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Engagement and Delivery Guide

Software-Defined Data CenterPrepared by

Version - PARTNER

Revision and Signoff SheetChange RecordTable 1: change recordDateAuthorVersionChange Reference1Initial draft for review/discussion

ReviewersTable 2: reviewersNameVersion ApprovedPositionDate

Table of Contents1Introduction71.1Purpose71.2Audience81.3Assumptions81.3.1Assumptions for the Engagement Manager81.3.2Assumptions for the Consultant92Engagement Overview102.1Business Scenario Addressed112.2Engagement Process Flow122.3Engagement Organization and Staffing132.4General Roles and Responsibilities142.5Required Consultant Training and Experience153Recommended Practices164Engagement Delivery174.1Pre-Engagement Task174.2Post-Delivery Activities174.2.1Follow-Up Work and Engagement Lessons Learned Meeting175Delivery Phase Details185.1Prerequisites185.2Activities185.2.1Software Defined Data Center Technical Workshops185.3Build and Stabilize235.4Deploy245.5Deliverables246Additional Resources256.1Contacts256.2Supporting Materials256.3Internal Training Links257References26Tables of TablesTable 1: change recordIITable 2: reviewersIITable 3: engagement delivery overview11Table 4: consultant experience requirements17Table 6: references28

Table of FiguresFigure 1: engagement process flow14

Introduction

The Software-Defined Data Center Offering helps our customers integrate highly virtualized on-premises Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) capabilities. The approach is focused on solving business problems with technical solutions, for example:

Reduce datacenter TCO with software defined datacenter technology such as Storage Spaces Direct and Software Defined Networking, and with Hyper-Converged Infrastructure.

Enhance security with shielded VMs, Device Guard, Credential Guard, Just Enough Administration, and Just In Time Administration.

Enable their cloud-ready application platform with built-in container technology, Nano server, and self-service.

The software defined datacenter is based on Windows Server 2016, System Center 2016, and Azure Pack. The SDDC Offering is aligned with the Product Groups Windows Server Software-Defined Datacenter Program and Offerings. This alignment drives further value to our customers by moving the intricate hardware integration to a pre-purchase phase (validation and stress testing performed by the OEMs in conjunction with the Product Groups).

This is a fixed scope offering designed to establish foundational understanding of recommended practices for designing, deploying, and operating an on-premises virtualization solution using a Windows Server Software-Defined Offer approved hardware configuration.

This offer relies on the Software Defined Data Center PLA. This set of design guidance and recommended practices has evolved from our previous IaaS PLA (2012 R2 based), and is informed by and aligned with the Product Groups WSSD Reference Architecture.

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to provide technical and engagement delivery resources with an overview of the tasks that will be required to deliver this engagement successfully.

This engagement will proceed according to the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF), with the standard Envision, Plan, Develop, Stabilize, and Deploy phases.

Audience

This document is for use by technical specialists and engagement resources. This document is for internal use only and should not be distributed to a customer team as part of the engagement delivery.

This document should be made available for review by program team members, technical specialists, and engagement resources only.

AssumptionsAssumptions for the Engagement Manager

The following are the key Solution Planning Service assumptions:

Access to business requirement documentation will be provided before the project starts.

Customer representatives will be available to perform their project team roles in a timely manner, and relevant business subject matter experts (SMEs) will be available to participate in workshops and interviews.

Customer personnel will provide timely responses to questions about requirements and project scope.

Product licenses: product licenses (Microsoft or non-Microsoft) will not be provided under the statement of work (SOW). You are responsible for acquiring product licenses that are required for this project.

Most work will be performed at the customers site; however, some work might be performed remotely.

Access will be provided to materials, resources, and personnel as needed throughout the engagement.

Microsoft Office and related tools will be used to develop the documentation.

It is the responsibility of the customer project manager and our engagement manager to reconcile problems that might arise during the engagement. If a problem cannot be resolved between the customer project manager and our engagement manager, it will be their responsibility to escalate the problem for resolution to their respective management sponsors.

Assumptions for the Consultant

The consultants who have been engaged meet or exceed the experience and knowledge requirements that have been defined in Section 2.5 of this document.

After the engagement, the consultants can provide feedback to the teams that can help improve the overall quality of this material.

Engagement Overview

The following table identifies the main information categories for the delivery of this engagement.

