MG Moore Designs
Graphic Arts Entrepreneur Designs the Ideal Desktop Environment with Windows Vista
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Company Overview
Design and photography have been a labour of love for Gemma Moore for many years. The Kincardine, Ontario-based entrepreneur turned this passion into a successful graphic design firm in 2003 with the birth of MG Moore Designs. The company focuses on creating attractive, functional Web sites that make clients in industries ranging from health and beauty, sports, to realty and more stand out. The company’s exceptional, creative, quality work has attracted clients in search of print material and logo design services, helping the business grow. An avid photographer, Gemma Moore has also seen her list of photography clients increase as her operation expanded.
Business Challenge
As a successful small business, MG Moore Designs faced a challenge familiar to many organizations in this sector. Business growth meant an expanding roster of clients to manage, and more projects and deadlines to meet — all with limited time and resources.
To maintain its high standard of customer care and service excellence, and build a scalable foundation that can support a growing business, MG Moore Designs sought to upgrade its desktop environment. With a high number of graphics files and other data residing on its system, the company needed a tool that would help it reduce the amount of time spent searching for information.
“In the design industry the PC is the central business tool. It is therefore extremely important for the desktop environment to deliver a great and reliable experience day after day,” says Moore. “For a small business in this industry, a desktop solution that is easy to use, enables fast access to the right information and helps manage customer contact information is a must.”
In addition, MG Moore Designs also required a desktop environment that could help protect sensitive customer data.
“We create and collect significant volumes of files and information that are the intellectual property of our clients, such as logos, visual brand guidelines and images, making security a key concern for us,” says Moore. “Additionally, we visit many Web sites throughout the day and need to be sure our IT environment and ability to do business isn’t compromised by malware.”
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Solution
In January 2007 MG Moore Designs began evaluating desktop upgrade options, with a goal of making its desktop environment more secure and easier to use. To meet these needs, the company chose to upgrade its environment to the Windows Vista® Business operating system and the Office 2007.
The first Windows operating system designed specifically to meet the needs of small businesses, Windows Vista Business helps MG Moore Designs to easily meet its growing business needs. Accessing the right information is made simple with the help of the new operating system, with its simple-to-use interface and powerful search capabilities that make it easier to search and find information quickly, whether it’s located on the PC or on the Web. The Instant Search capabilities in Windows Vista help the company reduce time spent searching for information, even if it is in an email, regardless of where on the PC it is saved.
Security, a main priority for MG Moore Designs, is enhanced with Windows Vista, ensuring that MG Moore Designs has the most secure computing experience possible. Features such as the Windows Backup and Restore Center provide the company with peace of mind that critical documents, files, system files, and programs on the computer hard drives can be quickly and easily backed up to any device. Information is further protected with the Shadow Copy feature in Windows Vista, which automatically creates point-in-time copies of files, so that users can quickly and easily retrieve versions of a document that may have been accidentally deleted.
Customer information residing on MG Moore Designs’ system is protected with the Windows Vista Encrypting File System, which helps safeguards sensitive information and data from being accessed by inappropriate parties as it enables the company to password-protect shared documents. Additionally, Windows Vista helps MG Moore Designs prevent spyware from infecting its desktop environment with the help of Windows Defender, which automatically detects, blocks and removes unwanted software and security threats.
Data protection is further extended with security features in Office 2007. “With Windows Vista plus the 2007 Office system, I am assured a high level of security for all documents and applications that I’m using. For example, the security features in Microsoft® Office® Outlook® 2007 messaging and collaboration client, such as Information Rights Management and the enhanced junk mail filter provide me with the tools I need to easily protect documents that I’m sending to clients as well as protect me from any unwanted content that used to clutter my inbox,” says Moore.
A key feature of Office Outlook 2007 for MG Moore Designs is the Business Contact Manager. With this tool, the company is able to organize and manage all of its customer contacts, prospects and lead information in one place. For a busy small business, the ability to easily create, personalize and track direct marketing campaigns in-house is also beneficial, as is the ability to centralize project-related information so that MG Moore Designs can stay organized and monitor tasks with automated reminders.
“Keeping track of customer contact information and the activities we’re working with them on is a big part of how I can ensure a great experience for each of the customers. The tools within Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager make this task so easy it’s almost like having another virtual member of the team,” says Moore.
