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As you weigh the costs and risks of Windows and Linux, consider this: More and more independent analysts and leading companies find that Windows Server System outperforms Linux on total cost of ownership (TCO), reliability, security and indemnification. Get the facts and make the decision that's right for your business.
 | ActewAGL ActewAGL Farewells False Economy, Waves Goodbye to Linux ActewAGL provides electricity, natural gas, water and wastewater services to households across the Australian Capital Territory. In 2004, the organisation signed an agreement to manage day-to-day operations for TransACT, a Canberra-based telecommunications provider. TransACT’s business-critical interconnect billing application was running an Oracle database on the Red Hat Linux operating system. ActewAGL decided to swap the operating system for Microsoft® Windows Server® 2003 and replace the Oracle database with Microsoft® SQL Server 2000. ActewAGL also used the Microsoft® .NET Framework and the Microsoft Visual C#® programming language to extend the application and integrate it with existing systems. This improved stability, lowered development costs and increased the ease of management and maintenance. | Industry: Electric Power, Gas, and Water Sanitation Size: Large, 1300 employees Country: Australia |
 | Ambulance Service of NSW The Ambulance Service of NSW Maintains 1,200 PCs across 80,000 km with an IT Team of Five Using Microsoft® Systems Management Server software, the IT team at the Ambulance Service of New South wales can now update their 1,200 PCs without the need for a desk-side visit. This has streamlined their operaitons significantly as they are now able to automate routine tasks, such as updating software images, versions and security patches, to all their PCs from one central lcoation. They can also obtain an accurate picture of the state of the health of the network at any given time. The organisation is complementing this solution by deploying Microsoft® Operations Manager 2005 (MOM) to monitor and manage their networked servers, enabling them to increase the effectiveness of their IT, strengthen security and provide maximum uptime. | Industry: Healthcare Providers Size: Large, 1200 employees Country: Australia |
 | Austereo Pty Ltd How a Radio Network Saved Time and Money Turning off Linux and Tuning into Microsoft Austereo replaced its entire technology platform to propel its future growth, moving from a Linux and NetWare environment to a Microsoft environment, including Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, resulting in enhanced collaboration, better response times, reduced costs, and improved revenue. | Industry: Broadcasting Size: Large, 1000 employees Country: Australia |
 | Australian Department of Defence Developers Improve Responsiveness and Productivity at National Defence Department The DMO increased productivity and improved data access and responsiveness, including those on its mission-critical air fleet database, through a solution that relies on Microsoft® SQL Server™ Reporting Services and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise (64-bit) Edition. | Industry: Government Size: Large, 6800 employees Country: Australia |
 | Carolan & Blake Small Accountancy Firm Improves Productivity by 50 Percent Accountancy firm Carolan & Blake switched to Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, resulting in more secure data, a 50-percent improvement in productivity, and a reduction in costs and downtime. | Industry: Financial Services Size: Small, 8 employees Country: Australia |
 | Coffey International Coffey International Integrates Disparate Systems With Comprehensive Server Solution Coffey International’s strategy of growth (through acquisition) resulted in a large number of disparate, disconnected systems. The company realised it needed to implement common systems to support its ongoing expansion and after a head-to-head comparison between Microsoft and Linux, Coffey chose a Windows environment for its operations. As a result, Coffey were able to integrate IT operations across the company and delivered knowledge sharing and collaboration, centralised email and calendaring, an easy to manage solution, and a strong platform for growth. | Industry: Architecture, Engineering, and Related Services Size: Large, 1700 employees Country: Australia |
 | Crest Electronics Electronics Wholesaler Overcomes Disastrous Linux Implementation with Stable Microsoft Imagine the stress when a major technology project does not go according to plan. That’s the situation Crest Electronics’ IT Manager Anthony Horton faced when a routine SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) installation went horribly wrong. Crest’s IT environment comprised disparate systems, resulting in poor stock visibility, questionable data accuracy and a lack of cohesion across the company. It decided to implement SAP ERP running on Red Hat Linux. The SAP system crashed at random but frequent intervals, wreaking havoc on Crest’s development schedule. After seven months of testing, Red Hat engineers still couldn’t solve the problem. Horton took drastic action: he pulled the plug on Linux and switched the operating system to Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003 Enterprise Edition. This implementation took only two days and it has been plain sailing for Crest ever since. | Industry: IT Services Size: Medium, 100 employees Country: Australia |
