Architect

Competency

In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:

• Leverage components and features of common operating systems to meet organizational needs
• Recommend the selection, implementation, and maintenance of common  operating systems based on organizational needs and industry best  practices

Scenario

You are a systems architect at a medium-sized publishing company with  130 employees. The company primarily publishes books, both in print and  online. It also produces other kinds of content, such as audiobooks,  interactive reading material, and magazines. Your leadership has decided  that it is time to either upgrade or adopt a new OS (e.g., Windows,  Linux, macOS).

As the systems architect, you have the responsibility to determine  which OS the company should implement. There are many aspects to  consider when making this decision, including what existing applications  are used by employees on a frequent basis, cost, functionality  provided, performance, vendor support, etc. To determine which OS should  be implemented, you need to complete a site survey. After comparing the  different OS options in the site survey, you will develop a brief  proposal on what OS (or hybrid) the company should implement to meet its  organizational needs.

Directions

Review the Company’s Organizational Needs
To make  a well-informed decision, you should understand the company’s  organizational needs. Before completing your site survey and writing  your proposal, review the Organizational Needs document linked in the  Supporting Materials area below.

Complete a Site Survey
A site survey compares the  three different operating systems that the company is planning to  implement. To complete this task, use the Site Survey template linked in  the Supporting Materials area. Your site survey must have the following  sections completed:

• Operating Systems: Acknowledge what OSes are  already used on site in your site survey. The type of OS already used  and how many employees are using that OS can influence your decision  making.
• Server: Determine whether the desktops are on a hardware or cloud-based server.
  • Although not required in this portion of the project, you may want  to think about whether or not the server should be changed. This change  could be recommended in your proposal.
• Standard Hardware for Operating System Types: Determine the minimum required hardware. This could include desktop and server.
• Network Connection: Determine whether the network is wired or wireless.
  • Although not required in this portion of the project, you may want  to think about whether or not the network connection should be changed.  This change could be recommended in your proposal.
• Applications: Identify what software applications  need to be supported by the OS. Your survey of what applications desktop  users use most frequently will influence your decision making, as some  applications are not supported by certain OSes.

Write a Proposal
Your proposal will be used to  inform leadership as to which OSes the company should implement based on  the findings of your site survey. Your proposal needs to include the  following:

• Overview of Desktop Footprint: Identify desktop  systems that need to be upgraded and other OSes that need to be  considered in the environment. This includes the locations of the  desktop computers and any risks or vulnerabilities that need to be  addressed.
• Recommendation: Recommend which OS should be selected and implemented, as well as whether it should be on-premise or cloud-based.
• Justification: Justify your decision based on your  site survey findings and course concepts. You can also consider the  number of end users, cost, and hardware requirements as part of your  findings.
• Implementation Diagram: Create a diagram of what  the final roll-out of the OSes would be. Your diagram should show the  number of desktops and users, locations, and departments. It should be  an upgraded version of what you found in the Organizational Needs  document.
  • Although you can create a diagram within the Word document, it is  recommended that you use a diagram application such as Visio,  Lucidchart, or draw.io. Information on how to use these services is in  the Supporting Materials section. Keep in mind that you have to create  only one diagram, so you do not have to use all applications. However,  be sure that you upload and paste your diagram into the Word document as  part of your proposal section. You should not upload it as a separate  file.

What to Submit

To complete this project, you must submit the following:

Site Survey and Proposal
Your submission should  be a Word document of the completed Site Survey template linked in the  Supporting Materials area. Your submission should also include your 1-  to 3-page proposal. Your proposal should be at the end of the Site  Survey area. Although not required, if you use any sources in your  recommendations, cite them according to APA style.

