2 page Case Study - Posted 4/10/2008

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Epicurean

Fast-Growing Company Trims Costs, Improves Competitiveness with Solution Upgrade

Epicurean Cutting Surfaces, which produces cutting boards and other kitchenware products from renewable and recycled materials, aims to reduce material and process waste. That’s why the company upgraded to the beta version of Windows® Small Business Server 2008—to take advantage of improvements in security and reliability, remote access, and software management. The company has reduced costs, increased productivity, improved customer service, and gained a competitive edge.

Business Needs

Epicurean Cutting Surfaces had its genesis in efficiency. The owners’ original company was a skate-park designer and manufacturer. Eager to recycle scrap, they founded Epicurean to create kitchen cutting boards using leftover skate-park materials. Today, Epicurean cutting boards are sold worldwide in more than 4,000 stores by retailers such as Bed Bath and Beyond and Sur La Table. 

The Epicurean brand has attracted a huge following, fueling growth of 250 percent in the last two years. “Managing growth is our biggest challenge,” says Dave Benson, Founder and Chief Financial Officer of Epicurean Cutting Surfaces. “We practice lean manufacturing, which is all about reducing physical and process waste. We do as much as we can with what we have. We’re always looking to boost productivity and grow without increasing headcount.”

Epicurean Cutting Surfaces built its technology infrastructure around Windows® Small Business Server 2003, which combines operating system, messaging, remote access, support for mobile devices, file and printer sharing, and backup and restore functions in one integrated program. Epicurean also used several third-party programs for antivirus, spam, and backup.

“Any time you add a third-party tool, there’s always the possibility that something may not work,” explains Lucas Mistelske, IT Manager at Epicurean Cutting Surfaces. Mistelske spent two hours each day making sure everything was running correctly—software licensing was up-to-date, logs were in order, quotas weren’t being exceeded, and backups completed.  Epicurean needed to streamline its processes to stay ahead of competitors.

Solution

Epicurean upgraded to Windows Small Business Server 2008 Standard Edition to take advantage of improvements in security, reliability, productivity, backup and restore, and remote access, and to get the latest versions of business-critical technologies. Epicurean runs the new solution on an HP ProLiant 350ML G5 server computer.

By using Windows Small Business Server 2008, we’ve eliminated a lot of wasted time. Having cutting-edge software allows us to operate leaner and compete better globally. Dave Benson Founder and Chief Financial Officer, Epicurean Cutting Surfaces

Shipping and accounting personnel are more productive, because Epicurean’s shipping software performs better with Windows Small Business Server 2008 Standard Edition. “Our shipping people spend less time waiting and more time filling orders,” says Benson.

Epicurean’s response to customers is also faster and more professional. Using Windows Small Business Server 2008, salespeople, customer service staff, and executives can access current customer and order information anytime, from almost anywhere. “The ability to immediately access customer data makes a good impression,” Benson says. “Everyone is better prepared for customer interactions.”

The new Windows Small Business Server 2008 management tools and “green-check” reports also help improve system reliability. “The green-check report gives me an instant health view of all our software, including third-party packages,” Mistelske says.

Benefits

With its upgrade to Windows Small Business Server 2008, Epicurean has reduced costs, sped customer service, improved competitiveness, and increased productivity.

• Lower costs. By implementing Windows Small Business Server 2008, Epicurean has reduced its customer service staff by one person, because salespeople are able to access information remotely without calling customer service. The company has also eliminated third-party antivirus and backup software licensing fees, an estimated savings of U.S.$1,000 annually.
  
  
• Faster customer service. With enhanced Remote Web Workplace capabilities, workers have easy remote access to information. “It’s so easy and intuitive that they’re people are accessing our systems more,” Mistelske says. As a result, response to customer inquiries has accelerated. “Our salespeople can answer customer questions immediately rather than calling the office to find an answer. And people are no longer constrained to normal business hours; they can get what they need 24/7.”
  
  
• Increased competitive advantage. Epicurean believes that its move to Windows Small Business Server 2008 has improved its competitiveness by improving efficiency. “The more efficient we are, the faster we can produce, which helps cash flow,” Benson says. “We’re competing against companies in China and have to get even leaner. By using Windows Small Business Server 2008, we’ve eliminated a lot of wasted time. Having cutting-edge software allows us to operate leaner and compete better globally.
  
  
• Enhanced security and reliability. Using the new management console in Windows Small Business Server 2008, Mistelske can see immediately if anything needs addressing, including patch management on individual machines. “I’m saving 20 minutes a day on just making sure everything is OK,” he says. “When something needs attention, I receive alerts by phone or e-mail, so I don’t even have to be at the console. Having so many capabilities integrated into one program removes complications and streamlines our infrastructure, allowing more time for other tasks. I save at least two hours a week alone with new, streamlined licensing for backup, spam filtering, and antivirus software.” Backing up files now takes minutes instead of days, and Mistelske is able to back up three times a day instead of weekly, which helps make data more secure.

Windows Essential Server Solutions
Windows Small Business Server 2008 is part of the Windows Essential Server Solutions family, designed to help small and midsize businesses boost productivity and growth. Based on the latest innovations, Windows Essential Server Solutions dramatically simplify the deployment, ongoing management, and use of server technology.

For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit:
www.microsoft.com/sbs08