Symantec Data Center Migration Service

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1 Avoid unplanned downtime to critical business applications while controlling your costs and schedule The Symantec Data Center Migration Service helps you manage the risks and complexity of a migration using a unique application-centric approach to avoid unplanned downtime, and control your costs and schedule. Symantec consultants have the expertise and experience to provide program management and allow your staff to focus on core IT business priorities. Unlike storage and server hardware vendors, Symantec specializes in heterogeneous technology environments allowing you to migrate using your existing hardware, database and application investments. The Data Center Migration Service is delivered in discrete phases to ensure programs are accurately scoped, and consistently designed and executed over time and across geographies. "The leading source of downtime is change or human error." Symantec State of the Data Center Report 2007 The Data Center Migration Service has broad applicability, whether your migration involves a physical move such as a data center expansion, consolidation or relocation; virtualization; decommissioning; or any combination thereof. The service can be integrated as part of a one-time event or an ongoing data center optimization practice. In all migrations, field-tested methods and artifacts are used as the foundation for designing a program tailored to your specific environmental, organizational and migration program objectives. The Data Center Migration Service is an integral part of the Symantec Data Center Transformation framework, which addresses the efficiency of the IT supply chain including applications and infrastructure as well as the management of IT operations, focusing on people and processes in addition to technologies and IT services. Symantec Data Center Transformation services can be delivered in consecutive phases or as flexible, stand-alone initiatives, combined as needed. Challenge Even minor changes to data center real estate, facilities or building environments can be extremely complex and costly for an organization. Often, significant lead times are required Page 1 of 5

2 to change, relocate or expand the capacity of a data center. In fact, a data center migration is one of the most sophisticated tasks performed by the IT department, requiring the strategic involvement of senior staff, often at the C-level of the organization. There is no room for unplanned outages or downtime of critical applications due to migration activities. However, disruptions are a real possibility, and can quickly become a public relations issue, impacting both your customers and your brand. In 2007 news sources were quick to report on outages for thousands of hosted customers as a result of flawed data center migrations at Hostway and Navisite. Hostway later announced 500 servers suffered hardware failures when they were restarted in the new facility. A phased approach to Data Center Migration Each service phase can be delivered as a discrete offering or can be part of a broader Data Center Migration Service. The first three phases - Program Management, Program Initiation, and Discovery - include a broad range of launch activities to structure the migration effort. The final four phases Migration Planning, Migration Pilot, Migration Rollout, and Handover- form the core of the Symantec Repeatable Migration Process. "Symantec Consulting Services quickly understood our business and our requirements; they were highly professional " Andrew Ralston, Virgin Mobile The Symantec Repeatable Migration Process is the engine driving the migration of each application and infrastructure component. The Repeatable Migration Process comprises a rigorous blending of sound project management methodology, best practices, and solid process modeling. Program management Effective program management provides visibility into and effective control over migration related issues. It ensures that appropriate communication structures are used by all parties. To augment your migration program team and ensure you have necessary coverage and expertise for the project from start to finish, Symantec consultants can play several roles: The Program Manager is accountable for the success of the migration as a whole. The Lead Technologist is responsible for the technical aspects of the migration as well as for individual work streams. The Scheduling Manager is responsible for the creation, maintenance and distribution of the master migration schedule. Symantec consultants can also augment your staff in other migration roles allowing your existing employees to focus on core business priorities. Program initiation The purpose of the program initiation phase is to articulate migration objectives and to assess the status and quality of technology inventories, migration plans, facilities, and human resources. The program initiation phase will result in the creation of the program charter, the master migration schedule, the program budget, the migration governance committee, and the technical design authority committee. Symantec uses three techniques to ensure a streamlined and thorough program initiation: Page 2 of 5