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IT 202 Project One Organizational Needs
This document explains some of the organizational needs that can help you leverage the components
and features of common operating systems so that you recommend and select the OSes that would
serve as a best fit. It is time to change the OSes that the company is currently using.
Some specific examples of components and features are:
 File handling and sharing
 Commonly used operating system, services, and utilities
o Services that start at system log-on
o Utilities like system restore, disk manager, registry editor, task scheduler
 Application compatibility
 Availability of drivers
Desktops with an operating system that is considered end of life are obsolete; they create a challenge
and risk to the system’s ability to remain secure and supported. Systems using an outdated operating
system are subject to support difficulties and problems in many areas. Some of these issues may
include:
 Increased likelihood of system failures
 Frequent downtimes
 Longer duration of downtime
 Difficulty finding replacement parts and supported drivers
 Incompatibility with newer software and drivers. For example, many older applications are not
compatible with Windows 10 because they utilize older drivers that are not available using
Windows 10.
 Danger of vulnerabilities and security risk when OS updates are no longer available and the
system can no longer receive security updates. Examples of vulnerabilities:
o Windows 7 Fax Services Cover Page Editor Vulnerability
CVE-2010-4701—If fax services are being used, here’s another reason to leave that remnant
of the 80s behind: a heap-based buffer overflow in the CDrawPoly::Serialize function in
fxscover.exe in Microsoft Windows Fax Services Cover Page Editor 5.2 r2 could allow remote
attackers to execute arbitrary code via a long record in a Fax Cover Page (.cov) file.
o Windows 7 OLE Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
CVE-2014-4114—In 2014, the so-called Sandworm made security headlines with its use of
malicious PowerPoint files to install malware. Vulnerable Windows 7 installations could
allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code with a specially crafted OLE object in an
Office document.
It is important to develop a phased OS upgrade approach that involves the following key components:
 Planning an OS migration that has future growth and driver updates in mind
 Upgrading unsupported software to new supported and more secure versions
 Modernizing existing hardware to expand existing capabilities
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The enterprise organization poses as a complex Windows environment. Most computers in this
organization are still running Windows 7 and need to be upgraded to Windows 10; some computers may
be running other non-Windows OSes. This diagram shows what OSes are currently being used among
various departments within the organization:
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As the organization updates and/or changes its OSes, the following should be considered:
 User readiness—In the past, when the enterprise deployed Windows 7, users had multiple
options for joining different domains and organizational units or for setting up additional
accounts. Those options were great for developers, but were complex and challenging for other
users, which is an age-old problem. It is crucial to make future upgrades easy for the enterprise
to deploy. All users must have the same hardware and standardized applications for each
department (e.g., Finance, HR, IT, Training, and Marketing).
• Empowering users and maintaining productivity—Rapid deployment processes also require
creating a strong user experience that enables users to be productive, with rollback scenarios,
self-service capabilities, and streamlined infrastructure that supports easy adoption.
• Remote users—In most environments this size, about a third of full-time employees are remote
users all of the time, and roughly another third are remote at any time that the enterprise plans
to do a deployment. These users may have either good internet connections or metered
connections.
Departmental Applications
Software applications that employees from each department need to have access to:
IT
 SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor—Network tool for server monitoring and
maintenance
 SolarWinds Storage Resource Monitor—Network tool to monitor all storage resources and
infrastructure
 SolarWinds Virtualization Manager—Virtual machine monitoring and management
 Windows Office 365—Cloud-based Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
 Adobe Acrobat Pro—PDF creator and converter, document management
 ServiceNow ITSM—Cloud-based IT ticketing system
Finance
• SAP—ERP software for accounting and finance
• Windows Office 365—Cloud-based Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Training
• Windows Office 365—Cloud-based Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Adobe Captivate Prime LMS—Create virtual training experiences for employees
• Adobe Acrobat Pro— PDF creator and converter, document management
• TalentLMS—Corporate learning management system
Operations
• Windows Office 365—Cloud-based Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
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Security
• Windows Office 365—Cloud-based Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• LogRhythm—Enterprise security SIEM that detects, responds to, and neutralizes cyber threats
• Splunk—Enterprise security tool that searches, examines, and provides reporting in real time on
big data
Executive Administration
• Windows Office 365—Cloud-based Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• PeopleSoft HR—Suite of Human Resources tools used to manage employee and HR functions
• Adobe Acrobat Pro—PDF creator and converter, document management
Marketing
• Adobe PhotoShop—Creates and edits photos and images
• Adobe Illustrator—Creates graphics and rendering software
• Adobe Acrobat Pro—PDF creator and converter, document management
• Windows Office 365—Cloud-based Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
HR
• ServiceNow—Cloud-based IT ticketing system used to process onboarding/offboarding of
employees
• PeopleSoft HR—Suite of Human Resources tools used to manage employee and HR functions
• Ultipro—Time keeping application, employee evaluations
• ICIMs Hiring Suite—Hiring application, conducts virtual interviews
• Office365—Cloud-based Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)