Measure Twice, Cut Once.
Sometimes it is not a question of knowing what to do, and more a question of paying attention when you do it.
I had an early flight this morning so rather than getting up that much earlier than normal I packed both my bags last night. I had packed my bags pretty tight leaving Toronto, so the extra material that I had picked up in Virginia really made me use the space in my tiny suitcase and my carry-on bag as efficiently as possible. Knowing that everything I had carried I my knapsack would still fit into my knapsack, I packed my new acquisitions – several sets of courseware left over from my class, as well as a book –into my suitcase. By bedtime I had (wish skill and force) successfully closed the bag, and lay me down to sleep.
I woke up with a start and realized one silly miscalculation – the bottle of duty-free scotch that I had carried to Virginia without issue in my knapsack had been a serious miscalculation. I had purchased the bottle at the Duty-Free Shop in Toronto, after clearing security. There was no way that the TSA screeners at Dulles would let me carry it through again. I got up, spent another thirty minutes unpacking, re-thinking, repacking, and re-closing the two bags. It was unnecessary work that caused me to lose sleep.
In a network deployment scenario it is important to consider every requirement, possibility, and eventuality. That is why the planning phase of a network deployment is the most critical stage of the project. It is necessary to consider all of the factors and to integrate them into the plan, from versions and distribution to licensing and activation. Neglecting one seemingly minor detail can change an entire plan, and can find the person who signed off on it updating his resume.
If your organization has an Enterprise Agreement with Microsoft then you are likely entitled to a three, five, or ten day consulting mandate from a Microsoft DDPS partner to make sure that all factors are considered, and that no steps are missed. If your organization is smaller you might want to consider seeking out a DDPS partner to review your deployment plan and to ask the questions up front that could save you time, aggravation, and potentially thousands of dollars in man-hours later on.
There is an old adage in carpentry: 'Measure twice, cut once.' You and your IT staff may know your systems and needs and requirements, but by bringing in an outside consultant you can take that second measure to prevent potential issues later on. Let your Microsoft DDPS partner be your second measurement so that you can successfully implement your deployment plan with a clear head, and another big green SUCCESS on your record.