Centre of Excellence

Preface

In order to facilitate a successful proof of concept SheepDog has built a Google Apps domain that has all the core elements of a full production environment which includes an integrated Active Directory, an integrated BlackBerry Enterprise Server and fully functional shared calendaring system. This framework is ready for your test users to begin the proof of concept. The Centre of Excellence POC duration is 5 days which is ample time for the test users to focus on the success criteria and accomplish their goal of understanding Google Apps for Business in an enterprise environment.

The following diagram shows an overview of the Centre of Excellence. Click on the diagram to enlarge.

Purpose

The purpose of the Centre of Excellence (CoE) test environment is for the customers to experience the flexibility and reliability of using Google Apps for Business without having the overhead of deploying before procurement decision.

Scope

The scope of the CoE proof of concept is to deliver a full overview of functionality utilized in an enterprise deployment of Google Apps for Business. This includes a kickoff meeting, at which time, success criteria will be identified and be used to generate a customer specific technical overview of the environment. Another pivotal part is a day in the life of a Google Apps administrator workshop and finally a custom end user training workshop to help accomplish the success criteria of your organization.

Kickoff

• Introduction of the technical and training team that will be part of the proof of concept
• Tasks and schedule which include
  • Technical overview of the environment delivered by a senior architect using a technical diagram.
  • A day in the life of a Google Apps administrator. A virtual walk through of all of the technical components presented in the overview of the environment. This session will include Question/Answer and specific attention will be placed on all your identified success criteria.
  • A custom end-user training which will address all identified end user specific success criteria.
  • Checkpoint: There will be a mid-week checkpoint call with your account representative and a technical resource to re-assess success criteria.
  • Wrap-up Call: There will be a wrap up call with your account representative