 | Department for Community Development Western Australia More Reliable IT Infrastructure Helps Government Agency Provide Social Services to the Community Imagine the stress when a major technology project does not go according to plan. That’s the situation Crest Electronics’ IT Manager Anthony Horton faced when a routine SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) installation went horribly wrong. Crest’s IT environment comprised disparate systems, resulting in poor stock visibility, questionable data accuracy and a lack of cohesion across the company. It decided to implement SAP ERP running on Red Hat Linux. The SAP system crashed at random but frequent intervals, wreaking havoc on Crest’s development schedule. After seven months of testing, Red Hat engineers still couldn’t solve the problem. Horton took drastic action: he pulled the plug on Linux and switched the operating system to Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003 Enterprise Edition. This implementation took only two days and it has been plain sailing for Crest ever since. | Industry: Government Size: Large, 1500 employees Country: Australia |
 | Ludwig Institute of Cancer Research Early Detection of Cancer One Step Closer to Solution with Microsoft, Dell and Intel The Melbourne Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research is investigating the use of mass spectrometry to identify unique protein markers secreted by cancerous colon tumours. If successful, this research could make early detection of colon cancer as simple as having a blood test and improve survival rates of sufferers dramatically. Researchers working across several labs were using isolated computing systems that struggled to process the huge amounts of raw data generated by the mass spectrometers. Microsoft worked with partners Dell and Intel® to develop a high-performance computing cluster. The scalable solution has significantly reduced data processing times and simplified and centralised management of the Institute’s computing environment. | Industry: Health Size: Small, 20 employees Country: Australia |
 | Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Sony Ericsson Migrates SAP from UNIX to Windows Server, Boosts Reliability, Cuts Costs Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications switched its SAP enterprise resource planning software to Microsoft® Windows®-based servers, resulting in improved reliability, batch job completion time, and monitoring of memory and performance limits. | Industry: Telecommunications Size: Large, 7500 employees Country: Sweden
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 | St Luke's Nursing Service Australian Nursing Service Leaves Linux for Critical Care from Microsoft When information technology was identified as its greatest organisational risk, St Luke’s Nursing Service knew the prognosis. With A$23 million in income, 14,000 clients and 24 sites across Queensland and Sydney, Australia, St Luke’s had a lot at stake. Its information technology was a patchwork of operating systems—Linux and Microsoft® Windows®—and various software versions running on 24 different local area networks. St Luke’s undertook a technology revamp worth A$500,000 to standardise on a Microsoft Windows Server™ platform and centralise all business applications and network administration. The result is a solid infrastructure that has reduced IT support costs, established disaster recovery and set the organisation for future success in winning government tenders and delivering community care. | Industry: Healthcare Providers Size: Medium, 500 employees Country: Australia |
 | Unilever Unilever Gains Lower TCO Supporting SAP with SQL Server 2005 and Windows Server Unilever, seeking a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than its Oracle\UNIX supply chain infrastructure provided, deployed Microsoft SQL Server 2005. The company expects a 15-percent reduction in TCO, along with the scalability, agility, and reliability its operations require. | Industry: Consumer Goods Manufacturing Size: Large, 76000 employees Country: UK
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 | Video Ezy Video Ezy Closes Door on Open Source and Chooses a More Certain Future With Windows As a franchise, Video Ezy needed a technology solution to cater for both big and small business issues. A head-to-head comparison between Microsoft and Linux resulted in Video Ezy choosing a Windows environment for its franchise operation. As a result, Video Ezy expects lower TCO, superior manageability and functionality, easy access to support skills and a sound technology roadmap. | Industry: Retail Size: Large, 2500 employees Country: Australia |
 | yeahpoint Firm Cuts Implementation Time by One-Third and Helps Clients Boost Sales 25 Percent yeahpoint established its business developing products on a Linux platform because it was cost effective. But, as the company grew and attracted bigger clients with sophisticated demands, the limitations of Linux hindered yeahpoint’s progress. When it became time to develop an interactive touch-screen display and recipe printer for Meat & Livestock Australia, yeahpoint needed a development platform to create devices that would integrate with existing systems and provide more services to clients at lower cost. By deploying the Microsoft® Windows® Embedded for Point of Service operating system, yeahpoint now develops a range of systems for clients that integrate easily and lowers the total cost of ownership. yeahpoint saves money in development costs and earns more in services; its clients save money and increase sales; and its clients’ customers enjoy a better buying experience. | Industry: Retail Size: Small, 10 employees Country: Australia |
