Windows NT Proposal

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Windows NT Proposal

Migration to Windows NT Proposal Plan

As technology advances so should the products and services provided by companies. In every industry, technology is becoming the key success factor to growth and profit. The ability to communicate with people all around the world has created a new marketplace for business. In order to remain competitive, it is important for companies to utilize the most current technology. At ABC Inc., the use of the latest technological tools allows the company to provide first-rate, quality architectural engineering services to its clients. As part of the company's strategic goal to increase profits and clients, the board of directors established an information technology steering committee to look at how the company could improve its' technology. The committee was tasked to make sure the company had the latest available industry computer tools and to make sure all employees were uniform in terms of the technology. One of the most important findings of the committee's research was the fact that the company and its branches were using varying types of software and hardware systems. The findings also showed that this lack of uniformity caused numerous communication problems not only with the branches and corporate offices, but also the clientele. These findings were reported to senior management. Based on the findings, recently, senior management made the decision to ensure all employees, branch offices and corporate office were working on the same software and hardware systems. Management decided to move the entire company to a Windows NT environment, in order to improve productivity, to create uniformity, to create a more functional network infrastructure and to develop an Intranet and Internet web sites. The Information Technology department (referred to as the "Team") was asked to take a look at the pros and cons of moving to Windows. The Team has prepared the following report based on its research efforts.

Business Requirement(s)

ABC Inc. is a progressive company based in San Diego, California. Since 1980, the company has offered a full range of architectural engineering services, from planning and analysis to design and implementation. We currently employ over 50 people in our home and branch offices that include Las Vegas and San Francisco. Like many companies that implemented computer...

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...ipment. This problem would cause headaches when one network was not in synch with the others. Centralized manageability would increase the stability of the network system.

Although Windows NT will be the operating system of choice, some of the company's UNIX system will have to be retained. The UNIX servers provide high-end graphics and geometric functionality so necessary in the architectural engineering field. However, once Windows NT 5.0 arrives with its 64-bit processor, the company will migrate its graphic functions to the NT format. Integrating the UNIX servers into the Windows NT system will be accomplished by using the public domain software known as Samba. Samba allows a UNXI server to "…behave similarly to a Windows-based server…" allowing clients to access and share Unix applications seamlessly via NT.

Communication within our network has much improved with Windows NT. We are now capable of sharing files and data between all offices. Our Fast Ethernet Intranet provides speedy and stable communication transport.

Justification {Explain and justify the selected operating system}

1. "Benefits of Migrating to Windows NT" Feb 1998, p. 186, Brian Honan

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