Issue link: http://hub-fr.insight.com/i/532074
54 Assemble a detailed plan that outlines the full scope of the project and its phases. Work with your finance team members to determine total cost of ownership (TCO) and your projected return on investment (ROI). If you need new hardware such as servers, storage arrays or networking gear, put it in the budget. Remember, the cost of new hardware might be offset by savings in other areas, such as maintenance or operating expenses. Next, decide which workloads will be your highest pri- ority for the physical-to-virtual (P2V) migration. For example, you might start with test and develop- ment workloads, then virtualize your Tier 2 applica- tions, and finally virtualize your Tier 1, mission-critical applications. Before you roll out the new virtual environment, allow time to test it thoroughly. ✓ Record baseline performance on your current servers and applications. It's important to have this data before migration begins so you can benchmark VM performance gains against native performance levels. This helps justify the project for management buy-in. ✓ Make sure your infrastructure is ready to provide the high levels of service your business demands. Build redundancy into the physical plant (espe- cially power and cooling), build redundant net- work and storage fabrics, and use quality gear throughout. The business is betting on IT to get this done right, so build it right and build it from the bottom up.