Microsoft Word Hardware Reconfiguration Methodology V final2

User-related system changes

User-related system changes must be evaluated in order to determine whether any of the changes made will cause system, application, or service-related disruption or failure. Any type of disruption or failure could adversely affect the way users work and interact with both the system and each other. This will in turn adversely affect both their day-to-day tasks and their overall mission objectives, many of which have to be accomplished together as a team. In a mission critical environment, any disruption could be potentially disastrous.

Therefore, it is very important to test the system after a set of changes, even if they are small. Although the system administrator is generally able to distinguish adverse affects to the operating system itself, only the users are uniquely positioned to test the system’s applications and services. Of course, not every change is necessarily a bad; in fact, most of often changes are necessary so to fix bugs and provide newer or enhanced features.

Laboratory-based testing in an isolated environment will make it easier to determine if the users experience any differences in their day-to-day activities and use of the system before changes are eventually deployed onto operational systems. This provides the users an opportunity to voice themselves beforehand rather than be forced to accept non-functional or aberrant modifications or changes to their applications and work methodologies. Thus, user-based impact studies are necessary in order to assess the usability of the changes made. Some tests users should consist of “power users,” users who are generally self-sufficient. System administrators in general make

poor test users as they often bypass security or organizational procedures to accomplish their task(s) or fail to understand how application-based changes will affect users.

User-based changes should be tested on a case-by-case and not all changes require test users. Operating system changes that are sure not to affect applications and the users do not necessarily require user testing (of course, the system administrator should test these changes).

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