Hardware Proposal

You need to come up with a valid business argument for doing the overhaul. There are plenty of business case templates on the web, but here are some of the components.

Problem statement/current situation:
What problem(s) are you solving. What are the costs of those problems($, productivity, efficiency etc).

Benefits:
What are the benefits with overhaulling the network - can you save money, productivity, labor etc. Quantify as much as you can.

Costs:
What are the rough costs of doing the overhaul. Include not only the $$ but the labor involved.

Cost Benefit analysis:
The business school part - some people use Return on Invesment - I like payback periods. In other words how many months till the accrued benefits outweigh the costs. The shorter the payback the more reason for the project.

Recommendation:
Always, always, always make a firm recommendation with some clear actions if the business case is accepted/approved.

A proposal may have these elements plus a pencilled in sketch of the proposed team, timelines etc. A proposal may hint at the proposed solution, though many formal managers like me prefer not to see the solution until after we all agree on the problem.

Hope that helps.

James

First make a report on the present situation. A technical snapshot : problems , shortcomings , request and complaints ..etc.. Draw a network schema too. Then , give your recommendations , draw a sceham and show how it will look . advantages that will be gained. and finally "whisper" the amount needed to be invested . Start with layer 1 : structured cabling, then layer 2 : active lan switches , then layer 3 : routers ..branch offices , internet ..adsl etc.