STRATEGIES FOR THE CREATION OF DISTRIBUTED CLIENT SERVER SYSTEMS HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE ATTENTION NECESSARY TO EXPLOIT THE DEVELOPMENT OF OPEN NETWORK SYSTEMS. THIS PAPER PRESENTS A PRACTICAL APPROACH SPECIFICALLY ALIGNED WITH THE NEED FOR A STEP-BY-STEP DEVELOPMENT PROCESS THAT WILL: 1. ALLOW USERS TO SUCCESSFULLY CONCEIVE, DESIGN, IMPLEMENT AND MANAGE CLIENT SERVER OPEN SYSTEM NETWORK CONFIGURATIONS. 2. DEVELOP A 'NETWORK SYSTEMS SPECIFIC' APPROACH THAT WILL UTILIZE MANY OF THE CONCEPTS INHERENT TO THE METHODOLOGY OF THE INFORMATION ENGINEERING APPROACH. 3. ENABLE USERS TO UNDERSTAND AND PARTICIPATE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENTERPRISE LEVEL DISTRIBUTED NETWORKS.