Project Brief

Approvals

* = Approved by Fraser Mckenzie in the absence of David Graham

Distribution

Background

This project brief describes the objectives, scope, timeline, deliverables and acceptance criteria for the upgrade of the networking infrastructure in the JCMB and Appleton Tower datacentres managed by ITI Communication Infrastructure Services (CIS). The goal of the project is to upgrade and optimise networking in the data centres to more effectively support access to the University’s business critical administration and research systems.

Project Scope

The project will upgrade the data network infrastructure in the University's data centres at JCMB and Appleton Tower. The scope covers the replacement of EOL 1GigE switches and consolidation of others in the data halls. The scope covers all switches, apart from the Brocade 10GigE switches, recently installed at the data centres. The switches in comms/server rooms in secure corridors at AT/JCMB are to be assessed to ascertain if they are in scope. The replacement of switches will potentially be a mix of new and existing, recycled (e.g. HP 5130-48) switches to meet budget limitations.

The switch inventory at the data centres has been updated and is being used to plan and track the switch replacement work. The project will run in parallel with CIS014 - Network Infrastructure Deployment, but is not part of that programme, but may benefit from project synergies such as discounts on new switch equipment from the main contractor on CIS014.

There is potential to synchronise with network management/monitoring work that will be ongoing during the project. This system will be implemented as part of the CIS014 project.

Further plans and documentation will stored at the project SharePoint site. Project tasks are managed and tracked on the Jira Kanban dashboard.

Out of Scope

The project does not cover the replacement of any network switches outside the data centre. It should be noted that the larger network programme (CIS014 – Network Infrastructure Deployment) will run in parallel to deliver data network infrastructure and services to buildings in the University’s estate outside the data centres.

The project will not include ENT VMware hosts which are currently being migrated to the Brocade 10GigE network as part of ENT026 – VMware Service Improvement.

Objectives

The key requirements of the FY2019-20 Data Centre Network project are listed below. The expectation is that the work will be completed before the end of the 2019-20 financial year in July 2020.

Deliverables

The following deliverables and acceptance criteria to meet the objectives of the project are outlined in the following table.

Success Criteria

The following are the criteria to be met to ensure a successful completion of the project –

• Reduction in risk with improved network services at the JCMB and Appleton Tower data centres
• Ease in the installation for new equipment to be connected to the data centre network and in moving existing equipment on the networks
• Improved processes, management systems and documentation to manage and monitor the data centre networks
• No major disruption or loss of service to systems impacted by the switch migration

Benefits

The successful delivery of this project is expected to provide the following benefits -

• All networking equipment in the data centres is within warranty and under vendor support
• Paired switches deliver across the board resilience and improved business service levels
• Minimises installation and maintenance costs through effective port planning and utilisation
• The data centre networks are managed and monitored within the wider University network management systems
• Network switch inventory and schematics are up to date and managed
• All decommissioned equipment is recycled and disposed of effectively

Project Governance

The project will be managed using the standard ISG ITI project management framework and processes.

A project board will not be constituted. This was agreed by senior stakeholders at the initial project review. Day to day project management and delivery is the responsibility of the project team – see the section - Project Team. The project team will meet on a fortnightly basis.

Project Board

The senior stakeholders of this project have indicated that a project board will not be created for this project. Any escalations from the project meetings will be raised directly with the Senior Supplier or Senior Users, as appropriate.

Tolerances

The following standard ITI project tolerances will be applied and these are outline below. Any deviation outside these tolerances must be reported to the senior stakeholders for review and resolution.

• Cost – over +/- 10% of original budget
• Plan – slippage of over 4 weeks to current plan
• Scope – extensive addition or reduction from current scope
• Quality – refusal to approve a key project deliverable

Resources, Skills and Costs

Budget

A capital budget of £80,000 has been assigned to this project. Cost estimates will be prepared during the design and migration planning stage. However, it is expected that a significant number of switches will need to be replaced which will require some level of capital investment. Where possible existing supported switches will be recycled to reduce investments costs. Additional investment will also be required for new cabling, racking kit and, possibly, patch panel. As currently, it is envisaged that the project will run with internal resources, no investment is predicted for external consultancy or contracts.

Revenue costs, covering items such as maintenance and support costs for the new switches and other equipment and any additional licencing costs for the network management systems, will be covered by operational budgets,

It is estimated that the project will run from October 2019 to July 2020 and will require significant ITI CIS staff involvement for network design, planning, procurement, installation, configuration, test and implementation work. In addition, ITI ENT support will be required for data centre planning, systems design, planning, configuration, test and implementation phases.

Priority and Funding

This work has been identified as a Priority 3 project providing Growth within the ITI portfolio. An initial budget of £80,000 has been approved for purchase of new switches and related equipment. A more accurate estimated of projects costs will be submitted the design work is completed.  Estimates will be obtained under the framework negotiated with EE for the CIS014 project.

Project Team

The following diagram shows the key members of the Data Centre Networking (CIS015) project team. Their roles and responsibilities are outlined in this section.

Roles and estimated high-level resource requirements are itemised in the table below for all project contributors.

In addition, ad hoc support may be required from ISG Business Admin for procurement activity and ISG Finance to provide support in developing and maintaining the project cost model.

Project Milestones

The following table outlines the key milestones in the project. The initial dates assume that procurement of new equipment will be managed using the CIS014 framework. The project will highlight any changes that may impact services by early communication to the service owners of the systems affected and through the normal change management processes.

