Torstar

Media Group Enhances IT Security with Operating System Upgrade

With a constant drive to further safeguard its IT environment, Canadian media company Torstar chose to become an early adopter of the Windows Vista™ operating system. The company is eager to take advantage of the built-in security features that are available with the new system, anticipating reduced IT support costs and time as well as greater user productivity.

Business Needs

Torstar is a large-scale media company in Ontario that operates a variety of business units, from Canada’s largest daily newspaper, the Toronto Star, to small community papers and online sites, such as Toronto.com. Having such geographically widespread and diverse businesses presents IT management challenges because the different operating groups rely on different technologies, which necessitates greater maintenance and support overhead.

The Torstar Corporate IT group manages approximately 2,000 PCs, about 20 percent of which are portable computers that are used by reporters on assignment and others stationed outside Ontario. These computers run a range of operating systems, from Windows® 2000 to Windows XP—all of which the corporate IT group must support. “Having so many systems to maintain in so many locations historically has made it tough to keep current with system updates,” says Julian Marin, Corporate IT Manager of Server Services for Torstar. “But we need to ensure that our client computers stay up and running optimally so that users can keep up with the fast pace of business here.”

To help sustain that vital uptime, Torstar sought to find ways to streamline system management and do all that it could to safeguard its information and computers from malicious software and viruses. “We see several computers with malicious software each week, occasionally after users have limped along for weeks before coming to us for help,” says Marin. “Sometimes we even need to reimage a computer before a user can get back to full productivity. If we could be proactive and automatically remove that malicious software, we would avoid lost productivity for users and IT staff members alike.”

Solution

To better safeguard its IT environment, Torstar decided to upgrade its client computers to the Windows Vista™ operating system. “Security is a big deal for Torstar, so it makes sense for us to move quickly to adopt something that adds another layer of protection,” says Marin.

Security is a big deal for Torstar, so it makes sense for us to move quickly to adopt something that adds another layer of protection. Julian Marin Corporate IT Manager of Server Services, Torstar

In November 2006, the company began an initial deployment of 30 computers used by members of its IT department as well as select end users. “Starting out, we used the Microsoft® Application Compatibility Toolkit, which helped us tremendously in understanding our limitations and seeing which areas to tackle,” says Marin. Working with the toolkit helped Torstar identify compatibility issues that needed to be resolved before continuing further with its operating system upgrade.

In addition to the new client operating system, Torstar is upgrading to Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003, which it will use to reduce the time necessary to carry out the remainder of the Windows Vista upgrade by automating much of the project.

Benefits

By adopting the new client operating system, Torstar will enjoy better security features, improve support for mobile workers, and advance productivity for its users. “Embracing leading-edge technology will help protect us while delivering greater performance and functionality,” says Marin. “Although we’ve barely scratched the surface of what we can do with elements such as Group Policy, we’re excited about all the possibilities.” Benefits include:

• Enhanced security. With the built-in security features in Windows Vista, Torstar will be better able to streamline security management because the system offers more detailed malicious software safeguards than the company has had in the past. “The Malicious Software Removal Tool is a godsend,” says Marin. “We’ve always protected ourselves from malware at our perimeter, but now we’ll have help in detecting and removing it if it does get in, which will result in terrific timesavings.” The company also may opt to discontinue licensing some of its third-party malicious software–removal applications, which will further reduce maintenance needs because it will have fewer applications to support.
• Greater support for mobile users. Torstar is finding that its mobile workers are having an easier time getting the right wireless connections and are thus able to be more productive with Windows Vista. “A key part of our business involves reporters being able to rapidly file stories from remote locations. We’ve been using Windows Mobility Center, which has made it much smoother for users to set up their wireless and network connections and get to work,” says Marin. “The ramp-up time is faster, and there’s greater transparency—our mobile workers have been really impressed.”
• Increased productivity for end users. The company anticipates that its operating system upgrade will boost productivity for its end users because of the expanded search functionality in the system. “We have information stored everywhere—from data warehouses to small repositories—and giving users the ability to quickly and efficiently find relevant information will help them be more productive,” says Marin.