Standardizing Your Enterprise s Software Packaging Process

Transcription

1 Standardizing Your Enterprise s Software Packaging Process Published September 2005 Abstract This white paper explores the problems enterprises encounter when IT fails to follow a standardized software packaging process. It also highlights some of the options organizations have for instituting and enforcing a standardized process across all of IT, including building an internal packaging workflow system or purchasing a third-party solution.

2 Table of Contents Executive Summary... 3 Problems with Ad Hoc Software Packaging Processes... 3 Standardizing Your Software Packaging Process... 4 What to Consider Before Building Your Own System... 4 Challenges to Developing a Packaging Workflow System... 7 FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow Manager An Alternative to Homegrown Solutions... 7 Summary Standardizing Your Enterprise s Software Packaging Process

3 Executive Summary Deploying new applications, updates, and software patches is one of the most common and important functions of any IT department. These deployments help maintain the reliability and stability of an organization s applications while giving end users the software they need to do their jobs. However, even though most IT teams deploy hundreds of these software packages each year, many don t have a standardized process to properly prepare these packages for deployment. They instead follow a disorganized, ad hoc software packaging and testing process that often results in deployment failures, unreliable applications, low IT productivity, and high IT help desk costs. This white paper explores the problems organizations encounter when IT fails to follow a standardized software packaging process. It also highlights some of the options organizations have for instituting and enforcing a standardized process across all of IT, including building an internal packaging workflow system or purchasing a third-party solution. Problems with Ad Hoc Software Packaging Processes Properly preparing software packages for deployment across an organization is a complex process involving multiple steps, including repackaging, customization, impact assessment, and testing. This process, often referred to collectively as the software packaging process, also involves multiple stakeholders including software packagers, IT Managers, and end users submitting application requests who must coordinate their efforts to ensure rapid and successful deployments. The software packaging process can become exponentially more complex as a company s size increases, especially when the organization has multiple offices and software packaging centers across the globe. When IT Management can t centrally manage the process, and different teams are left to follow their own ad hoc processes, the entire organization suffers. Problems include: Costly Deployment Catastrophes Deploying a poorly prepared software package can erase important files required by mission-critical software, causing those software programs to fail. The resulting downtime can slam company productivity to a halt, increase IT help desk costs, and depending on the importance of the crashed application potentially cost the organization millions in lost revenue opportunities. Software Rollout Delays Without a clear, orderly process in place for preparing an application for deployment, bottlenecks and packaging issues can take far too long to resolve and software rollouts can suffer lengthy delays. Inefficient or Overloaded Packagers IT Management can t get an accurate global view of who in IT is working on what projects, so packaging assignments are often unevenly distributed. This means that projects that could have been completed right away if properly assigned are instead left to gather dust in the queue of an already overloaded software packager. Duplicated Packaging Efforts Since the software packaging process isn t being centrally coordinated, different IT teams often waste time and bandwidth preparing the same applications for deployment. Lost Application Data Data generated by the software packaging process can be invaluable for improving the way companies manage, package, and update applications. However, if the entire process isn t centrally managed or if the data remains scattered in various spreadsheets, documents, and communications it isn t available to the global IT team for future use. 3 Standardizing Your Enterprise s Software Packaging Process

4 Frustrated End Users When end users are left waiting for too long for the programs they need to do their jobs, they often get angry and frustrated and lose faith in IT. Standardizing Your Software Packaging Process Organizations that globally follow a standardized software packaging process are able to avoid the problems listed above. These companies instead enjoy the benefits of deploying properly prepared software packages, including timely, errorfree software rollouts, improved IT productivity, more reliable and available applications, and reduced IT help desk costs. However, enforcing a coordinated, standardized process that speeds applications through to deployment while also effectively managing all the IT personnel, documentation, and data involved in the process isn t easy. It takes the implementation of the right centralized management solution. Some solutions IT departments have experimented with: Dev Tracker Dev Tracker is an application that was designed to be used by software developers to track development tasks. But some IT departments use it to try to keep track of the many workflows involved in their software packaging process. Help Desk Systems Other organizations try to leverage their help desk system to manage the software packaging process. Each new application request becomes a help ticket that remains open until the application gets deployed. Since neither solution was designed to handle the specific complexities of the software packaging process, both have shortcomings. Neither have default workflows and terminology that are easy to follow and specific to software packaging tasks, neither automatically catalog data that is specific to software packaging, nether integrates with software packaging tools, and neither enables IT to generate reports on software packaging and application management issues and areas of concern. To standardize and streamline your organization s software packaging process, you need a centralized packaging workflow system designed specifically for that purpose. This leaves companies with two choices: build your own packaging workflow system or purchase one developed by a third party. What to Consider Before Building Your Own System Organizations thinking about whether or not to build their own packaging workflow system should be aware of the many requirements of the three primary users of the system: the IT Manager, the software packager, and the application owner/requestor. Requirements for the IT Manager As the person held most accountable for the effectiveness of the organization s software packaging process, the IT Manager has several crucial requirements from the packaging workflow system, including: Application Request Validation After IT Management receives an application request from an end user and before they approve it and assign it to a software packager, they should make sure the application isn t already deployed in their environment. Otherwise they could be wasting a packager s time by having them perform work that s already been completed. A packaging workflow system should facilitate this verification process. Intelligent Work Assignment Assigning application requests shouldn t be a guessing game. To avoid overloading packagers with work, IT Management should be able to see at a glance what every team member is working on so that they can assign tasks to the most available packager. 4 Standardizing Your Enterprise s Software Packaging Process

