12.1 Planning Waves and Batches

Large-scale IT transformation projects typically occur over an extended period in a production environment that might span multiple locations. Future network activities and conditions can be difficult to predict and details are as yet unknown. Complex projects with massive numbers of workloads might take months or even years to complete. It might be possible to plan details only a few months in advance.

PlateSpin Transformation Manager supports rolling wave planning to accommodate the near-term and long-term planning of your transformation tasks. You can organize the project’s transformation tasks in waves, as shown in Figure 12-1. For near-term waves, you can plan the tasks in detail. You can refine the transformation plan for future waves as newer and better information becomes available.

Figure 12-1 Wave Planning

Within a wave, batches group like workloads that you want to transform together. Batches can be more easily scheduled during intervals when Network resources are available. You can deliver valuable results in each batch and wave. Schedules are flexible. You can coordinate the start dates and cutover dates with stakeholders to work around planned events that are critical to the business.

Figure 12-2 Batch Planning