Accelerate Growth

By TIM WILSON

Phaeton Automotive Group got its start in 1993 with two locations in London, Ontario. Today, Phaeton has grown to have over 350 employees working out of seven sales and service locations in London, Richmond Hill and Thornhill, Ontario. The group sells a range of new vehicles, including Hyundai, Ford, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Lexus, and Toyota.

When looking for a new server platform, Premier Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Navantis Inc. recommended Windows Server 2008 as a key part of a platform-centric approach. Phaeton decided to design its infrastructure from the ground up. This way the physical IT infrastructure, data centre, and software could leverage the company for future growth.

Khalid Kadrie, a Director at Phaeton, says that the combination of Exchange Server 2010 and Windows Server 2008 R2 has allowed Phaeton to build out a full IT infrastructure.

“It was in the design stage that we identified Microsoft as the provider,” says Kadrie, “It was more than just looking at getting servers for our offices – we were looking at a solution that had the integration capabilities to capitalize on cost savings.”

By rolling out Windows Server 2008 R2, Phaeton was able to get the most out of its Windows 7 and Exchange Server 2010 environment, and to do so quickly.

Light on resources
“The beauty of Windows Server 2008 is its integration, how fluid it runs between systems, and how light it is on resources,’” says Kadrie. “We built and deployed Server 2008 with domain controller and active directory in a few months, and implemented Exchange 2010 – from start to finish– in ten days.”

Like many mid-size businesses, Phaeton is not an IT company, and yet it is heavily reliant on a range of technologies to assist in its day-to-day operations. For some organizations, the IT department itself can become a burden, with labour and technology costs becoming a hindrance to growth.

“Windows Server 2008 R2 allows us to manage 350 computers located in seven different facilities in two cities, and we can do it with only one IT manager,” says Kadrie.

This is an impressive feat, given that the technology doesn’t just have to be up and running in remote locations – it also has to be secure, and be able to perform usage and licensing audits. This way the company knows how to allocate resources, minimizing risk while maximizing efficiency. “They can certainly do more with less,” says Papadopoulos. “One central person manages all those dealerships from their main locations. It allows them to stay lean, and focus on the business of selling and servicing cars. They needed a cookie cutter platform, so that now when Phaeton adds dealerships Server 2008 will allow them to set up a new site quickly, from day one.”

Tim Hickernell, Associate Lead Research Analyst, Info-Tech Research Group, adds that Server 2008 R2 is also the best way to get the benefits of Exchange Server 2010.

“This has to do with both storage and the high availability option,” says Hickernell. “They’ve been redone from the ground up for 2010.”

The platform advantage
Phaeton is embracing the larger Microsoft platform that not only includes Windows Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft Exchange 2010, but also Windows 7 and a wide range of new administration tools. For example, Windows Server 2008 allows Phaeton to utilize Microsoft Hyper-V for server virtualization.

“With Server 2008 we can virtualize servers, and we can have full control of our infrastructure with Data Protection Manager, as well as a secure environment with Microsoft Forefront.”

Microsoft Forefront helps deliver end-to-end security through an integrated line of products for protection, access, and identity management. System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) integrates data protection to recover Windows server workloads.

“This isn’t about just one piece of software,” says Kadrie. “It’s about the Microsoft model and full integration. It offers us the opportunity for Office Communication Server, and will make it more affordable for us if we double or triple our size – we’ll no longer need to rebuild our infrastructure to capitalize on growth.”

Kadrie emphasizes that it took less than three months to build out an enterprise-wide deployment of Exchange 2010 and Windows Server 2008, one that supports hundreds of machines in multiple locations. And, lest we forget, a system that is managed by only one person.

“Wherever my IT person is in the world, he can administer and solve problems. He is in London and the data center is in Toronto, but it doesn’t matter. He even flicked the switch on Exchange Server and had it go live while we were driving in the car.”

Visibility means security
This kind of visibility means that security isn’t only physical, it also offers peace of mind, and a sense that the enterprise is under control.

“On the fly we can know how much RAM to purchase in bulk, or which computers need new graphics cards” says Kadrie. “We can make sure that computer interaction is satisfactory. With domain controller a new site can be set up with all the right security settings – it is all managed by us within minutes.”

This brings us to another common concern when it comes to corporate expansion: what are the additional risks, and what will the ROI be?

“Phaeton won’t have to load unnecessary services and waste hardware,” says Papadopoulos. “They simply execute the same steps in the next dealership.”

Essentially, now that the platform is up and running, if the system grows all that changes for Phaeton is licensing. No new security assessments are needed. With an IT solution built around Windows Server 2008, the company can add new dealerships with minimal migration risk.

“It is repeatable ROI,” says Papadopoulos. “They know that for their next dealerships the IT costs will be fixed. When you have remote branches there is a tendency to consolidate data and applications, but with Windows Server 2008 Phaeton has centralized management, and dealers don’t have to maintain users within their own configurations. As well, with branch caching they only need to install components to get a faster, better experience.”

For his part, Hickernell sees this advanced platform focus as being a popular destination for many enterprises, with e-mail as a core component.

“E-mail is mission critical now, and Microsoft has made improvements to Exchange 2010 in three main areas: e-mail functionality, hygiene, and archiving. These are the three decision points. If you’re looking at one, you’re looking at the other two.”

By having all three components integrated, Hickernell argues that the entire environment is more secure.

“They all come within the security bucket,” he says. “This is the direction that the market has been going in, with a security focus that prevents malware from getting into e-mail.”

A boost to with low cost of ownership
The key to productivity in any organization is its people. If technology is going to make employees more productive, then it has to support their daily tasks, not get in the way.

“The system makes the everyday work experience more pleasant, productive, and satisfying for our employees,” says Kadrie. “This is important, because 90% of our assets walk out the door every day, and we need to make sure they walk back in.” This then flows directly into the customer experience.

“The new system gives our customers a much more fluid purchasing process,” adds Kadrie. “Purchasing a car is stressful, and now we have a system in place throughout the whole store so that people don’t have to go to a special computer, they can just sit down with the customer wherever they are, and work with them. This helps us redefine the customer experience.”

The employees at Phaeton can move from branch to branch and maintain their familiarity with the system. Should the company expand, they can easily adapt to the new environment. And Phaeton itself needn’t factor in excessive migration cost for new build-outs.

“The cost savings, implementation, and security are unbelievable,” says Kadrie. “We no longer need VPN connections for our road warriors. These advantages made the move so worthwhile it was essentially a no-brainer.”

For Kadrie, the combination of Windows Server 2008 R2, Exchange 2010, and Windows 7 has given Phaeton a platform for the long-haul.

The implementation, streamlining our infrastructure, the cost savings, the security – where this technology is heading is unbelievable.”