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8.4.10 Deployment Plan Template

Purpose of this Document

Deployment is the final step in the development of a system. A Deployment Plan is developed based on a thorough analysis of the steps necessary to achieve the deployment goals of the project. It both serves to justify the strategy for deployment and to inform all deployment participants [and other stakeholders] of what will happen and what they will be required to do.

These two parts of the plan serve different purposes and should be written at different times. The strategy section shows management [and the operations people who will get the system] what the selected strategy is and how it best meets the constraints placed on the project [for instance, a multi-year funding profile and viable operational capabilities at each step].

The plan section is just that, a detailed plan for each deployment step, answering what, when, where, how, and by whom. This part is best written when the design is fairly complete and the exact system components, as well as their characteristics, are known in great detail.

Tailoring this Document to Your Project

There are a number reasons to have a Deployment Plan. Sometimes the deployment of a system is very simple and may not be need a very extensive plan. For example, if all deployment takes place at one location and at one time. On the other hand, if there are multiple locations, multiple deployments at each location, many external interfaces [other systems], or there are multiple agencies involved a Deployment Plan can be very helpful.

It is also possible that only one of the two parts of the Deployment Plan [as mentioned above] is needed. Specifically, the time spent in preparing the strategy section very much depends on how much “selling” of the plan is needed.

Project management may also decide that the subject of deployment is covered well enough in other documents [especially the Project Plan, the SEMP and the Verification Plan, as well as installation and construction drawings] that a separate Deployment Plan Document is not necessary. There are many factors to be considered, but the most important is, can the deployment be successful without the expense of developing a Deployment Plan?

Checklist: Critical Information

check Are all the important, and significant, deployment goals and objectives captured?
check Have as many as possible of the viable deployment strategies been analyzed and compared?
check Are the strengths of the recommended deployment strategy fully explained?
check Does the recommended deployment strategy include a clear description of the operational capabilities that exist after each deployment step?
check Has the recommended deployment strategy been presented to the appropriate stakeholder decision makers?
check Has the recommended deployment strategy been accepted by the stakeholder decision makers?
check Are all of the deployment phases included in the Deployment Plan?
check Are all of the prerequisites to starting each deployment step included and is the responsible party for each identified?
check Are the installation plans needed for each deployment step identified?
check Is the list of hardware and software products needed for each deployment step identified?
check For each deployment, are all participants identified?

DEPLOYMENT PLAN TEMPLATE

section

contents

Title Page

The title page should follow the Transportation Agency procedures or style guide. At a minimum, it should contain the following information:

  • DEPLOYMENT PLAN FOR THE [insert name of project] AND [insert name of transportation agency]
  • Contract number
  • Date that the document was formally approved
  • The organization responsible for preparing the document
  • Internal document control number, if available
  • Revision version and date issued

1.0 Purpose of Document

A brief statement of the purpose of this document. It is the plan for deploying the systems of the project over one or more phases and into one or more physical locations [sites].

2.0 Scope of Project

This section gives a brief description of the planned project and the purpose of the system to be built. Special emphasis is placed on the project’s deployment complexities and challenges.

This section may be lifted from earlier documents. It is important only to people [stakeholders] who will be introduced to the project for the first time by this document.

3.0 Deployment 4.0 Strategy

A complex deployment, involving multiple deployment steps at multiple sites, is based on certain goals and objectives. This section lists those goals and objectives and is used to “sell” the Deployment Plan to the stakeholders. It is also important that the deployment participants understand why the deployment is proceeding as it is so they can work with and support the plan.

The significant goals and objectives guiding the deployment strategy should be relatively few [no more than a dozen] and need to be clearly stated in this section. Some typical examples of goals and objectives include:

  • The funding profile for a multi-year project which limits the scope of deployment in a single year
  • Development and installation prerequisites. An analysis of the system may show that feature A must be deployed first before features B, C or D, all of which need A to function
  • Construction activities that must precede deployment
  • Deployment of interfacing systems [especially by other agencies] that must precede deployment of a system feature
  • The need to create a viable operational capability at each stage of the deployment. This influences how much of the system must be deployed at each step

Following the statement of the goals and objectives, a high level view of the deployment strategy is presented. This covers and describes each phase of deployment at each of the sites involved. It describes: what is deployed, where it is deployed, and what operational capabilities are the results of this phase of the deployment. It ties the plan to the previously identified goals and objectives so the stakeholders can understand the rationale for each phase. This summary should include an estimate of the cost of each phase to show the plan satisfies the funding profile. It should also show the overall deployment schedule.

5.0 Phase 1 Deployment

This, and the following sections, define and explain each phase of the deployment. The intent here is to identify all the needed participants and to describe to them what they have to do. As will be seen in the following list of section contents, not only are the deliverable products identified, but so is any site work that must be done prior to installation, as well as all activities necessary to show that the deployment was successful and the system is ready for operations, or what ever comes next.

In general, each phase description should identify:

  • The location of the deployment activities
  • The project-developed equipment and software products to be deployed. Initially this is just a high level list but eventually the list must be exact and complete, showing part numbers and quantity. If detailed hardware installation drawings have been prepared, they are referenced here
  • All site work [including construction and facilities] that is needed before installation can begin. Again, reference to drawings may be required. Also, any necessary inspection and testing of this work is defined
  • All integration activities which need to be performed after installation, including integration with on-site systems and with external systems at other sites
  • All verification activities [as defined in the applicable Verification Plan] that must occur prior to acceptance of the site
  • All supporting activities that must be completed before site acceptance, such as training and manuals
  • The responsible parties for each activity
  • The schedule for each activity

5.0 Multiple Phase Deployment steps [1 or N steps]

This, and any needed additional sections, follows the format for section 3. Each covers each step in a multiple step deployment effort.

 

Related Task Examples Checklist  

 

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Page last modified on September 20, 2016
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