Sherex Industries
Sherex Industries makes virtual offices a reality with Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003
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Company Overview
For years Joe Scherer, president of Sherex Industries saw technology as a “necessary evil” of running his small business. That was until he had to undergo surgery that would keep him at home recovering for weeks. As a successful business owner, Scherer understands that running a small business is a way of life, which often means few holidays or sick days. As a result, he needed reliable access to his business from home. Fortunately, recent upgrades to Sherex’s IT environment made setting up a virtual office painless.
Business Challenge
Established in 1975, Sherex Industries is a technical sales, service and distribution company that supplies industrial knives, industrial fasteners, high pressure Koenig plugs and tooling for exchanger manufacturers to customers throughout North America. The small Canadian company has 12 employees and currently has operations in Burlington, Montreal, Halifax and Edmonton.
As Sherex’s business began to grow, the company discovered its current IT environment was no longer meeting its needs. Relying on a Novell server with 11 year-old accounting software, Sherex experienced many technical limitations. For instance, outside staff had no remote access, limited accounting functionality, no collaborative capability and poor email access. In fact, sales representatives had to fax orders directly to head office and follow up with a phone call to check inventory status. Since Sherex has offices across Canada and employees working in different time zones, constant inventory inquiries to head office ate away at productivity and sales time.
Sherex soon realized it required a more scalable system to address its changing business. For instance, sales representatives needed the capability to check order status and do inventory inquiries on their own. This would improve the overall efficiency of the organization and allow the sales staff to provide customers with up-to-date information on product availability.
“We were running on a Novell server for 11 years, and it was about time to do something or close the company, one of the two,” says Joe Scherer, President, Sherex Industries. “We wanted to provide our sales staff with more autonomy and the ability to make sales quicker. This couldn’t happen with our old system.”
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Solution
Sherex engaged its long-term technology partner, Krikke Computer Services Inc., a Microsoft Partner and a member of the Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community (SBSC) to recommend a solution. Since Krikke had the SBSC designation, Sherex was confident that they understood its needs as a small business and would recommend an appropriate solution.
Krikke partnered with Blue Ridge Information Group Inc., to provide the accounting software. After looking at both Microsoft and a leading competitor for the server software, Krikke ultimately decided on Microsoft because it offered a more unified and stable solution specifically designed for a small business. Krikke installed a server running on Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition. The team also added a second, smaller server running on Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 Standard Edition for Terminal Services capabilities, allowing Sherex staff to access their Windows desktop from any computer.
When comparing the Microsoft small business product to that of its competitors, Krikke believed Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 to be a perfect fit for Sherex. Along with being easy to use, Small Business Server offered a more cohesive, mature and complete package at an affordable price. Sherex now has an enterprise-level solution, including Windows Server, Microsoft Exchange and some tools that can’t be purchased separately – at a small business price.
“We use Microsoft exclusively as a small business solution,” says John Krikke, President, Krikke Computer Services. “Working with Microsoft, we have access to additional capabilities that we can take advantage of down the road like SharePoint Services. We believe this brings tremendous value to small business customers like Sherex. Also, with Microsoft Small Business Server, Sherex has enterprise level technology at a price that fits their budget.”
To address Sherex’s issues with remote workers, Krikke implemented Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services® for collaboration capabilities, using routing and remote access services (with remote desktop VPN) as well as Remote Web Workplace for round-the-clock access to network and desktop files for remote workers. This feature provided Scherer complete access to his office files from home while recovering from his surgery. Sherex staff was also impressed by how easy implementing and accessing the terminal server was.
“The terminal server implementation was easy,” says Krikke. “It integrates right into the Remote Web Workplace menu and is very simple for people to learn and use. Now that Joe has remote access from home, we can’t pry the laptop out of his hands.”
Business Benefits
Increased sales and decreased costs
Before implementing Windows Small Business Server 2003, minimal connectivity between remote and in-house staff hindered productivity and increased operating costs for Sherex. Because remote sales staff were constantly making inventory inquires to the main office, Sherex was spending a fortune on long distance phone calls.