Table 3: engagement delivery overview

Category

Description

Timeline

There is one standard engagement delivery model for this offering:

Software-Defined Data Center 6 weeks

This standard engagement model consists of 2 mandatory and one recommended module.

Windows Server 2016 Solution Alignment Workshop. Mandatory.

Fabric Implementation on an OEM WSSD Offer. Recommended.

Fabric Management Implementation. Mandatory.

Optional modules include:

Managing Workloads (OMS Insight & Analytics) 1 week

Managing Workloads (OMS Protection & Recovery) 1 week

Non standard engagement delivery models can include:

DIY Hardware Requires detailed scoping with a Solution Architect. We recommend at least four (4) additional weeks to deliver the custom hardware integration. The available WSSD Program Hardware SKUs may not meet the customers specific requirements. Selecting non Catalog hardware, even if it is all Windows Server 2016 certified moves the hardware integration burden to the customer and professional services (if engaged).

Other System Center Components Requires detailed scoping with a Solution Architect. The SDDC PLA (design guidance) supports a minimal System Center 2016 fabric management stamp (VMM, OM, WAP, SPF, SMA).

VMWare to Hyper-V Migration Requires detailed scoping with a Solution Architect.

Resourcing

Please review this offerings sample project plan for the specific resource requirements and hours for each of the delivery models.

Cost

Please review this offerings sample project plan for the specific resource requirements and hours for each of the delivery models.

Engagement scope

This engagement consists of a series of solution alignment workshops which provide deep dives on key planning topics for a software defined data center architecture. Topics include compute, storage, networking, and fabric management. These workshops are used to educate the customer and help the customer arrive at a recommended design.

The SDDC PLA documents our design guidance and recommended practices. It can form the basis of a functional specification. The SDDC PLA is not a leave-behind document.

After the design discussions, we assist the customer with fabric management installation and configuration, and integrating with their other systems (such as Active Directory, or OMS).

Target audience

Customer CIO/CTO and their architecture, infrastructure, and operations teams.

Number of participants in the PoC

N/A

Participant prerequisites for workshops

Participants should be technical leaders and influencers capable of and responsible for decision making of the in-scope functional areas.

Business Scenario Addressed

The purpose of the engagement is to drive education and technical decision making to arrive at a functional specification. And then to assist the customer with implementing their on-premises, software-defined data center. Typically, the business scenarios driving this opportunity includes at least one of:

Reduce datacenter TCO with software defined datacenter technology such as Storage Spaces Direct and Software Defined Networking, and with Hyper-Converged Infrastructure.

Enhance security with shielded VMs, Device Guard, Credential Guard, Just Enough Administration, and Just In Time Administration.

Enable their cloud-ready application platform with built-in container technology, Nano server, and self-service.

Designing and building the on-premises portion of a hybrid cloud architecture in which the customer will host some portion of their applications and data due to concerns such as: regulatory latency requirements.

Engagement Process Flow

This slide from this offerings Budgetary Estimate is a high level view of the engagement duration and phases. Details of the activities in each phase are available in this offerings sample project plan. The activities are also outlined in the Delivery Phase Details section below which also outlines the objectives, pre-work, inputs, outputs, and attendees for each workshop.

The standard engagement is six (6) weeks. It requires WSSD Offer Hardware SKU.

The optional OMS modules add one (1) week each. The one week spans Plan and Build phases.

The non-standard DIY engagement adds at least four (4) additional weeks to the Build phase.

Figure 1: engagement process flow

Engagement Organization and Staffing

These engagements require a combination of Engagement Manager, Architect, and Consulting roles. Please review this offerings sample project plan for the specific resource requirements and hours for each of the delivery models.

An overview of the sample project plan for this offering delivery is included below.

General Roles and Responsibilities

Role

Time Allocation

Responsibilities

Engagement Manager

Ad-hoc for duration of engagement

Serves as a single point of contact for billing issues, personnel matters, contract extensions, and project status.

Manages day-to-day activities of the team.

Manages Risks and Issues

Manages Status Reporting and Meetings

Coordinates the activities of the team to deliver according to the project schedule.

Solution Architect

Full time for week 1 (kick off, initial workshops).

Part time for remainder of engagement.

