14 DAY TRIAL // A new resource from Microsoft aims to lend a helping hand to IT professionals responsible with the planning and deployment of Windows 7. Essentially, IT pros can download the Windows 7 Deployment Plan from the Redmond company, which is offering the documentation free of charge. The deployment plan is designed to deliver a high-level checklist of milestones and tasks, according to the software giant. Customers will benefit from examples of deliverables designed to streamline the Windows 7 deployment process as much as possible.
“A deployment does not occur in isolation; deployments touch every aspect of an organization’s business, not merely IT. Using a life-cycle methodology and a feature team methodology based on industry best practices, organizations can break the complexity of a deployment into manageable tasks and phases,” an excerpt of the documentation reads.
According to Microsoft, the Springboard Series Windows 7 IT Pro Work Template: Windows 7 Deployment Plan was designed to cover all the aspects of the operating system’s deployment. Customers already familiar with the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008 should be familiar with the Deployment Plan, although they might know it as the Deployment Plan Job Aid. Of course, for Windows 7 deployments, businesses can now turn to MDT 2010, which is tailored to the latest iteration of the Windows client.
“By leveraging the tools, processes, and guidance in MDT 2010 and best practices on in the Springboard Series for Windows 7, teams can create a repeatable process. With a repeatable process, team members can apply the same process again (with the appropriate changes) to other IT tasks in the organization. The same general guidance applies: Envisioning, Planning, Developing, Stabilizing, and Deploying are the phases taken to ensure a thorough, comprehensive, and manageable IT project,” it is added in the Windows 7 Deployment Plan.
Microsoft Windows 7 90-Day Eval VHD is available for download here.
Another Windows 7 RTM Enterprise 90-Day Evaluation is available for download here.