3 Program initiation - continued Program definition workshop. The program definition workshop is a kick-off event where the migration program team defines the migration objectives, program structure, migration methodology, and formal reporting and communications structures. Program constraints, risks, requirements, and timelines are similarly articulated. In addition, the program team will identify relevant customer business drivers, operational considerations and implementation alternatives. Application readiness assessment. An initial readiness assessment is conducted to ensure that the necessary plans and inventories have been collected and contain an appropriate level of detail. To achieve a successful migration, it is a prerequisite that the current and future states of the applications being migrated are clearly defined. Dependency maps of business services and the underlying applications, servers and network components will be verified. If gaps are found, and if action is required, you can either produce the missing components (in-house or using a third-party) or in conjunction with Symantec as part of the design phase of the migration. " we had complete trust in Symantec Consulting Services ability to share best practice business continuity policies across Virgin Mobile." Andrew Ralston, Virgin Mobile Site preparation workshop. The site preparation workshop ensures that the target site for the migration activities is ready before the actual migration begins. Whether a data center is being relocated or virtualized, all environmental, logistical and readiness factors will be addressed to ensure that the migration will be completed efficiently and without interruption. Despite the apparent simplicity, in our experience, this is typically one of the most poorly executed tasks during a migration, and requires a significant amount of planning and third-party coordination. Symantec checklists and experience will help mitigate unforeseen planning gaps. Discovery The purpose of the discovery phase is to validate the size and scope of migration activities by cataloging all migration related elements and comparing them against the initial proposal. The environment is audited to ensure that it has been correctly represented. Symantec has developed time-tested discovery tools that we will use in conjunction with interviews, and physical inspections of your facilities. The discovery phase will result in the creation of three key inventories: the master application inventory, the master server inventory, and the master infrastructure inventory. Migration planning The purpose of the migration planning phase is to capture the detail needed to drive both high- and low-level tasks and coordinate across functional boundaries. During this phase, Symantec consultants work with your team to create a comprehensive migration plan including tasks, milestones, and resources to migrate the data center. For each specific application to be migrated, the program team will confirm the desired migration strategy; identify migration risks; and prepare process diagrams and plans for task execution, acceptance testing, rollback, and if required, virtualization. Page 3 of 5

4 Migration planning - continued Symantec helps to set a realistic schedule and set of objectives given the available financial, human, and technology resources. Migration pilot During this phase, a migration pilot is performed to orient program personnel and their management to an actual migration under closely controlled conditions using the Symantec Repeatable Migration Process. A pilot is conducted to bolster confidence but also to identify any issues with processes or communication. Migration rollout This is the execution phase where the migration is completed and migration objectives are met. Symantec provides the migration expertise and experience to successfully manage and mitigate risks, track project activities and progress, communicate status across the program team, and escalate and resolve issues. Handover Once a migration has been successfully completed, the handover phase ensures that your support resources are prepared to reassume their day-to-day responsibilities. Symantec ensures a smooth transition by providing the required operations documentation and works with your IT support team to verify the migrated applications are functioning within specified tolerances. This phase ends with a formal sign-off process to mark the migration completion. Service completion and turnover workshop. After the final sign-off for the Symantec Data Center Migration Service, the program team will conduct a debriefing session that will include lessons learned. Symantec will demobilize all project personnel and resources utilized with the exception of ongoing residents. About Symantec Global Services Symantec Global Services offers deep technical knowledge and expert resources for securing and managing the world s information. With a staff of 4,000 professionals and an extensive partner network, Symantec Global Services helps customers address information security, availability, storage, and compliance challenges at the endpoint and in complex, multivendor data center environments. Our best practices are based on decades of technology leadership and thousands of engagements with companies of all sizes, including 95 percent of the Fortune 500. Count on Symantec Global Services to help you address your toughest IT challenges so you can operate with confidence in today s connected world. Page 4 of 5

5 Call toll-free 1 (800) About Symantec Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage, and systems management solutions to help businesses and consumers secure and manage their information. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has operations in more than 40 countries. More information is available at Symantec World Headquarters Stevens Creek Blvd. Cupertino, CA USA +1 (408) (800) Copyright 2008 Symantec Corporation. All rights reserved. Symantec and the Symantec logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. 05/ Page 5 of 5