Assignment: Seacliff Heights Goes Virtual

In this assignment, you will create a server virtualization adoption plan that explains the benefits of adopting server virtualization technology.

Scenario:

You are the director of IT for a midsized California coastal city named Seacliff Heights. While the city has previously weathered poor economic conditions without much effect, an extended period of economic doldrums is now taking its toll on the city. Sales of the large, luxury homes that provided critical property tax revenue to the city have been consistently down for an extended period of time.

In addition to the loss of property tax revenue, the city is seeing fewer tourists, resulting in a loss of sales tax revenue and hotel tax revenue, both key generators of cash for the city. If the severe reduction in these revenue streams were not enough to cause concern, the state of California is also demanding that local cities turn over 15% of the gross revenues to the state to help offset an exploding budget deficit.

The city manager of Seacliff Heights has asked you to meet him or her. During the meeting, he or she describes the painful economic condition of the city and states that unless the city can identify innovative ways to either cut costs or increase revenues, the city may have to consider declaring bankruptcy. He or she has asked you to review your department to identify where the elimination, replacement, or addition of technology will help generate revenue or save the city money.

After considering a number of initiatives, you believe that the biggest impact to the bottom line will come from virtualizing your entire server and desktop computer environment, which currently consists of 98 servers and 433 desktop computers, due to the reduction of replacement server and desktop computer costs, maintenance fees, power consumption, and datacenter cooling costs, among other things.

The city manager of Seacliff Heights is impressed with your presentation on server and desktop virtualization solutions and agrees that it is a compelling technology. The manager would like you to create a server and desktop virtualization adoption plan that can be used to gain acceptance and create excitement for the project. The manager warns you that you will have a number of hurdles to overcome:

• Though implementation of physical server and desktop computer virtualization will result in significant cost savings over time, it may also require a large upfront investment to purchase the virtualization software, maintenance, training, and consulting support.

• Although they are generally "pro-technology," the city council members in Seacliff Heights do not possess technological backgrounds. Thus, concepts such as virtualization are not readily understood.

• The citizens of Seacliff Heights are much attuned to the expenditures of the city and demand fiscal responsibility. Additionally, the local newspaper has been running features highlighting local government spending.

It is your responsibility to create an adoption plan that will convince all of the stakeholders in this situation that server virtualization is a solution worth implementing.

Additionally, to prepare your staff members for working in a virtualized environment, you will create a technical document describing the installation of VMware Player and a sample virtual machine that they can then tinker with.

Tasks:

Part I: Server Virtualization Adoption Plan

Using Microsoft Word, develop an 8- to 10-page plan for server and desktop virtualization adoption applicable to the scenario. Your plan should:

• Explain the fundamental concepts of server and desktop virtualization. This explanation of server and desktop virtualization should be written using a language easily understood by a nontechnical audience.

• Identify three benefits of implementing server virtualization at the city of Seacliff Heights. Elaborate on how specifically the city will benefit by implementing server virtualization.

• Identify three benefits of implementing desktop virtualization at the city of Seacliff Heights. Elaborate on how specifically the city will benefit by implementing desktop virtualization.

• Describe two potential barriers to the city of Seacliff Heights' adoption of server and desktop virtualization. Include responses to overcome these barriers, supporting them with research data where possible.

• Offer two ideas on how to gain the support of stakeholders in Seacliff Heights, such as the city manager, city council, citizens, and newspaper reporters.

Part II: Technical Document

Using Microsoft Word, create a 5- to 10-page technical document describing:

• The installation of the current version of VMware Player and the subsequent installation of the current version of Windows Server into a virtual machine.

• What each screenshot is showing during the installation process, using the screenshots provided in the VMware Player and VM Installation Screenshots. The screenshots are presented using the order in which you would see them during installation.

Note: Use at least three sources (scholarly and nonacademic) to complete your research. Your writing should be clear, concise, and organized; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources (i.e., APA); and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.