as a business park. The business model itself includes both administrative services, sale and purchase of individual properties or entire business parks, and is undoubtedly one of the pillars of the company's dynamic development.

Dispersed risk and cooperation with large companies, to include finance and banking sectors, allow you to raise capital and share profits and above all, it opens up opportunities for partnership also for entities with high accumulated cash capital from other sectors. By creating dedicated companies or responsible entities in the form of subsidiaries, the company increases its market activity and at the same time, at the lowest possible organizational level, manages and controls financial flows so that every form of business activity generates income and profits.

Currently, the company is an operator in over 60 business parks in Germany and several other facilities in Europe. This white paper merely describes locations in Germany. A typical business park consists of a group of several building structures. Most often, those facilities are connected by shared use of technical infrastructure. Those facilities have different purposes and different possibilities of adaptations. The characteristics and use of the facilities determine the scope of the equipment and affect the needs of customers, including use of computer networks and IT infrastructure. Many of the facilities are intended for offices, while the remaining facilities have different roles. That results directly from the content of concluded contracts and is quite often dedicated to a given client.

However, a common feature to all contracts (from the point of view of this study) is the need to provide Internet access, either through the park's business operator or the Internet provider called ISP. In the case of large firms, also within the scope of the contract, is the provision of an individual or shared server room, and more frequently, the performance of preparatory and design works related to the computer network itself. The determining factor in the spectrum of its implementation is the criterion of the level of responsibility, i.e. whether in the contract the tenant or the client decides to outsource management for the Internet access services and local computer network management or look after those independently.

It should be noted that in accordance with the telecommunication law in Germany, the landlord is obliged to provide the lease holder with the access to the so-called telecommunications connection (APL boxes), in practice it is often technically difficult, unprofitable and creates a very complex relationship between the computer and telecommunications networks. In the long run, it feeds unnecessary complexity, which, quite often,is not documented and above all, restricts technical possibilities for future alterations. I mean all solutions of the ISDN, DSL, ADSL * class, etc., which by default are limited to specific technical parameters and are intended for home use, not business use. Practice shows that installation of such solutions is organizationally very ineffective, e.g. by using category 5 or 6 network cables in sections, in order to legally provide an asymmetric 100 times slower Internet. * - it results from the necessity to use pairs of copper wires to provide Internet in old technologies.

Therefore, apart from particular cases, the very implementation of the infrastructure should be viewed from several perspectives:

technical

law and regulation

organizational

This study deals only with the technical and organizational aspects, and