Implementation of a Company Wide Network (ACME Corporation)

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Introduction

Prior to the technology explosion of the nineties, the Company I work for, which for this paper will be referred to Acme, was viewed as a premier technological organization. The brightest engineers were employed with the company, where they were able to work with the latest technologies. Recently the Acme has seen a significant change. The rapid advancement of technology has prevented the company from maintaining pace with the commercial sector. Like many business organizations the company has been forced function with older technologies but is still expected to perform its mission, with less financial resources and personnel. To meet the expectations of the decision makers of the company, the company must upgrade to the newer technologies found in today's market. One possible method to accomplish this is to leverage and incorporate newer technologies into their current infrastructure. This paper will propose how the Acme can benefit from the implementation of a wireless (Wi-Fi) local area network.

Implementation

In today's world, communications is not a nicety but is a necessity. As technology transitions from the traditional cable connected technologies to wireless, employees will have the capability to communicate regardless of their location. Access to corporate email services or web-based applications, regardless of whether the employee is located at their desk or attending a meeting in a conference room will be common place. This convenience and immediate access to information will provide a significant increase in productivity for the organizations that implement the wireless technology.

To facilitate Acme's transition to this new world of communications, the implementation of a Wi-Fi local area network is recommended. The implementation of this technology differs significantly from Acme's current infrastructure. For this reason the implementation should take place slow and deliberately. Initially the implementation should start with a roll out of a pilot program. For the sake of convenience, it is suggested that the pilot implementation take place at one of Acme's annex buildings. This is simply due to the smaller size of the buildings and the lower number of personnel working in these facilities. Once the building for the pilot implementation has been determined, a complete site survey of the installation will be required. This is to determine exactly what network equipment is currently in place, and where the remote access points should be positioned to ensure complete coverage of the entire building.

The initial roll-out will be completed in a phased approach starting with executive level managers. This serves two significant purposes. First, since they spend much of their time in meetings, executive level managers typically have a need for wireless connectivity. Secondly, it is imperative that this implementation have the support of upper management. Providing this capability to these managers will help to gain the necessary support for a successful implementation.

Upon successful completion of the initial roll-out, the next group of personnel to receive wireless connectivity will be those employees that currently have and utilize a laptop computer during their day to day activities. Those employees that utilize desktop computers will be provided wireless access when it is time for their computer to be replaced with a newer model. This helps to meet the slow and deliberate approach ...