Based on experiences from the last 18 months of UK Particle Physics Grid (GridPP) operation, this paper examines several key areas for the success of the LHC Computing Grid. Among these is the necessity of establishing useful metrics (from job level to overall operational), accurate monitoring at both the grid and local fabric levels, and mechanisms to rapidly address potentially or actually failing to meet agreed service levels. The paper explains how GridPP is approaching the area of national resource management and usage in the context of an Enabling Grids for E-sciencE (EGEE) Regional Operations Centre (ROC). Operations data is used to indicate how the deployment model and utilisation of resources is changing as experience is gained with the grid middleware and applications. The final part of the paper reviews future deployment planning and explores some of the consequences of the LHC experiment computing models.