5 Real-Time Status Monitoring To be effective, IT Management should be able to see the real-time status of every application request in every office or packaging center. This capability helps to ensure the software packaging progress is running smoothly and that bottlenecks and roadblocks aren t delaying mission-critical software rollouts. Roles-Based Security System Proper security is a necessity for any packaging workflow system: an application requestor should have different access rights from a software packager, who should have different access right from an IT Manager. Establishing a roles-based security system provides users with different access rights depending on their role and level of security clearance. It helps ensure personnel with restricted rights only have access to the tools and data that they are permitted to access. Ideally this system would integrate with LDAP databases such as Active Directory and edirectory to simplify role management. Multi-User Login A multi-user login enables the packaging workflow system to recognize each user and only offer them the correct system views. This should include the ability to create guest accounts that permit people without a system account to gain access with limited permissions. Guest accounts save IT Management from having to waste time creating unique accounts for every potential system user. User-Friendly, Customizable UI An effective packaging workflow system makes it easy for IT Management to monitor and control the entire software packaging process. This requires a user-friendly UI for managing every software packager and ongoing application request. The UI should also be easily customizable, enabling IT Management to define the workflow process according to their organization s standards. Automated, Centralized Data Cataloging The software packaging process generates a large amount of data that is vital to successfully packaging, updating, and managing software. A packaging workflow system needs to automatically capture all this data including application requests, workflow details, packaging issues, and communications in one centralized database. Customizable Data Management IT Management should be able to define what data gets automatically captured, from installation instructions through deployment-related information. They should also be able to permanently delete any unwanted data from the system. Custom Data Reporting IT Management should be able to create custom reports from all the collected data in order to more intelligently manage their software. Test Templates As an organization s needs change, the packaging workflow system should reflect these new standards. In order to facilitate these modifications, IT Management should be able to place new or modified templates in test mode, so that they run effectively test them before putting them into live production. Task Tracking and Timestamping To ensure software packagers are always accountable for their role in the packaging process, the packaging workflow system should track and timestamp every workflow step. This helps build a permanent audit trail that tells IT Management exactly what each team member did and when they did it. SLA Warnings IT Managers need to be notified when Service Level Agreements are in danger of falling out of SLA compliance so they can take immediate action. The packaging workflow system should accommodate this. Workflow Customization Options To meet more advanced requirements, the IT Manager should be able to customize the workflow process. Customization options include the scheduling of executables to run or Web pages to launch in a new browser any time during the workflow process. Requirements for the Software Packagers All the individuals responsible for preparing applications for deployment referred to collectively here as software packagers also have several important requirements from a packaging workflow system, including: Simplified, Prioritized Task Assignment Any effective packaging workflow system should clearly communicate to software packagers what tasks they are assigned and each task s individual priority. This means it should provide a single, easy-to-understand work assignment view that orders tasks according to the priority established by IT Management. 5 Standardizing Your Enterprise s Software Packaging Process

