OUR APPROACH

Our approach is based on PDIOO. PPDIOO stands for Prepare, Plan, Design, Implement, Operate, and Optimize. PPDIOO is a Cisco methodology that defines the continuous life-cycle of services required for a network.

 

PPDIOO Phases

The PPDIOO phases are as follows:

Prepare: Involves establishing the organizational requirements, developing a network strategy, and proposing a high-level conceptual architecture identifying technologies that can best support the architecture. The prepare phase can establish a financial justification for network strategy by assessing the business case for the proposed architecture.

 

Plan: Involves identifying initial network requirements based on goals, facilities, user needs, and so on. The plan phase involves characterizing sites and assessing any existing networks and performing a gap analysis to determine whether the existing system infrastructure, sites, and the operational environment can support the proposed system. A project plan is useful for helping manage the tasks, responsibilities, critical milestones, and resources required to implement changes to the network. The project plan should align with the scope, cost, and resource parameters established in the original business requirements.

 

Design: The initial requirements that were derived in the planning phase drive the activities of the network design specialists. The network design specification is a comprehensive detailed design that meets current business and technical requirements, and incorporates specifications to support availability, reliability, security, scalability, and performance. The design specification is the basis for the implementation activities.

 

Implement: The network is built or additional components are incorporated according to the design specifications, with the goal of integrating devices without disrupting the existing network or creating points of vulnerability.

 

Operate: Operation is the final test of the appropriateness of the design. The operational phase involves maintaining network health through day-to-day operations, including maintaining high availability and reducing expenses. The fault detection, correction, and performance monitoring that occur in daily operations provide the initial data for the optimization phase.

 

Optimize: Involves proactive management of the network. The goal of proactive management is to identify and resolve issues before they affect the organization. Reactive fault detection and correction (troubleshooting) is needed when proactive management cannot predict and mitigate failures. In the PPDIOO process, the optimization phase can prompt a network redesign if too many network problems and errors arise, if performance does not meet expectations, or if new applications are identified to support organizational and technical requirements.