2 page Case Study - Posted 4/9/2008
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Presentation Virtualization Connects Offices, Reduces Yearly TCO by $7,680
Business Needs
The mission of CaptionMax is to make all media accessible to all people through closed captioning and audio description services. Its 90 employees work among four sales offices and two production offices in the cities of Minneapolis (company headquarters), Burbank, New York, and Washington, D.C.
The computer network at CaptionMax is based primarily on Windows® Server 2000 and is split with five servers in Minneapolis and five servers in Burbank running the operating system. Employee workstations run Windows® XP Professional.
The offices are connected through redundant Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) Internet connections with a primary and backup virtual private network (VPN) connection. One of the company’s business challenges is that it needs to allow the Burbank network users to access data and applications on the Minneapolis network, while maintaining tight security and high performance, and minimizing ongoing cost.
The solution was to use Terminal Services for server administration and for providing remote desktops to approximately 30 users. However, CaptionMax experienced space limitations with Windows 2000 Server, which required constant management. Users also became frustrated with intermittent performance issues using Terminal Services. For example, the Minneapolis office hosted third-party scheduling software on Terminal Services, so if the Burbank staff could not access this LOB application easily, they would not know the status of jobs and the availability of resources.
In addition, hosting a desktop (rather than an application) disoriented users, which resulted in lost productivity, and generated support calls and frustration. This problem also required the company to expend resources on supporting users rather than investing in new technology that could improve the quality or cost of services to customers.
Solution
Using advanced technology is one way that CaptionMax can meet the needs of its customers, so the company turned to new technology to improve the reliability of remote connections to the LOB application and to enable remote/home access to users.
Along with a hardware upgrade, the company considered deploying Citrix, but it ultimately focused on Windows Server® 2008 Terminal Services because of the product’s ability to host its business application. Windows Server 2008 was also a logical choice because of its compatibility with Windows 2000 Server and Microsoft® SQL Server® 2000 Standard, and because the company’s staff was already familiar with Microsoft technologies. In addition, newer versions of the LOB application were already compatible with Windows Server 2008.
CaptionMax entirely replaced one of its servers running Windows 2000 Server with Windows Server 2008. The manual upgrade process took two weeks on an IBM System x3650 Quad-Core Xeon server with an Intel processor. The company’s technology partner, Success Computer Consulting, helped plan the implementation of the solution because of its experience with Windows Server 2008. Success Computer Consulting installed the operating system, completed physical installation of the server, and set it up to use presentation virtualization, but the IT staff at CaptionMax deployed the LOB application themselves.
“We probably could have done the whole thing ourselves,” says Chris Leininger, Director of Technology at CaptionMax. “But working with Success Computer Consulting allowed us to save time in deployment and to ensure that it was done according to industry standards.”
Benefits
Windows Server 2008 provides the presentation virtualization solution that CaptionMax needed for a third of its staff. Quantifiable benefits include:
* Reduced time spent managing servers by two hours per week
* Reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) by $7,680 per year
* Reduced helpdesk calls for application support by 15%
The most significant benefit, however, may not be quantifiable. “We expect that our users will experience fewer problems related to Terminal Services with Windows Server 2008,” says Leininger. “Presentation virtualization minimizes users’ confusion with remote desktop, which results in greater productivity for users and support staff.” This benefit also produces a tighter cultural integration between offices and the potential to serve customers more efficiently.
The technical teams at CaptionMax have been impressed with the operation of Windows Server 2008. “It’s easier to use, and more intuitively designed than previous versions of Windows Server,” says Leininger. “Also, I love having the Help information pop up as I’m doing tasks.”
In addition, the implementation positions the company for compatibility in upgrading users’ computers to Windows Vista®. Future possibilities also include removing applications from laptops and centralizing them for greater security, and using Windows Server 2008 as a high-security File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server.
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008, with built-in Web and virtualization technologies, enables you to increase the reliability and flexibility of your server infrastructure. New virtualization tools, Web resources, and security enhancements help you save time, reduce costs, and provide a platform for a dynamic and optimized datacenter. Powerful new tools like IIS 7.0, Server Manager, and Windows® PowerShell, allow you to have more control over your servers and streamline Web, configuration, and management tasks. Advanced security and reliability enhancements like Network Access Protection and the Read-Only Domain Controller option for Active Directory Domain Services harden the operating system and help protect your server environment to ensure you have a solid foundation on which to build your business.
For more information, go to:
www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008