From a design perspective, the Office 2007 system provides the company with the ability to quickly and easily create professional looking documents. “As a design firm, everything we create, from a PowerPoint presentation to a Word document, needs to look amazing. With Office 2007, we have access to features like SmartArt that help us keep our work look stunning.”
Business Benefits
The new technology tools are helping MG Moore Designs expand by freeing up valuable time, and providing a technology foundation that can support the business as it grows.
Productivity Maximized
One of the biggest benefits MG Moore Designs has realized with its new desktop environment is the simplification of everyday IT tasks.
“I don’t think I could manage my workload without Instant Search. As a designer I have turned my PC into a seemingly bottomless vault of files upon files. This is particularly true when it comes to photos. Searching for the right logo, the right graphic or the right text used to take a long time. Now I take it for granted that the information I need to complete a project will be at my fingertips the moment it is required,” says Moore.
As Windows Vista allows the design firm to more easily and thoroughly organize content based on file properties, such as "tags," the operating system helps simplify searching for information no matter where it may be saved. Moore estimates that with an hour saved each week on search alone, the company has gained an entire work week a year thanks to the improved search experience.
The new user interface of Microsoft Office 2007 also makes accomplishing business tasks easier and more efficient for MG Moore Designs, including reducing the amount of time required to complete tasks such as customer presentations, financial reports or invoices. Tools within Outlook 2007 such as the To-Do Bar and email tagging also help MG Moore Designs achieve optimal efficiency and productivity, helping the company to accomplish more with its resources and helping it successfully compete.
Information Protected
With the help of the security features of its new desktop environment MG Moore Designs is able to provide its clients the same secure experience of a much larger organization, something the company is able to turn into a competitive advantage.
“It is important for my customers to know that the intellectual property they share with me, or I’m creating for them, is safeguarded and that only the appropriate people will have access to the information. Additionally, I can have confidence that no security breach will affect my clients due to my access to their network, which is a strong message I can deliver to prospective clients,” says Moore.
MG Moore Designs is also secure in the knowledge that with security protection provided by Windows Vista, spyware attacks will not compromise its business. In the case of an unexpected event the company can be certain that the multiple layers of backup and restore protection in Windows Vista will help safeguard the invaluable business information residing on the system.
The improved security features of Office Outlook 2007, such as Information Rights Management and the Trust Center, add another layer of security protection that MG Moore Designs has found helpful. In particular, the solution’s improved junk mail filter helps protect the company against email threats, and also saves the company time by cutting down the amount of manual management of spam that is required.
The Winning Design
With a focus on graphical elements, Windows Photo Gallery helps the company to quickly manipulate, store and share pictures with its clients. In addition, the easy integration into Microsoft Office products enables MG Moore Designs to quickly insert the graphics and photos into its presentations and collateral.
“My business revolves around the ability to create visually effective content. With Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system not only do I have a reliable PC environment that is easy for me to work with and manage, but I have access to the tools I need to create high impact graphic designs,” says Moore.
A Solid Business Foundation
As MG Moore Designs looks towards the future, the desktop foundation built with Windows Vista and Microsoft 2007 Office system figures prominently in its plans for growth.
“Windows Vista is a tool that underpins everything I am able to accomplish within the firm as it is the backbone of my desktop. As a professional who spends nearly the whole day in front of the PC creating graphical projects, I am excited to know that as my business grows my needs will be met by this technology without the need for additional expenditures,” says Moore. “With Windows Vista, I have found a solution that I don’t have to worry about. I can trust that it will just work and help me to accomplish the tasks I need with ease.”
Windows Vista
Windows Vista can help your organization use information technology to gain a competitive advantage in today’s new world of work. Your people will be able to find and use information more effectively. You will be able to support your mobile work force with better access to shared data and collaboration tools. And your IT staff will have better tools and technologies to enhance corporate IT security, data protection, and more efficient deployment and management.
For more information about Windows Vista, go to:www.microsoft.com/windowsvista
For More Information
For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: www.microsoft.com
For more information about MG Moore Designs products and services, call (519) 396-2250 or visit the Web site at: www.mgmooredesigns.ca