Leads Solution Alignment Workshop

Assists with Windows Server 2016, System Center 2016 and other Solution build activities

Assists with Solution testing

Infrastructure Consultants

Two required. At least one Senior.

Both Consultants Full time for duration of engagement.

Leads follow on workshops if required.

Leads configuration and other Solution build activities

Leads Solution development activities

Leads Solution testing

Leads Solution walk through

[Optional] Leads OMS configuration

Required Consultant Training and Experience

The following table describes the technical skills that consultants need to deliver this offering.

Table 4: consultant experience requirements

Role

Consultant experience requirements

Infrastructure consultants

Significant technical depth on Windows Server 2016, Hyper-V, System Center 2016, Windows Azure Pack.

Moderate technical depth on identity, and security

Should have previous experience delivering SDDC based on Windows Server 2016. Or experience delivering Private Cloud based on Windows Server 2012 R2.

The consultant should have deep familiarity with the SDDC PLA.

Recommended Practices

All team members should read and be deeply familiar with the SDDC PLA and the SAW workshops.

All team members should have previously consumed the relevant Windows Server 2016, System Center 2016, Windows Azure Pack, and Software Defined Data Center training.

Engagement DeliveryPre-Engagement Task

Identification and staffing of qualified resources is critical to the success of these engagements. That is the most critical pre-engagement task for the Engagement Manager.

Post-Delivery ActivitiesFollow-Up Work and Engagement Lessons Learned Meeting

This is an entry level engagement designed to drive additional follow-on work such as workload migration, automation, and operations engagements.

Delivery Phase DetailsPrerequisites

The sample project plan provides guidelines for the engagement and should be reviewed in detail before the kickoff meeting.

The customer kickoff presentation provides a template for the engagement kickoff meeting structure.

The sample project plan provides the consultant and customer with a milestone-based schedule for the engagement.

Review the solution alignment workshop topics with the customer sponsor and ensure they invite all of the relevant managers and SMEs from their teams to participate in the relevant workshop sections. The workshops are only valid if all relevant teams are represented with personnel able to make design decisions.

The kickoff meeting provides the opportunity to officially start the engagement and gather the information necessary to complete the vision and scope document and begin planning for the solution alignment workshops.

Activities

The Envision and Plan phases of the engagement are driven by Solution Alignment Workshops which are technical deep dives into operations and technology with the goal of educating the customer on the relevant topics and assisting them in making initial design decisions.

Software Defined Data Center Technical Workshops

These workshops are focused on technical education and decision-making. There are several modules, described below:

SDDC Overview

Template: M01-SDDC Overview.pptx

Meeting Objectives:

Your primary goal is to help customers:

Understand the relationship between WSSD and SDDC PLA.

Understand the SDDC fabric patterns.

If customer has selected the DIY Hardware engagement delivery model:

Set the appropriate expectations with respect to the effort required to successfully integrate the hardware components.

Start a series of tasks/threads to obtain OEM supplied model numbers, and firmware/driver versions.

Determine the customers preferred design pattern, decision points, and scale points.

Pre-Work:

Review the following sections of the SDDC PLA:

Software-Defined Datacenter Product Line Architecture Overview

Windows Server Software-Defined Datacenter (WSSD)

Walk through workshop slides and read slide notes.

Understand the WSSD design patterns.

Input:

Customers business drivers.

If known, customers preferred OEMs.

Output:

Customers hardware selection.

Customers preferred design pattern.

Document customer decisions.

Session Attendees:

Customer Roles

Microsoft Roles

Sponsor

SDDC Architect

All required SME(s)

Infrastructure Consultant

Architect

Engagement Manager

SDDC Fabric Compute Architecture

Template: M02-Fabric Compute Architecture.pptx

M05-Fabric Virtualization Architecture.pptx

Meeting Objectives:


Understand the concepts around IaaS compute in an SDDC architecture based on Windows Server 2106

Allow customers to understand the components of compute (hyper-converged infrastructure, host clusters, host OS, virtual machines, etc) to support the solution they are looking to deploy

Pre-Work:

Review the following sections of the SDDC PLA

Compute Architecture

Virtualization Architecture


Understand the new Windows Server 2016 compute features: Nano Server, Server Core, Servicing Model, Clustering, Rolling Upgrades, Shielded VMs, CPU Core and RAM limits, etc.

