Contents
Overview 1
Determining the Current Environment 2
Determining the Organizational
Requirements 9
Group Policy Settings for Computer
Management 11
Selecting CCM Options for Computer
Management 20
Lab A: Meeting Computer Management
Requirements 23
Review 27

Module 6: Designing a
Computer Management
Strategy
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control the functionality of workstations, and to reduce the total cost of
ownership (TCO) associated with administering client computers.
After completing this module, students will be able to:

Determine the current computer management environment.

Determine organizational requirements for computer management.

Assess common computer management options.

Select the appropriate option to meet the organizational requirements.

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_06.ppt

Module 6, “Designing a Computer Management Strategy”

Trainer Materials compact disc

Preparation Tasks
To prepare for this module, you should:

Read all of the materials for this module.

Use the following strategy to present this module:

Determining the Current Environment
In this section, students determine how client computers are to be used, and
by whom, in terms of the job roles of the user base and the configurations of
the client computers. Take the following actions:
• Acknowledge that there are significant overlaps between determining
user settings and computer settings. Therefore, decisions about the
settings and the technologies required to support them are mutually
dependent.
• It is important to determine computer settings that will support users’
evolving needs over time. Encourage students to adopt a flexible
approach to computer settings, and to avoid settings that may need to
change.
• Consider the possibility of layered computer configurations, which can
then be adapted to the needs of specific user groups. For example, a
standard office computer configuration could be defined, which could
then be the basis for an enhanced computer configuration.

Determining the Organizational Requirements
In this section, students define the exact computer configurations required
by answering a number of questions about the computer configurations,
each of which should map to one or more job roles. Take the following
actions:
• The questions listed are only a starting point for evaluating user settings
needs. Ask students if they can think of any other questions.
• Emphasize that it is not only the responses to the questions that matter,
but also the impact of the responses. The underlying issue for each
question is the identification of unnecessary costs incurred by user
settings management. These costs determine the potential for savings

computer configurations for a number of job roles.
To conduct this lab:

Read the lab carefully, playing 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 exercises and highlight any key information.

Take the opportunity to assess each student’s comprehension of the
technology features of Group Policy presented in the module.

Allow 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 each others’ solutions and to discuss any ideas for improving the
designs.


Module 6: Designing a Computer Management Strategy 1 Overview

Determining the Current Environment

Determining the Organizational Requirements


Assess common computer management options.

Select the appropriate options to meet the organizational requirements.

Topic Objective
To provide an overview of
the module topics and
objectives.
Lead-in
In this module, you will learn
the principles of evaluating
computer management
options based on
organizational needs and
the current and planned
environment.
2 Module 6: Designing a Computer Management Strategy 



Determining the Current Environment

Classifying User Base by Job Roles

Determining Client Computer Configurations


computer management
environment.
Lead-in
As designer of the CCM
infrastructure, you need
information about the
computer environment to
create a successful
computer management
strategy.
Module 6: Designing a Computer Management Strategy 3 Incorporating the Organization’s Current Policies
If you are implementing a Change and Configuration Management (CCM) plan
in an existing environment, you must allow for and possibly plan to incorporate
any existing computer management policies.
These existing policies are system policies in a Microsoft Windows NT
®

environment, or Group Policies in an existing Active Directory
™

directory service environment in Windows 2000.
One of the most important actions you must take is to determine whether you
must retain any existing policies, particularly in the case of supporting older
client computers not running Windows 2000, which are not affected by
Windows 2000 Group Policies.
Even if you are planning an upgrade from Windows NT to Windows 2000 on
your servers and your client computers, there is likely to be an interim period,

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TRAINER USE
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It is recommended that the CCM strategy that you develop be:

Flexible to meet a range of users’ needs.

Concise, thereby reducing the administrative overhead associated with
maintaining the workstations.

Appropriate to the needs of the users.

Example Job Roles
Consider an investor relations team working in a finance company. The team
has three job roles: call center representative, client advisor, and supervisor.
Each of these job roles has very different computer configuration needs.
Call Center Representatives
Call center representatives work on desktop computers that are connected
directly to the network. Although they tend to sit at the same workstations, they
can move around the office during the day and, therefore, need to log on to
several computers. They need only a line-of-business application for their job.
These users do not generate any data that is saved outside this application.
Client Advisors
Client advisors are field based. They use portable computers that have
infrequent direct connections to the network. Access is normally provided by
using Routing and Remote Access Service. They have both a line-of-business
application and Microsoft Office 2000 installed for e-mail and client computer
reporting purposes.
Topic Objective

because their jobs involve traveling to several different locations during the
working day. These users are more likely to use portable computers where data
is saved locally and then requires synchronization with the network servers
upon return to the main office. It is important to determine a set of roles that
covers the majority of user needs. If you have too many classifications, the
administrative overhead is too high. If there are two few classifications, the
resulting computer configurations may be insufficient.
6 Module 6: Designing a Computer Management Strategy Determining Client Computer Configurations
Mobile User
Mobile User
Lightly Managed / Application Station
Lightly Managed / Application Station
Task Station / Kiosk
Task Station / Kiosk
Multi-User
Multi-User

Determine Computer Configurations at a High Level

Map Specified Configurations Against Job Roles

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-
TRAINER USE
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After you classify job roles, you can determine appropriate computer

configurations and define
suitable settings for each of
the job roles.
Delivery Tip
Explain that students can
determine their own
computer configurations by
comparing their
configurations with pre-
configured template
configurations that
Windows 2000 supplies.
Students will examine these
template configurations later
in the module.
Module 6: Designing a Computer Management Strategy 7 Map Specified Configurations Against Job Roles
The templates contain specific user and computer settings that you can use to
support the requirements of your users based on their job roles. For example, by
using the job roles from the previous section, you could determine the
following:

The call center representatives are roaming users that need little or no
control over their workstations beyond being able to change desktop
settings. These settings can be saved to a roaming profile. These users need
only one software application to perform their jobs and do not need to install
or configure any more applications. Because they do not generate any data,
they do not need access to the local hard disk or any network resources.