Table of Contents

Module 2 - Design the Network Structure

Section 8 - Write a Design Document

Section Objectives

Upon completion of this section, you will be able to:

• Develop a response to a customer's request for proposal (RFP).
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• Create a design document for a customer.

Time Required to Complete This Section

Approximately 1 hour

Completing This Section

Follow these steps to complete this section:

1. Study the reading assignment.
2. Click on any links that you see in the reading assignment and review the information that appears.
3. Review any tables and job aids that appear in the reading assignment.
4. Review the case studies at the end of this section.
5. Complete the questions in each case study.
6. Review the answers provided by our internetworking experts.

Resources Required to Complete This Section

To complete this section, you will need:

• Access to the World Wide Web and Cisco's Web site
• A downloaded, printed copy of this section
• Paper and pencil

Reading Assignment

Role of the Design Document

Once you have identified your customer's needs and designed a solution, the next step is to communicate your solution to the customer and explain how it meets the needs. A design document is a good tool to help you communicate your solution.

Responding to an RFP

If the customer provided you with an RFP, your design document will follow the format specified in the request.

Design Document for Unsolicited Requests

If your customer did not submit an RFP, organize your design document to ensure that Cisco's most important selling points and the most important selling points offered by your company are clearly and concisely presented.

Content of the Design Document

Your design document should include the following sections, at a minimum. You may choose to include additional sections.

Section 1: Executive Summary

The Executive Summary is directed at the key decision makers for the project.

This part of the design document should be no more than two pages in length and should include only high level points that clearly articulate your strategy for the project. Be sure to focus on benefits that you and Cisco can offer, based on the customer's needs. You may include:
 

• Purpose of the project, including one or two paragraphs that state the purpose of this document as it relates to the company's strategic objectives.
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• Strategic recommendations, including one or two paragraphs that outline your internetworking design strategy. Be sure to relate your recommendations to the company's strategic objectives.
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• Implementation considerations, including one paragraph that lists implementation considerations for the project, such as integration issues, training, support, and transition issues.
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• Benefits of the solution, summarizing the overall benefits of your solution. Make sure the benefits relate to the company's strategic objectives.

Section 2: Design Requirements

The Design Requirements summarizes your conclusions as a result of identifying the customer's needs (as explained in Module 1 - Identify Customer Needs). You may include:
 

• Characterization of the existing network, including:

 

• Description of the existing network, including a topology map if available
• Current applications, protocols, topology, and number of users
• Business issues relevant to the network design project
• Health of the customer's existing network

 

• Customer requirements, including:

 

• Requirements for performance, security, capacity, and scalability to support new applications
• Flow of information for new applications

Section 3: Design Solution

Describe your recommended solution, and the features and benefits it provides. Organize the content in this section according to the client's needs, listed in order of the client's priorities. Be sure to include the following components:
 

• Proposed network topology, including a topology map and the advantages offered by the network topology you designed.
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• Hardware and media recommended for the LAN, including features and benefits of each component you selected, related to the customer's needs for performance, security, capacity, and scalability. Use the "Small and Medium Business Solution Guide" to help articulate the features and benefits of each component.
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• Hardware and media recommended for the WAN, including features and benefits of each component you selected, related to the customer's needs for performance, security, capacity, and scalability. Use the "Small and Medium Business Solution Guide" to help articulate the features and benefits of each component.
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• Network-layer addressing and naming model, including an adressing model and naming model for all components on the network, related to the customer's needs for performance, security, capacity, and scalability.
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• Routing and bridging protocols recommended for the network, including recommended routing and bridging protocols, related to the customer's needs for performance, security, and capacity.
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• Software features provisioned for the network, including Cisco IOS software features such as access lists, proxy services, encryption, compression, and queuing. Relate your selection of software features to the customer's needs for performance, security, capacity, and scalability.
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• Network management strategy, including recommended products and protocols related to the customer's needs. Include a description of a proactive network management strategy.

Section 4: Summary

This section includes a summary of your solution and articulates how it solves the customer's needs. Use bulleted lists to summarize Cisco's key differentiators, as well as those of your company.

Appendixes

Include as many appendixes as required to provide more detailed information as necessary. Be sure to consider how much content your customer will be able to read and comprehend. That is, keep in mind your customer's threshold for accepting large amounts of information. Appendixes may include:
 

• A list of contacts at Cisco, your company, and the customer's site
• A project implementation time line
• Additional information on Cisco products
• Details of addressing and naming schemes that you developed for the customer
• Details of strategies for managing the network that you developed for the customer
• Results of prototype tests (described in the folloiwng modules)
• Test results of any performance measurements you performed on the customer's current network

Case Study

In this section, you will create a design document for the case study Jones, Jones, & Jones. Although this section requires that you create only one proposal for Jones, Jones, & Jones, we recommend that you select one of the other case studies and practice creating design documents that address specific customer needs.

Case Study: Jones, Jones, & Jones

Remember Mr. Jones? If not, click here to review the case study.

You might find it useful to refer to your topology diagram created for Mr. Jones in Section 3.

Create a design document using the outline provided in this module. Be sure to emphasize the customer's needs, listed in priority. The format of unsolicited design documents should emphasize key Cisco differentiators and key reseller differentiators as they relate to the client's requirements.

Click here to see the solution our internetworking expert provided for Jones, Jones, & Jones.

Click here to go on to Module 3.

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