Complete Project Documentation
Better than a Whitepaper - It's a Migration Project Plan Reference
This isn't like the Microsoft Migration Whitepapers, if that's what you are expecting. Our documentation probably is a lot closer to what you have after completing your last project when you have marked up their whitepaper with your notes!
- How many times have you taken your notes and that marked up whitepaper from your last project as you start your next upgrade project? That's what we all do, because the whitepaper never is up to date, never has the other references we needed.
- Ever read the Microsoft whitepaper and realize you don't even know they are talking about, so you have to dig out another whitepaper? We've tried to solve that for you.
- This never happens to you? You carry around a printed copy of the Microsoft Knowledgebase docs, or you store an electronic copy to review. Only later do you find out that the KB was changed, and your copy is out of date. You are missing crucial information because you had no idea it changed. You find out after you needed it.
- What you want most of all is a set of steps that are laid out in sequence for you. Start here, move through this, complete that step before you do the next one, but how do you know you finished it correctly?
We understand. That's why our docs are project oriented, and they are educational references at the same time. We highlight what you have to do, but we give you background and sidebar notes as well. The document is the expert at your elbow guiding you through what you need to do, what else you need to know, and where you go to find even more information beyond that. Specific steps, specific references, keystroke level details on the critical Swing Steps you need.
Checklists to Manage Your Progress
Each major section of the project outline includes a summary Task outline that also acts as a checklist as you work that section.
The Outlined Steps of a Whitepaper, the details of a Tutorial Reference
The Swing Migration is described within 5 Phases that help you stage and plan the project to your unique deployment needs, and skills. We show you alternatives you can choose at the point in the process you can use them. We tell you when is your last chance to modify things, or preserve them. We identify what work you can do in advance, what you can do offsite, when you must be offline, and when you must shutdown production to move to data transition. It's clearly presented, extremely detailed, and includes illustrations to help you get a picture of the flow of the project as you work.
The steps for the complete process numbered in sequence, identified not just for what you are doing, but why you are doing it. You will learn a great deal about the technical relationships that bind the concepts of Domain Controllers, Exchange Servers, Active Directory, DNS, and Small Business Server specific issues.
Step-by-Step Tasks
In the sample page illustrated below you can see how a typical page layout provides you as much or as little detail on the task as you decide you need. the use of colored sections to emphasize different types of alerts or hints is consistent throughout the document. This particular page was chosen because it illustrates how several different type of comment standout on a single page.
Explains Layers of Details Where You Need It
Refering to the sample documentation page illustrated above, as a Tutorial Reference you will find the typical one-task-per-page style first introduces the Task at top with an explanation of the purpose of the task helping you to know why each task is relevant to your project path.
As an Expert Project Guide to the process, notice that within a page dedicated to this Task, this particular task actually requires only 3 simple instructions to complete. Experienced technicians appreciate having the actual tasks set aside from the tutorial elements. Yet the background detail on the task allows you to decide how much more you need to review based upon your experience or skill. If you need troubleshooting or decision guidance, it's right there.
Expert Tips are a voice over your shoulder included in many tasks to provide guidance we want to recommend on choices that may vary by preferences or circumstances you choose, or perhaps are simply tricks we can share on how to approach a concern.
You also find various types of annotations such as the Important Concern highlight references which are critical to the success of the task, something you need to remember no matter how many times you have done this sort of project.
It's a "Living Document"
The reason we say we are really providing a service is because we are maintaining these work docs, updating them as things change. We'll maintain this as a living document reference for the next project you need to do. As products are revised, bugs are found, service packs change, and security issues are identified, our documentation will be updated. That's the service we will provide. Together with the optional tools we can provide, we are looking to refresh everything as much as needed to keep this project reference up to date for your next project.
Unique Project Solution
The Swing Migration works because it aligns to the design of the Microsoft products involved. It is a concept rooted in practices some of the most highly skilled IT professionals have done for years, but with techniques buried in Enterprise targeted references or little known tricks from Microsoft Support personnel.
What makes the Swing It!! Method unique is we have taken it a step further. We've provided the documentation to not only recover and redeploy a server in the same domain, we fixed the bigger problem. The documentation explains work steps in such a way that you not only save your domain name, you can keep the server name, the IP, and the Exchange Information Store. If that's not enough, we explain how you can do the entire project offline, in parallel to the production SBS or other Windows Domain Controller you are replacing.
The combined result is that you can work weekdays, not weekends. You deploy a cleanly upgraded server with an identity so close to the old server, you just slide it in an boot without the workstations knowing the difference. We eliminated the desktop disasters, and we can preserve the Exchange intact.
Additional Supplemental Guides
In addition to the Project Guides, you will find an "supplemental library" accessible for active member account. These references have specific value as troubleshooting references, or extended health and preparation guides. The Domain Audit Guide and Exchange Forklift Guide help you to resolve troubleshooting and health issues with AD, DCs or Exchange. These are just two of the most popular supplemental references we offer, and more are on the way to help you resolve technical planning and troubleshooting situations.