If you fail to plan, you plan to fail – Benjamin Franklin
Having a plan is very important in almost every endeavor. The more important the endeavor, the more time and effort you should put into your plan. Having a wireless lifecycle plan and philosophy should be defined and documented. Once your plan is documented then it can be referenced to guide your thoughts, effort, training, and budget requests. Your direct leadership might use the plan to discuss strategy with his leadership and so forth. The plan becomes a tool and roadmap.
Note: Plan refers to Wireless Lifecycle Plan. Its just really long to type out each time, and words don’t flow as well. I could have used a TLA, but decided “plan” was good enough. 🙂
Every good roadmap records where you have been and where you are going. Your plan should do this as well. Update your plan as you go with your completed projects. This will give you a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
No plan survives contact with the enemy – Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
Every journey might involve some detours along the way. Your roadmap may need to change. Your plan should be flexible. If the business decides that deployment of XYZ needs to be pushed back a year, moved forward a year, or canceled altogether…No big deal. Update the plan and move forward. Your plan is a living document.
Your plan might be different than mine. That is ok. Each plan will be different depending on vertical and business needs.
Methodology:
- Define Time Frame i.e. 5 Year Wireless Lifecycle
- Subdivide Time Frame into Manageable Chucks ie. Fiscal Quarters
- List All Reoccurring Annual or Semi-Annual Tasks i.e. RF Designs, AP Replacements, Code Upgrades
- List Large Future Tasks or Important Tasks (That You Know About) i.e. Cisco ISE Deployment
- Populate the Schedule In Your Plan Attempting to Balance Budget and Human Resources
- Sit Back and Enjoy a Latte
PDF Version:
So what does this have to do with Unicorns? Both are as about as Rare. So share your plans! I would love to see them!
Thoughts? Get in touch. I always am refining my processes.
