2 page Case Study - Posted 4/15/2008
Views: 183
Rate This Evidence:
Postal Service Improves Application Protection, Remote Access with IT Solution
The Post of Slovenia provides postal services to customers throughout Slovenia. The company manages a large group of post offices and regional centers. Because it wanted to make remote user applications more accessible and more secure, the organization deployed Windows Server® 2008. IT administrators can now manage applications more easily while providing better remote access and improved protection.
Business Needs
 |
Managing the IT infrastructure is far easier because of Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services. To publish an application, for example, we just have to install it on the terminal server and make it available to users.  |
|
|
Smiljan Švarc
Head of System Engineering
Post of Slovenia |
|
|
The Post of Slovenia is the main provider of postal services in Slovenia. Based in the city of Maribor, the organization has 6,643 employees and manages a network of more than 550 post offices and eight regional centers throughout the country. Each year, the Post of Slovenia handles and dispatches 970 million letters and parcels. The organization also issues digital certificates for e-banking and digital signatures for e-mail archiving and government services.
Most of the company’s employees are remote workers based in post offices and regional centers. There are 800 server computers within the Post of Slovenia infrastructure. Thirty of these servers, based in the regional centers, run the Windows Server® 2003 operating system.
The company needed to publish user applications from terminal servers at each regional center. “It is more efficient and cost-effective if we provide centralized administration and application management for the users in that region,” says Smiljan Švarc, Head of System Engineering at the Post of Slovenia. One application the organization needed to provide access to is “Universal Postal Office,” which is used to enter postal transaction data. However, the Post of Slovenia did not have the capability to publish remote applications.
Securing applications was also important. “Seventy percent of all banking transactions in Slovenia are handled through our post offices,” says Švarc. “This is very important classified data that we need to protect. We needed a solution that would give us the ability to remotely publish applications in a secure way.”
Solution
In May 2007, IT employees at the Post of Slovenia attended a Microsoft informational conference that focused on Windows Server 2008. “This technology had enhancements related to remote access and security, so we were immediately interested,” says Švarc. The Post of Slovenia was primarily interested in Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services, which IT administrators can use to centrally deploy and manage applications. Several months later, the Post of Slovenia began implementing the solution with the help of Microsoft® Services and Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Avtenta.si of Slovenia. They helped the Post of Slovenia deploy Windows Server 2008 Enterprise on three HP ProLiant DL380 G5 servers that run on Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors. “We are using Windows Server 2008 to offer remote applications to users in one region’s post offices,” says Švarc. The company will soon deploy the solution to the remaining 27 servers in its regional centers.
The Post of Slovenia is using the Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services RemoteApp™ feature, which helps IT administrators configure terminal servers to provide users with access to individual applications that are integrated with the local desktop. “With Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services RemoteApp, we simply provide a file to users and they open it,” says Švarc. Administrators are also using the Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services single sign on authentication technology, which eases the process of remote access for Post of Slovenia employees.
Benefits
With Windows Server 2008, the Post of Slovenia can centrally manage applications for 1,000 users from one of the eight regional offices. The company can also provide simplified remote access and now has improved application protection. Benefits include the following:
Easier application management
Post of Slovenia IT administrators now have the ability to centrally access and manage applications. “Managing the IT infrastructure is far easier because of Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services,” says Švarc. “To publish an application, for example, we just have to install it on the terminal server and make it available to users.” Because it is easy to publish applications, Švarc says he and his fellow IT employees will save time. “With Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services, we can publish applications in an hour or less. That will help us save time in administration.”
Simplified branch office access
With Terminal Services RemoteApp, the Post of Slovenia can provide applications as links that can be quickly launched from user computers. “Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services RemoteApp greatly simplifies access processes for remote users,” says Švarc. Additionally, because of the new single sign on capabilities in Windows Server 2008, remote employees use only one password to enter the company’s network.
Improved protection
The Post of Slovenia also has improved application protection. “Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services helps us manage applications centrally, which makes it easier to ensure that customer data is protected,” says Švarc. “It is now easier to lock down applications on terminal servers so we give users only the functionality we want them to have.” Windows Server 2008 also provides the company’s IT staff members with greater control over the environment. “Windows Server 2008 gives us more settings and group policies than before, so we can provide more secure applications,” says Švarc.
For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit:
www.microsoft.com/casestudies
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published February 2008
