Theory of Design is a new series for the vBrownBag APAC podcast. Intended to take a vendor agnostic look at design practices and principals. The series will provide the tools needed to assess, build and communicate solutions regardless of the vendor or product classification.
The series will cover a number of topics (listed in more detail below), covering areas such as; capacity planning, client engagement, and risks. I am looking for presenters with experience in designing solutions and project delivery, not only from a technology perspective but also a business perspective.
What I am aiming to provide the viewer with, is a detailed and comprehensive guide covering many factors and stages of solution design. Providing skills that are portable and incorporate the business considerations which are vital to the success of a project.
The series will be covering the following topic:
Discovery process
- Understanding business needs
- Translate business needs to technology
- Solution suitability
- In place technologies and their effect on the project
- Current system capabilities
Risks
- Identifying risks
- Risk minimisation
- Addressing risks
- Planning for failure
Client engagement
- Presenting to C levels
- Identifying business requirements
- How does the solution address requirements?
- Identifying stakeholders
- Defining scope
Best practices vs Supported configurations
- Understanding vendor requirements and specifications
- Define best practice and reason to adhere to or deviate from
- Define what a supported configuration is and reasons / consequences of deviation
- Architecture requirements
Capacity planning
- Assess requirements of new systems
- Understanding capacity of existing systems
- Principles of right sizing
- Many small vs few big
- Implementation planning
- Detailing implementation steps
- Creating test plans
- Liaising with application owners, organising maintenance windows
- Roll back planning and testing
Documentation
- Exec summary
- High Level design
- Detailed design
- As built
Post implementation review
- What went right
- What didn’;t and why
If you have design experience and project delivery, and would like to contribute to this series, contact me on twitter @brettjohnson008
