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I am trying to step into more of a manager role with some project management. We have are almost finished with our project for new wireless access points. There have been some hiccups but it got me thinking. With projects like this where you can do some testing to see what the devices are capable of, how do you really test to prepare for Go Live?

For example, our SAP team has multiple instances of SAP so that they can thoroughly test any scenario they can think of before going live. With things like switches, servers, and WAPS there is only so much testing I can think of to do. And I don’t have a spare building to test with. By myself, I am incapable of putting the same load on the devices as the company does during a business day.

Do you have any recommendations or are there some industry standard ways of testing hardware before project go lives?

4 Spice ups
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Depending on the size of your business, having a complete testing lab may be unrealistic or too costly an endeavor time or money-wise.
A few pieces of advice that I can think of to share.

For hardware:

If you have a large enough environment where you will need several pieces of equipment, don’t buy it all. Just buy one. Add it to your infrastructure in an area where IT is affected if there is an issue. Look for feedback from the team. Ask them what they like better/worse about the new solution versus the previous solution.
Talk with others in your industry; find out what they are using, why, and ask a bunch of questions. Learn especially how to ask an “open-ended” question - this is one of the most important skills you can develop when becoming a manager.
Be willing to be wrong too; sometimes you pick a wrong piece of equipment, and if you learn from that, it is much easier than rolling it out everywhere and experiencing the pain of an issue.
Often, if you are working with a hardware reseller - and, if they are large enough, they will have labs and perform testing on equipment. Ask them about bugs in the equipment they are testing. I’ve worked with resellers over the years that have invited me to come into their labs and see how the items we were considering were performing.

For software:

Software can be different. If you are looking to migrate an entire system, the biggest failure I often see is lack of understanding surrounding the existing system. It is difficult to determine what your needs are from a software perspective, when you do not understand fully how your existing systems are working (or not working as the case may be).
I’ve worked in a large company that did software development for a very complex business environment. It is both an art and science to have things working well.
The more due-diligence, and testing you do before hand, the better. You need to pull in those that know the processes fully, and be willing to document and explain the existing processes to the vendors.

IT management is a skill that can be difficult to develop. Over-communicating with people will save you grief. I have also personally found that the people that are the most difficult can often be your greatest ally; for they are unwilling to accept crap or something that does not work correctly for the process needs.
If you can get the most ardent opponent of your upgrades to agree it sounds good, it usually is.

Again; as with hardware, talk with others in the industry. Network (with people). And, ask open-ended questions. Spend part of your day thinking of how you can ask questions that will improve your environment.

In closing, some of the best managers that I have worked with and for were not the ones who always made the “correct” choices. But, were the ones that were willing to pivot or change - or even scrap an entire project if they learned that it was not going to meet the needs of the business.
Business needs should drive the technology, and the technology selected (hardware or software) should be able to deliver the process results that are required.

Hopefully something in here gives you a nugget that helps.
Good luck.