IT Production Acceptance

Production acceptance is where the rubber meets the road: where internal customers, IT decision-makers, and support professionals must work together to make sure their mission-critical software is truly ready for prime time. In this book, leading consultant Gary Walker presents systematic, proven methods and guidelines for ensuring that production acceptance works -- and that the resulting software delivers the high levels of reliability, availability, and serviceability it promises. Drawing upon his extensive experience working with Fortune 500 clients, Walker presents the most detailed guide to production acceptance available in any book on the market today. Walker covers every step of the process, and all three key elements: technology, people, and process. Walker views production acceptance in the broadest sense, going far beyond quality assurance to include ongoing communications between developers, support professionals, and users. IT Production Acceptance includes a detailed infrastructure planning workbook, checklists that define clear roles and responsibilities for every participant, and coverage of every key production control function, based on a proven 3-tier support model. "...describes in practical terms one of the most important functions of an IT infrastructure: that of deploying a well-designed development system into a well-running production system." --Kenneth Moskowitz, CIO, Thomson Financial "The Production Acceptance assessment worksheets are extremely valuable in evaluating the quality of an IT infrastructure..." --Brian Shield, EVP, CIO, The Weather Channel "The Ten Commandments for establishing an ideal IT environment. Should be followed religiously." -- Joe Feiu, VP, NeoDimensions "...presents the critical technical aspects of world-class infrastructure in a very business-like manner." -- Mark Egan, CIO, Symantec Corporation "Hundreds of books describe how to design and develop world-class applications, but few ever describe how to successfully deploy these systems. Until now." -- Rachel Pong, COO, Exonomy Limited, A subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank "...clearly addresses how to effectively deploy and support world-class applications." --Bill Parker, CIO, AgwayThe best enterprise IT organizations have discovered the secret to high-performance infrastructure management: build a true Production Services function and realistic Production Acceptance processes. By doing so, they've achieved outstanding reliability, availability, and serviceability... transforming themselves from overpriced support centers into world-class service providers. IT Production Services shows you how to do it, too. Drawing on data compiled from 200+ enterprise IT assessments, it's your start-to-finish guide for effective IT infrastructure management in business-critical environments. Presents "Ten Commandments" for designing cost-effective, efficient IT organizations Covers all three key ingredients: people, processes, and technology Shows why transitioning systems straight from development to operations is a recipe for failure Includes case studies from the authors' experience consulting with Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies Answers today's most frequently asked questions about managing IT infrastructure Shows how to infuse accountability throughout your IT organization Endorsed by CIOs and senior executives at Symantec, Thomson Financial, The Weather Channel, Agway, and many other leading firms Whether you're a CxO, IT director, manager, or architect, IT Production Services will help you optimize your IT organization -- hands-on.