Today, the company says it is saving over $300 month in long distance charges alone and since sales representatives now have real-time access to inventory information, they can spend more time completing a sale instead of waiting on inventory inquires. Also, better visibility into product status is also helping to improve customer service.
“We wanted our staff to function like a single office, regardless of where employees were located, but our previous technology could not help us meet that goal,” says Scherer. “Since implementing Small Business Server 2003 our outside sales staff now has access to the same information as head office. This is important because as our industry becomes more competitive, it’s necessary to make sales fast and have access real-time information at a moment’s notice. We have already seen a 15 per cent increase in sales.”
Improved communication
Small Business Server 2003 has also exceeded Sherex’s expectations in terms of overall business value. For example, the company now takes advantage of its Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 component by making public folders accessible via SharePoint and Microsoft Outlook®. Initially, this was a function that didn’t appear to be important, but now it has become an essential aspect of operations for the company. Sales representatives can update their contact calendar while they are on the road and share this information with the entire company.
“My sales people are the ones on the road dealing with the clients, they are the ones who know them and are building the relationships,” says Scherer. “Previously, the sales staff would have the information themselves but couldn’t share it with the rest of the company. Now that everyone has access to the same information, we can provide better service to our customers.”
Increased productivity by 20 per cent
Today Sherex is a faster, more efficient business. Since implementing Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 the company has increased productivity by at least 20 per cent. With Terminal Services, remote employees now have access to comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date information. This gives head office employees time to focus on key tasks like selling and preparing marketing materials instead of tedious inventory inquires.
Streamlined productivity is also improving the work environment at Sherex. With Small Business Server, staff is able to work more efficiently, helping to significantly decrease the level of stress in the office.
“With this new technology in place, the stress level inside the office has decreased dramatically,” says Scherer. “Head office staff has more time to focus on their work without constant interruptions. Everyone is much more efficient. We can now focus more on our business. And the mobile staff does not have to wait to get inventory information. We now run a much smoother, more streamlined business.”
Remote access anytime, anyplace
Sherex is also enjoying improved email capabilities with Microsoft Outlook Web access, which comes with Small Business Server 2003.
“It’s great to have everything in one place. We now always have the ability to access live e-mail, whether working from home or at a sales conference in Europe, we have all our contacts folders, the works,” says Scherer.
Using Remote Web Workplace connections to provide secure access to company file through an Internet browser means that Sherex employees can work remotely from just about anywhere and complete their projects on time and with the right specifications.
“We don’t want our employees working more hours, we want to provide them with the flexibility to work according to their schedule,” says Scherer. “Windows Small Business Server 2003 allows us to do this. We now not only work faster, but smarter.”
Robust security
Migrating to a server-based solution was also beneficial for security purposes. Krikke Computer Services can now manage Sherex’s network from a central console.
“Prior to implementing Small Business Server 2003, Sherex was running anti-virus on individual machines which was difficult to administer,” says Krikke. “Anti-virus software was expiring at different times. By going to this comprehensive solution we are able to manage everything from one place.”
Increased understanding of the value of technology
According to Scherer, technology investment was never a major priority for his business – until the company implemented Small Business Server 2003. Today, the small business owner embraces technology and is eager learn more about how it can benefit his business. “We see ourselves as a ‘technology evangelist,’ ” he says.
Windows Small Business Server 2003
Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 enables your small business to be more productive with fewer resources. Now you can: Automatically protect your business information in 15 essential ways; Get 20% more done every day by making it easier for your employees to find, share, communicate, and remotely access information; Reach more customers and serve them better, 24/7; Quickly set up and easily operate a Windows-based server to run your small business.
For more information about Windows Small Business Server 2003, please visit:http://www.microsoft.com/sbserver
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 Krikke Computer Services Inc. products and services, call (905) 639-7291 or visit the Web site at: www.krikke.com
For more information about Sherex Industries Limited products and services, call (905) 639-7701 or visit the Web site at: www.sherex.ca
