Capabilities Assessment

Capabilities Assessment

The information captured during the capabilities assessment will be used to achieve the following objectives:

1. Identify risks – Like traditional desktops, desktop virtualization is dependent on a wide range of supporting technologies, including storage, networking, directory services and applications. In many

cases, issues reported with virtual desktops are a symptom rather than a cause. For example, slow performance and disconnected sessions are more often caused by periods of high-latency than a desktop specific issue. Therefore, a desktop virtualization project is an excellent opportunity to review an organization’s existing infrastructure to ensure that it provides a good solid foundation upon which to build a virtual desktop solution. Any risks identified should be reported to the project

manager so that they can be addressed appropriately.

2. Create roadmap – The capabilities assessment provides the project team with a detailed understanding of the existing environment so that they can estimate implementation time for each user group and prioritize the implementation order.

3. Virtual desktop design – Provide the project team with detailed information on the current state of the environment so that they can successfully integrate the new virtual desktop solution. The capabilities assessment should also determine whether existing infrastructure components can be leveraged or whether new infrastructure needs to be purchased, for example shared storage and virtualization technologies.

Key results from the capabilities gathering exercise should be documented in the Citrix Capabilities Assessment template. A list of questions has been provided per infrastructure technology to highlight key information that needs to be collected. These questions are based on the experiences of Citrix Consulting across numerous desktop virtualization projects and should be answered by the appropriate technology architect for each section. Not all sections need to be completed, for example if the organization does not already have a Citrix environment this section can be left blank. The length of the capabilities assessment will vary based on the size and complexity of the environment but typically takes about three days to complete.

Citrix Consulting Tips for Success

1. Discussions – Meet with the architects rather than sending them a questionnaire so that additional questions can be raised, diagrams drawn and detailed explanations provided.

2. Schedule meetings – It is advisable to schedule meetings with the architects well in advance to ensure availability. Provide each architect with a copy of the questions that you plan to ask them so that they can prepare appropriately. Also, when scheduling the meetings request any relevant documentation for background reading as this may prompt additional questions and discussions.

3. Documentation – Use the capabilities assessment template to capture your discussions with the architects. The document can then be circulated amongst the project team to ensure that everybody has the same information.

4. Future initiatives – Ask the architects whether they are planning any future initiatives, for example upgrading to a new product version, or adjusting the architecture. This will ensure that the

project team is aware of all upcoming changes.

5. Identify risks – It is important that all risks are identified as early as possible so that they can be tracked and appropriate action taken. Risks should be graded in severity and if possible remediation plans should be created stating an estimated timeframe and cost.