Input:

Existing customer virtualization architecture on-premises and the virtualization features utilized

Workload information such as operating systems utilized, storage, and network requirements

Output:

Ensure the customer has a solid understanding of the servicing model for Nano Server.

Drive decision making around fabric host requirements (size of the SKU and scaling options, TPM 2.0 if Shielded VMs are required, NIC offloads).

Drive decision making, and/or start tasks/threads to define the future workloads and their sizing.

Document customer decisions

Session Attendees:

Customer Roles

Microsoft Roles

Sponsor

SDDC Architect

Server and Virtualization SME


Architect

SDDC Fabric Network Architecture

Template: M03-Fabric Network Architecture.pptx

Meeting Objectives:


Understand the new software defined networking available with Windows Server 2016.

Understand how the old software defined networking available with Windows Server 2012 R2 can still be utilized.

Develop a network design, to include the topology and security requirements.:

Pre-Work:


Network Architecture


Understand the SDDC network design patterns.

Understand the differences and tradeoffs between v1 and v2 software defined networking.

Understand the new Windows Server 2016 networking features: VXLAN support, Network Controller

Input:

Existing customer network designs, locations, and topologies.

Security and compliance requirements the customer or their security team may mandate.

Expected workload, bandwidth, and latency requirements.

Output:

Network security design and design patterns

Vnet, subnet, IP addressing design and naming conventions


Session Attendees:

Customer Roles

Microsoft Roles

Sponsor

SDDC Architect

Network SME


Architect

SDDC Fabric Storage

Template: M04a-Fabric Storage Architecture.pptx

M04b-Fabric Storage Architecture.pptx

Meeting Objectives:


Understand the software defined storage, especially the changes/improvements in Storage Spaces Direct and ReFS.

Develop a storage stamp design

Design to be deployed initially and extended as required

Pre-Work:


Storage


Understand the new and/or improved Windows Server 2016 storage features: Storage Spaces Direct, ReFS

Input:

Customer storage requirements:

Database size and IO requirements if DB servers are a target workload

Application requirements

Performance, availability, and geographic requirements

Encryption, security, and auditing requirements

Output:

Design decisions to establish one or more storage stamps.


Session Attendees:

Customer Roles

Microsoft Roles

Sponsor

SDDC Architect

Storage SME


Architect

SDDC Fabric Management

Template: M06-Fabric Management Overview.pptx

M07-Fabric Management VMM.pptx

M08-Fabric Management OM.pptx

M09-Fabric Management WAP.pptx

M10-Fabric Management Backup DR.pptx

Meeting Objectives:

Your primary goals are to:

Outline fabric management in context of an on-premises datacenter. Utilize CPIF and CSFRM as the base for discussing fabric management capabilities.

Outline how provisioning, monitoring, automation, management, BC/DR, and operations are required elements.

Discuss System Center 2016 capabilities.

Discuss the customers desire and ability to operate and offer self-service.

Pre-Work:


Fabric Management Architecture

Fabric Management Management Support

Review the Cloud Platform Integration Framework, and CSFRM documents

Walk through slides and read slide notes.

Input:

Monitoring, Patching, and Automation solutions the customer uses today (if applicable)

Relative maturity of the customers operations team, processes, and tools

Output:

Determine which monitoring, updating, and automation technologies will be utilized


Session Attendees:

Customer Roles

Microsoft Roles

Sponsor

SDDC Architect

System Center SME

Operations SME


Architect

Build and Stabilize

The Build and Stabilize phases deal with taking the design decisions made during the Plan phase and implementing the customers software defined data center based on those decisions. When the customers hardware selection is based on the WSSD Offer Catalog, IaaS fabric implementation is simple. When the customer chooses the DIY Hardware option, significant effort is required to successfully integrate the hardware.

The goal is to install and configure fabric management using PDT, integrate with existing services (such as AD), demonstrate base IaaS functionality (deploying VMs), and transition the environment to the customer.

Deploy

The Deploy phase is not in scope for the standard engagement delivery model. The Deploy phase could be in scope for a custom engagement that includes migrating a workload into the environment.

Deliverables

These engagements do not include any deliverables requiring formal acceptance.

Additional ResourcesContactsSupporting MaterialsInternal Training Links

References

Table 6: references

Site Name

Internet Address

Page 26

Engagement and Delivery Guide, [Offer Name], Version 1, Draft

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