6 Complete Application Requests When software packagers receive new application requests from IT Management, they should come complete with all the necessary installation instructions from the application requestor. Easy-to-Follow Workflows Software packagers should never have to guess what task to perform next on an application they are preparing. The packaging workflow system should provide the entire workflow for the application in one easy-to-follow view; it should also automatically check off work that has already been completed. Issue Prioritization Software packagers should be able to label issues to indicate their severity. Labeling an issue as critical should automatically lock the workflow into a read-only mode until the issue is resolved. Facilitating Issue Resolution When issues arise during the preparation of an application for deployment, the packaging workflow system should facilitate its resolution by providing packagers with an easy way to send queries directly to the application requestor. All data and communications should be captured and permanently logged by the system so that future packaging projects can benefit. Data Reporting Whenever software packagers need data to assist in the packaging of applications, they should be able to query the database and generate reports containing the information they need. Automatic Task Routing After a packager has completed their role in the application preparation process, they shouldn t have to guess who to send the request to next. The packaging workflow system should collect information on requests in real time as IT works on them and automatically route each project on to the next step and person in the workflow process based on that data and the organization s best practices. Automatic Stakeholder Alerts Keeping application requestors notified of the progress of their requests helps increase their satisfaction with IT, but packagers shouldn t have to waste time manually sending s after tasks are completed. The packaging workflow system should automatically send s to key stakeholders notifying them of work being performed on particular applications and any issues or roadblocks that have arisen. Integration with Software Packaging Tools To streamline the packaging process, the packaging workflow system should integrate with the software packaging tool used to prepare the application for deployment. Possible integration points include having the packaging tool appear in the workflows, and having data created by the tool cataloged in the packaging workflow system s database. Requirements for the Application Requestor Some organizations allow any end user needing a new software program to submit an application request to IT, while others restrict it to business unit heads or special application owners. But regardless of the organization s rules, the application requestor has the same requirements from a packaging workflow system, including: Easy-to-Use, Intuitive UI The easier it is for end users to submit application requests to IT, the better. The UI of an effective packaging workflow system should be as simple and user friendly as possible. It should be easily accessible and provide the application requester with dedicated views specific to their needs. Prompt for Installation Instructions Software packagers need certain pieces of data, referred to as installation instructions, to properly configure an application for deployment. Does the application have any dependencies? Does it require a serial number to install? Are there any database issues or connectivity requirements? As the application owner, the end user requesting the application is the best person to provide the answers, but that doesn t mean they know the questions. An effective packaging workflow system should prompt the application requestor for the information and provide drop-down lists and other aids whenever possible to help them provide the answers. Visibility into IT s Progress The packaging workflow system needs to give curious requestors the ability to log in and see the real-time status of their requests at any time. Keeping end users in the dark about where their requests are in the packaging process will only breed frustration and animosity towards IT. It also forces curious end users to send s and make phone calls to IT, tying up IT s bandwidth unnecessarily. 6 Standardizing Your Enterprise s Software Packaging Process

7 Challenges to Developing a Packaging Workflow System Organizations attempting to develop and maintain their own packaging workflow system inevitably face the following three challenges: It Takes a Diverse Team of Experienced Developers Building an effective packaging workflow system requires an experienced team of developers with diverse skill sets, including substantial development expertise in creating Web, server, and database code. It also takes developers with significant user design experience to create the UI. It Takes Time Creating a packaging workflow system isn t something a team of developers can do overnight. It takes a large, dedicated development team many months to properly design, code, and test the system with no guarantees of success. It Takes Continuous Improvements and Maintenance Technology and end-user needs are constantly evolving, and an effective packaging workflow system needs to keep pace. So creating the system isn t just a one shot deal something developers can build once and then go back to performing their regular duties full time. It requires continuous improvements, and that means a substantial and long-term commitment from the development team. FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow Manager An Alternative to Homegrown Solutions Instead of committing substantial developer resources to creating a potentially flawed packaging workflow system, many organizations instead use Macrovision s FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow Manager to manage their software packaging process. About FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow Manager FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow Manager is a Web-based packaging workflow system providing software packaging teams with an effective method for coordinating and managing preparation of software for deployment. FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow Manager enforces a standardized and streamlined software packaging process based on best practices that maximizes IT productivity, improves software reliability, and reduces the cost of managing applications. 7 Standardizing Your Enterprise s Software Packaging Process

8 Figure 1: FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow Manager s workflow templates help IT standardize the software packaging process FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow Manager provides end users with an easy way to submit application request to IT, while giving IT Management a way to assign tasks to IT and monitor their progress in real time. FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow Manager also captures application data and provides powerful reporting tools to extract and leverage that information. From the Leading Name in Software Packaging FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow Manager comes from Macrovision, the makers of FLEXnet AdminStudio, the premier software packaging and testing solution. Thousands of organizations use FLEXnet AdminStudio s automated tools to prepare software for deployment to their enterprise. FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow Manager also integrates seamlessly with FLEXnet AdminStudio to provide IT with a complete solution for streamlining the software packaging process. Summary Deploying new applications, updates, and software patches is one of the most common and important functions of any IT department. To ensure these deployments run smoothly, IT should always follow a standardized software packaging process based on best practices. However, implementing and enforcing a standardized process can be difficult, especially for large, geographically dispersed enterprises with multiple packaging centers. This white paper highlights some of the options organizations have for instituting a standardized software packaging process across all of IT, including building an internal packaging workflow system or purchasing a third-party solution like Macrovision s FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow Manager. To learn more about Macrovision s FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow Manager or to request a product evaluation, visit 8 Standardizing Your Enterprise s Software Packaging Process

9 900 NATIONAL PARKWAY SUITE 125 SCHAUMBURG, IL USA TEL: VISION HOUSE, PRIORY COURT PRESTON BROOK CHESIRE, WA7 3FR UNITED KINGDOM TEL: Macrovision Europe Ltd. and/or Macrovision Corporation. All Rights Reserved. FLEXnet and AdminStudio are registered trademarks of Macrovision Corporation in the United States of America and/or other countries. All other brand and product names mentioned herein are the trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. Part No. FLEXnet AdminStudio Workflow ManagerWP Standardizing Your Enterprise s Software Packaging Process