WLAN Business case

The objective of this lab is to help students in the preparation of their individual home assignment: Planning a WLAN implementation. The business case is available in english and en francais

What is the assignment ?

Your employer asked you, as Network Manager for the company, to plan the implementation of a WLAN. The principal objective is to allow for the implementation of workstations for the operators of industrial equipment. The solution must also allow for the use of wireless access in the corporate conference rooms and in the office. The instructors acts as the CIO and is your internal customer. He expects a 7 to 10 page (1.5 spacing, courier 12 font, 3cm margins all around) report including:

a title page
an executive summary
a table of contents
an analysis of the current situation
a description of the requirements
the solutions that where considered (at least 2)
the proposed solution
a recommendation to the CIO.
a bibliography

What is a business case ?

In a mature organisation, the Business Case lies at the heart of any project. It is a description of the reasons for the project and the justification for doing it, based on an appraisal of the costs and benefits (both tangible and intangible) and the risks.

How to resolve a business case

There is no standard format for a business case - this will be a standard set from within the organisation. Any business case should, however, contain at least the Ideally, the business case should exist throughout the lifecycle of a project, and be regularly re-appraised so as to answer the question ' Do we still have a viable and worthwhile project?'

The principal steps to resolving a business case are:

gather information about the current situation
describe the problem
analyse the causes and consequences of the current situation
identify the requirements
formulate objectives
identify potential or candidate solutions to be considered (at least 2)
evaluate each of these (pros and cons)
choose a solution to recommend

This is a simplified Business case resolution methodology, adapted for this course.

Step 1: Gather information about the current situation

To do this you need to read the business case. Remember it is available in english and en francais by clicking directly on the link. Reading the business case take note of the key elements, such as:

The current technological environment was developed in 1996.
It computerized the maximum of data relating to these two variables: distribution of work and measurement of the quantity to be produced.
A central minicomputer (an IBM AS400) calculated the optimal theoretical distribution and imposed it to the workmen.
An information system (Oracle RDBMS) was put in place by IT consultants.
Custom built information system created by an external consultant.
Five workstations (PC) for administration used for the integration of data into the information system.
Printer used for reports.

Create your own list.

Step 2: Describe the problem

Write a short text (4 to 10 lines of text) that describes the problems at hand. For example:

During the years of installation of a first system (1990-1996), the factory derived towards an increasingly conflictual situation, in particular with the degradation of supervisor-workmen relations.
In 1996 it was decided to computerize the maximum of data relating to distribution of work and measurement of the quantity to be produced. This computerization accelerated and accentuated the degradation of the relationship with the workmen.
In September 2006, it was decided to make organisational changes which required the organisation to revise the information system to set up a management information system connected to SAP, in Sweden.
Following an initial project assessment that determined the project requirements, you where asked, as Network Manager, to plan the implementation of a WLAN.

Write a paragraph using MS-Word.

Step 3: Analyse the causes and consequences of the current situation

In this step you need to reflect upon the causes of the problem(s) identified at the previous step. Write a short text describing what happened in the past and why you think that the situation has gone the way it has. Ideally you should refer to formal concepts from external references to back the assertions you make. You can use Google to identified these.

Step 4: Identify the requirements

Make a list of the requirements, for example:

The SIGES project was initiated in September 2006. It modifies the information system to set up a management information system connected to the central SAP system, located in Sweden.

The proposed technology to be integrated into the environment include:

Server: SUN Microsystems Sun Fire E20K

Storage: Sun Microsystems Sun Storage Teak 9900

100 pc's for factory (adapted for use in factory)

10 workstations (Windows - INTEL) for management

printers for reports

Local area network 100-baseT commuted (switched) with high bandwidth for the management network

Wireless Local area network in the factory

Wireless Local area network access for conference rooms

Virtual private network (VPN) with Sweden via Internet

SAP connected by VPN with Sweden

The budget and other constraints are identified at this stage. They need to added to your list.

Step 5: Formulate objectives

Identify, from the information supplied, what are the specific requirement for the project, for example:

The WLAN deployment criteria include the following:

Allow for the implementation of 100 workstations for the operators of industrial equipment in factory (100 pc)

Allow for the use of wireless access in two corporate conference rooms and in the office.

Strong user authentication and strong encryption exist.

Support single sign-on integrates WLAN authentication with Windows logon.

Support the VPN over WLAN.

Step 6: Identify potential or candidate solutions to be considered (at least 2)

Candidate solution 1:

• Four enterprise-grade Access Points provide coverage for entire factory floor. WLAN connectivity is enabled as the primary network connectivity for 100 users.

• Two enterprise-grade Access Points install in two conference room.

• A WLAN Controller handles six Access Points, WLAN and LAN traffic.

• 110 USB adapters install in 100PCs and 10 workstations.

Candidate solution 2:

• Six enterprise-grade Access Points provide coverage for entire factory floor. WLAN connectivity is enabled as the primary network connectivity for 100 users.

• Two enterprise-grade Access Points install in two conference room.

• A WLAN Controller handles eight Access Points, WLAN and LAN traffic.

• 110 USB adapters install in 100PCs and 10 workstations.

Step 7: Evaluate each solution (pros and cons)

Create a Pro/cons table, such as provided here:

Solution 1		Solution 2
Pros	Cons	Pros	Cons

Use the requirements, budget and constraints list to create a checklist to validate the proposed solutions. This way you can ensure that the recommended solution will meet the requirements.

Step 8: Choose a solution to recommend

Here you need to make a decision... good luck ;-)