Work Breakdown

The following work breakdown chart summarises tasks required to deliver the upgrade of the networking infrastructure at the JCMB and Appleton Tower data centres.

* = possible option

Project Timeline

The table below shows in outline the estimated times for the main tasks in the project.

The proposed project timeline is shown below.

Assumptions

The following assumptions have been identified at the start of the project and may be expanded during the project.

• The resources estimated for the project will be available as scheduled to ensure the work assigned in the project plan is completed on time
• The bulk of critical Enterprise Services systems (virtual hosting) will be migrated to the Brocade 10GigE network for data traffic by end-2019, before any installation work on this project, and so the scope will cover user traffic,  database traffic, any less critical applications and management and monitoring traffic on the 1GigE network
• The bulk of critical Research Services systems are already on the 10GigE RDM network for data traffic and so the scope will cover user traffic,  less critical applications and management and monitoring traffic on the 1GigE network
• ISG Production Management will be required to plan and monitor applications services when servers are migrated to the new switches
• Project costs once estimated will be approved
•  The project will align with CIS014 – Network Infrastructure Deployment and share dependencies and synergies e.g. EE framework
• Equipment lead-time is estimated at one month
• All operational documentation and management systems in scope will be update, as required

Constraints         

The main constraint for the project is that CIS, ENT and RSS team members will not be fully assigned to the project and will be working on other projects and supporting BAU activities. This can be translated into a key risk were precedence for resources may go to the CIS014 project, critical BAU work or work on another higher priority project. Management will prioritise resource for this project to achieve project timescales as per resource plan, whilst recognising operational requirements and wider programme commitments.

Additionally, if it is a management goal to ensure project costs are covered by an FY2019-20 budget, this mean that procurement of equipment, delivery and payment must be completed by July 2020.

Risks

The risk log will be maintained to record and track all risks to resolution. Risk severity and impact, risk owner and planned mitigation date will be assigned by the project team. Major risks with proximity need to be escalated to the project sponsor.

Initial risks that have been identified for this project include –

• The project resource requirements, and hence planned dates, may not be met due to the volume of work in other areas e.g. CIS014 within the CIS and ENT team
• The scope of work in terms of impacted systems and services is yet to be completed in detail, so that the current plans require revision if approval from a service owner for migration of a service is rejected due to business risk e.g. applications process, exams.
• The overall project costs may not be covered by the indicative budget (£80K) so all impacted switches may not be able to be replaced. The mitigation will be to reuse existing HP5130-48 switches were new switches are not available.

Issues

If they arise, issues will be recorded, on the Projects website, and tracked throughout the project. Issues that are not outside agreed tolerances will be resolved within the project team. Major issues need to be escalated to the appropriate senior stakeholder for review and advice on resolution. Issue resolution that requires a major change to the project in terms of time, quality or cost needs to be approved under formal change management by the senior stakeholders.

All project changes outside tolerances must be reviewed and approved by the project sponsor. Project changes within tolerances can be managed with the project team.

Project work that impacts production systems or networks must be communicated with the requisite lead time to the ISG CAB for review and approval.

Lessons Learned

A log will be maintained on the Projects website to record lessons learned throughout the project. This will be reviewed at the project closure meeting and will be available for review by future projects.

It is noted that anecdotal lesson learned from the project CISX05 - Brocade Fabric 10G Network include –

• The work was not treated as a project in the first instance so scope, goals, requirements, dates, etc. were not reviewed and agreed
• Design and implementation issues delayed the project, with multiple redesigns attempted
• A reduce scope networking solution was delivered
• Connection of systems to the 10Gbs network was not include in the project work or timeline

Initiating this project using formal methods to ensure scope, plans, resourcing and budgets are agreed in the planning and design phases of the project should ensure the slippage and de-scoping will, if not minimised, be managed formally and effectively.

Dependencies

The project will run in parallel with the University’s network replacement programme, CIS014, but is not considered part of that programme. However, this project will benefit from synergies from the larger programme which may include –

• Network design and delivery standards
• Discounted framework pricing on equipment
• CIS and other resources working on both projects

The two project teams will also have to coordinate in the areas where the new network equipment will be integrated.

Currently no dependencies have been identified with other ongoing ITI projects. Any planned outages or risks to services will be communication to service owners for their review and approval well in advance of any changes.

Communication

The following meetings and communication channels will be put in place to support the effective communication of project progress, risk management and escalation.

Run/Grow/Transform

This project will contribute to the growth of ITI services with the delivery of more robust, resilient and supported network infrastructure within the data centres at JCMB and Appleton Tower.

Alignment with ISG Strategic Vision

This section defines how the areas of the upgraded data centre infrastructure aligns with the ISG’s strategic vision.

Alignment with IS Change Programme

The following table shows the Data Centre Networking project contributes to the themes that underpin the University’s change programme.

Service Excellence

Information and Security

The network infrastructure will be integrated into the current security infrastructure with firewall configurations replicated, upgraded, and hardened, where necessary, providing improved security controls around the University’s systems and data.

Improved physical security around access to the data centres is not in the scope of the project but enhance to cabinet level security will be considered when redesigning rack layouts.

Process Improvement

The project will deliver network infrastructures in both data centres that integrate effectively with the wider planned network replacement initiative and contribute to the improved network management processes and systems that will be delivered.

The disposal of all decommissioned equipment will follow standard University and ISG policies for the safe, sustainable and secure disposal of kit.

Digital Transformation

The project will deliver a network infrastructure which transforms the current environment into one which provides more secure, robust and reliable data centre networks to support the systems that use it and the data that follows through it.

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