Assignment 4: Network Design Executive PowerPoint Presentati ✓ Solved

Assignment 4: Network Design Executive PowerPoint Presentati

Assignment 4: Network Design Executive PowerPoint Presentation

Prepare a persuasive Executive PowerPoint presentation (up to 15 slides) for the Executive Committee of Fiction Corporation that follows Chapter 14 of the text. The presentation must include:

1. Title page

2. Executive summary

3. Project goal

4. Project scope

5. Design requirements:

a. Business goals

b. Technical goals

c. User communities and data stores

d. Network applications

6. Current state of the network

7. Logical design

8. Physical design

9. Results of network design testing

10. Implementation plan with a project schedule

11. Project budget with a return on investment calculation

Paper For Above Instructions

Title page (Slide 1)

Fiction Corporation — Network Modernization Initiative. Presenter: Network Architecture Team. Objective: Obtain Executive Committee approval for a multi-phase design and deployment to improve availability, security, and scalability. Date: Q1 Presentation. This slide sets expectations and authority (PMI, 2017).

Executive summary (Slide 2)

Fiction Corporation requires a resilient, secure, and scalable network to support growing cloud services, remote workforce connectivity, and business continuity. The proposed design replaces aging core switches, segments traffic, migrates key services to a hybrid cloud model, and introduces modern monitoring and testing procedures. Expected outcomes include 40–60% reduction in unplanned downtime, improved throughput for critical applications, and a projected ROI within 24–36 months (Cisco, 2018; Gartner, 2019).

Project goal (Slide 3)

The primary goal is to redesign the corporate network to deliver 99.99% uptime for critical services, support a 3x increase in concurrent users, and ensure compliance with data protection standards. Secondary goals include simplified management through automation and improved security posture (Stallings, 2013; ISO/IEC 27001, 2013).

Project scope (Slide 4)

In scope: core, distribution, and access layer upgrades at primary and secondary data centers; WAN redesign and SD-WAN deployment for branch offices; segmentation for PCI and HR data; deployment of centralized logging and NMS; testing and phased cutovers. Out of scope: end-user device replacements and third-party managed services contracts beyond deployment support (Forouzan, 2012).

Design requirements (Slides 5–6)

Business goals

Align with business imperatives: minimize revenue-impacting outages, enable faster onboarding of acquisitions, and reduce operational cost through consolidation and automation (PMI, 2017).

Technical goals

Introduce redundant core switches, implement VLAN/VRF segmentation, adopt SD-WAN for branch resilience, enable QoS for critical applications, and provide encrypted overlays for inter-site traffic (Tanenbaum & Wetherall, 2011; Cisco, 2018).

User communities and data stores

Identify user groups: executives, finance/HR (sensitive data), engineering (high bandwidth), and guest/IoT. Data stores include on-premises databases, private cloud backups, and SaaS workloads; each requires tailored access controls and encryption (ISO/IEC 27001, 2013).

Network applications

Support voice/video conferencing, ERP systems, CRM, CI/CD pipelines, and collaboration suites with latency-sensitive QoS policies and capacity planning for peak loads (Stallings, 2013).

Current state of the network (Slide 7)

The existing network uses end-of-life core hardware, flat VLANs causing east-west security exposures, limited telemetry, and point-to-point VPNs for branches. Observed issues include frequent failovers, unpredictable latency for SaaS, and manual configuration processes that increase MTTR (Forouzan, 2012; Cisco, 2018).

Logical design (Slide 8)

Present a three-tier logical model: access, distribution, and core, with VLAN-based segmentation and a policy-driven overlay for multi-tenancy. Logical diagrams show traffic flows for privileged systems, user traffic, and guest/IOT networks. Security rules and ACL boundaries are documented to limit lateral movement (Tanenbaum & Wetherall, 2011).

Physical design (Slide 9)

Detail physical topology: redundant core switches at each data center, dual-homed distribution switches per rack, fiber interconnects with diverse routes, edge SD-WAN appliances at branches, and dedicated monitoring taps. Include port counts, power redundancy, rack space, and cabling requirements to support the logical design (Cisco Validated Designs, 2018).

Results of network design testing (Slide 10)

Testing plan covers unit tests, integration/performance tests, failover drills, security pen tests, and user acceptance. Simulated load testing shows the design sustaining projected peak throughput with

Implementation plan with project schedule (Slide 11)

Provide a phased rollout: Phase 1 — core/dc upgrades (weeks 1–8); Phase 2 — WAN/SD-WAN (weeks 9–16); Phase 3 — branch migration and segmentation (weeks 17–28); Phase 4 — decommissioning legacy hardware and optimization (weeks 29–36). Each phase includes maintenance windows, backout plans, and stakeholder sign-offs, and aligns with PMI-based milestones (PMI, 2017; Cisco, 2018).

Project budget and return on investment calculation (Slide 12)

Present a three-year TCO including hardware, licensing, labor, and training. Quantify benefits: reduced downtime costs, lower WAN costs via SD-WAN, and reduced operational hours via automation. Example ROI: initial investment $1.2M; annual savings $480K (reduced outages, bandwidth costs, and OPEX); payback ~2.5 years; NPV and sensitivity analysis included (Investopedia, 2020; Gartner, 2019).

Persuasive close and call to action (Slide 13–15)

Summarize risk mitigation, business enablement, and measurable KPIs (uptime, MTTR, throughput). Recommend Executive approval to proceed to procurement and Phase 1 scheduling. Provide concise decision options and required funding authorization levels (PMI, 2017).

Conclusion

This executive presentation converts technical design into business outcomes: higher availability, measurable cost savings, and a secure, scalable platform for growth. The proposed phased approach minimizes risk and demonstrates strong ROI, addressing both technical and strategic priorities (Forouzan, 2012; Cisco, 2018).

References

  • Cisco Systems. (2018). Cisco Validated Designs Guide. Cisco Systems.
  • Forouzan, B. A. (2012). Data Communications and Networking. McGraw-Hill Education.
  • Gartner. (2019). Market Guide for WAN Edge Infrastructure. Gartner Research.
  • IEEE Communications Society. (2015). Best Practices in Network Testing. IEEE Communications Magazine.
  • ISO/IEC 27001. (2013). Information technology — Security techniques — Information security management systems.
  • Investopedia. (2020). Return on Investment (ROI) Definition. Investopedia.
  • PMI. (2017). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). Project Management Institute.
  • Stallings, W. (2013). Data and Computer Communications. Pearson.
  • Tanenbaum, A. S., & Wetherall, D. J. (2011). Computer Networks. Prentice Hall.
  • CompTIA. (2017). Network+ Certification Study Guide. CompTIA Press.

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