Osteoporosis Canada
Osteoporosis Canada helps cure communication ailments with Exchange Server 2003
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Company Overview
Osteoporosis Canada (OC) is the only national organization serving people who have, or are at risk for, osteoporosis. The OC, a registered charity, works to educate, empower and support individuals and communities in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. The society is governed by a national voluntary Board of Directors. It also has a 53-member Scientific Advisory Council made up of medical and scientific experts from across the country that provide guidance in all medical matters.
Business Challenge
The OC needs an IT system that enables its team to connect and collaborate with its various offices, local communities and partners. For its email messaging system, the OC used Novell GroupWise 5.5 running on NetWare. However, the organization found that the solution was costly and time-consuming to manage.
“My gut feeling was that 90 per cent of businesses operate on the Windows-based platform and not Novell. I became more aware of this when we tried to communicate with other organizations, with our chapters or with anyone running on Windows,” says Karen Ormerod, president and CEO, Osteoporosis Canada. “Communicating with others just seemed to be difficult with the Novell platform.”
Furthermore, the OC felt it could not rely on the stability of the Novell system, and often experienced downtime as a result. It also had difficulty booking appointments and calendaring with Novell’s GroupWise. The organization spent a large proportion of its IT expenses on maintaining, tuning, backing up and restoring mailboxes and system services within GroupWise.
“I found the GroupWise system that we were using for our appointments and messaging was just not integrated to the degree that we needed it to be,” says Ormerod. “We’re an organization that’s growing rapidly and operating on a small budget. Every minute counts. We really have to make the best use of our resources, and we have to make the best use of time because we never have enough staff for the work ahead of us.”
In addition, the OC faced integration challenges. The organization had recently deployed Raiser’s Edge fundraising software, which is used by many North American non-profit organizations, and Financial Edge, a financial software solution. Both tools are Microsoft® Windows®-based applications, which required the OC to have a separate server to run the software. Looking to eventually consolidate its servers, the organization determined that this solution was not in line with its IT strategy and decided it was time for a change.
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Solution
Working with LegendCorp - a Microsoft Gold Certified partner specializing in collaboration, infrastructure and security solutions - the OC decided to adopt the Microsoft Exchange-based e-mail messaging system. The OC turned to the Microsoft-based solution to help provide improved reliability, stability and to enhance overall communications.
The OC deployed Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 to help manage costs and overall system manageability. Exchange Server - Microsoft’s messaging and collaboration server - is comprised of software that runs on servers enabling users to send and receive electronic mail and other forms of interactive communication through computer networks. Exchange Server offers the OC users integrated collaborative messaging features such as scheduling, contact and task-management capabilities –services which they were lacking previously.
In addition, the OC deployed Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 as well as Outlook® 2003 to help pull together the firm’s disparate infrastructures. Windows Server 2003 has helped the OSC build a IT infrastructure offering users tools such as Windows SharePoint® Services for sharing documents, Active Directory® for managing identities and relationships that make up network environments, and Rights Management Services to help with document protection. Furthermore, Outlook 2003 is giving the organization an integrated solution for managing and organizing e-mail messages, schedules, tasks, notes, contacts, and other information both from within and from outside the office.
“I come from a background where I believe that if I give my staff the tools they need, they can really go out and do a bang-up job,” says Ormerod. “But if I short change them on that, we will never get great output. That is why I decided to go ahead with the Microsoft-based solution. I knew that I was giving them the best solution available.”
The OC also deployed ISA Server 2004, Microsoft’s firewall, virtual private network (VPN), and Web cache solution that enables enterprise customers to easily maximize existing information technology (IT) investments by helping to improve network security and performance.
The OC worked with LegendCorp to carve out a seamless transition that would not affect staff and limit downtime for the organization. “We knew that there could be no interruption in service because the OC is involved in mission-critical operations such as running campaigns, donations and managing schedules,” says Andy Papadopoulos, president, LegendCorp. “With the Microsoft-based solution, we were able to make this happen.”
With the new platform in place, the OC is now benefiting from consolidated servers, reduced administrative costs and seamless integration with its third party applications. Furthermore, the organization is seeing the value of its system which has helped to increase employee satisfaction and productivity.
Business Benefits
Since the implementation of the Microsoft-based solution, the organization has seen a dramatic decrease in network and PC support incidents and management costs. In addition, the staff is able to collaborate and communicate, helping to improve overall productivity.
“The staff at the OC has truly embraced the technology. They were very receptive to the change,” says Ormerod. “Basically everyone had Windows on their home PC and as a result, the technology is much more familiar to them. They understand what they are doing at work much better because they are familiar with their home-based systems.”
Saving time, saving money
Previously, the OC enlisted the help of a full-time network administrator to manage its systems due to the patchwork-nature of its previous IT infrastructure. However, since aligning its systems on the Microsoft-based platform, the OC has been able to realign its spending and is now saving both time and money.
“As a result of the stability of the Microsoft-based solution, we found that we didn’t need an in-house IT consultant anymore so we decided to reallocate our resources and buy new hardware and software,” says Ormerod. “We are clearly saving at least $35,000 a year and that doesn’t even cover off the productivity benefits. As a not for profit organization, we can now reallocate that money into program development and fundraising.”
The organization has also reduced costs by consolidating its servers from four down to two.
“In our previous environment, we had four servers that didn’t function as well as we would have liked,” says Ormerod. “Now, we have consolidated to two servers which are running solidly.”
Enhanced reliability
The enhanced reliability of the new IT infrastructure has resulted in zero downtime for the OC, helping to boost overall efficiency and productivity. With the Microsoft-based platform, the organization is experiencing the benefits of a platform and could not be happier with the solution.
“Our system is never down. We just count on it. I don’t think it has ever gone down since we moved onto it,” says Ormerod. “We no longer have to worry about technical issues and can focus on growing our organization.”
Better integration
Additionally, the OC is benefiting from the functionality of its third party software. The Raiser’s Edge software is functioning without a hitch and it is flawlessly translating the information into the Financial Edge software. By leveraging the Microsoft-based platform, the OC is able to integrate its third party software which was part of the organization’s mission.
“Integration with our proprietary software was one of our primary goals,” says Ormerod. “We needed to ensure that the systems could operate seamlessly in our new environment and we’re thrilled that they are working as brilliantly as they are.”
Microsoft Windows Server System
Microsoft® Windows Server System is a comprehensive, integrated, and interoperable server infrastructure that helps reduce the complexity and costs of building, deploying, connecting, and operating agile business solutions. Windows Server System helps customers create new value for their business through the strategic use of their IT assets. With the Windows Server operating system as its foundation, Windows Server System delivers dependable infrastructure for data management and analysis; enterprise integration; customer, partner, and employee portals; business process automation; communications and collaboration; and core IT operations including security, deployment, and systems management.
For more information about Windows Server System, go to: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem
For More Information
To hear more from Karen Ormerod, President, Osteoporosis Canada about this project, listen to a podcast interview at: www.microsoft.com/canada/technet/media/oc.mp3
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 LegendCorp products and services, call (416) 465-4540 or visit the Web site at: www.legendcorp.com
For more information about Osteoporosis Canada products and services, call (416) 696-2663 or visit the Web site at: www.osteoporosis.ca
