DONG Energy

Energy Company Standardizes Its IT Environment to Support Integration

DONG Energy was formed in 2006 by a combination of six Danish energy companies. After the merger, the company was left with a highly complex IT infrastructure with multiple desktop platforms. To simplify management and integrate its business applications—and provide a platform for developing new ones—DONG Energy built a common IT infrastructure standardized on Microsoft® products. This included deploying a single desktop image based on the Windows Vista® Enterprise operating system and Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 on 6,000 personal computers in over 50 locations. The new IT environment is helping DONG Energy provide a consistent user experience for its employees and simplify desktop management for its IT staff.

Situation

Based in Denmark, DONG Energy procures, produces, distributes, trades, and sells energy and related products in Northern Europe. In 2007, the company had revenues of DKK42 billion (US$8.3 billion), and focuses on providing a reliable supply of energy while minimizing its environmental impact.

We chose the Microsoft-based desktop infrastructure to be prepared for the future. Michael Moesgaard Chief Information Officer, DONG Energy

DONG Energy was formed from the 2006 merger of six major Danish energy companies, with a total of 5,000 employees and facilities in some 50 locations in northern Europe. Integration and efficiency are core values of the company. Michael Moesgaard, Chief Information Officer of DONG Energy, says “We have an overall strategy to be a completely integrated energy company, from a supply chain perspective—such as selling the gas that we produce—down to the way in which we work with technology.”

Both values became central challenges when it was time to merge and integrate six separate IT environments and more than 1,000 applications—everything from engineering applications to document management systems. During the pre-integration period, basic communication was difficult in the heterogeneous environment; half the employees used Lotus Notes for e-mail and the other half used Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003 and the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003 messaging and collaboration client. The IT staff created a temporary solution for connecting these systems, but there was no common directory, so coworkers could not look each other up in a companywide address book. Employee information was stored in various databases and systems across offices; this hindered access to business processes and information as people moved among offices and departments, and between work and home.

There were multiple solutions for sales, services, collaboration with partners, and e-commerce, all built on various platforms and technologies. This meant that IT staff had to manage a number of different software programs, vendors, and partners just to use and develop solutions. Also, there was no easy way to access, collect, and analyze company information to make informed business decisions or create reports.

To solve these issues, the company wanted an operating environment that would provide a consistent user experience, whether employees worked in the office or at home. For efficiency, the new operating environment had to be future-ready and easy to use, with wide industry support to optimize the company’s choices of IT partners.

Solution

Instead of trying to link its many IT systems, DONG Energy decided to create a new standardized desktop infrastructure based on the Windows Vista® operating system and the 2007 Microsoft Office system. The company also decided to keep the major legacy systems, such as its SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, in place to support business processes.

Our employees like the easy-to-use interface of Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system — many of them were already using this software at home. Michael Moesgaard Chief Information Officer, DONG Energy

In early 2007, the company planned the deployment of a standard image (a single file that contains copies of the firm’s approved basic software) on new hardware—4,800 portable computers, 1,200 desktop computers, and Cisco Virtual Private Network (VPN) 3002 Hardware Clients for remote connectivity to the corporate network. DONG Energy chose the Windows Vista Enterprise operating system and Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 as the basis of the standard image. Moesgaard says, “We chose the Microsoft-based desktop infrastructure to be prepared for the future, so that our IT assets will be compatible with upcoming releases of key applications and hardware. Also, our employees like the easy-to-use interface of Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system — many of them were already using this software at home.”

The company also replaced many legacy content systems with Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 and Content Management Server for collaboration, content management, and publication of data stored in SAP and the SAP NetWeaver portal, and for the creation of both intranet sites and external Web sites. It built a new Windows Server® 2003 Active Directory® structure to store and manage employee profiles that contain location and organizational information for each person. The company plans to use Duet™, software jointly developed by SAP and Microsoft that employees can use to access SAP business processes, business intelligence, and data through the familiar Microsoft Office environment.

The IT team reduced the pool of applications to 750, and in mid 2007, it deployed the new operating environment. For distribution, the team used Microsoft® System Center Configuration Manager 2007 and a custom “Web shop,” an internal Web page from which employees can order their computers with custom combinations of hardware and any extra software that was not included in the standard image.

With the Mobility Center feature in Windows Vista Enterprise, people at DONG Energy can use an auxiliary display, such as a projector or large-screen TV, for viewing documents on their portable computers during meetings. They can also use cell phones as auxiliary displays as they move between offices, to check for their next meeting, or to read e‑mail without opening their portable computers.

Benefits

DONG Energy now has a standardized IT environment, which will help the company increase efficiency with simplified application management and a consistent user experience. Employees can securely connect with the information that they need from the office or from home.

We selected the latest Microsoft products because we believe that this is the best operating environment to support the end user. Michael Moesgaard Chief Information Officer, DONG Energy

Improved User Experience and Application Management 

Moesgaard says, “We selected the latest Microsoft products because we believe that this is the best operating environment to support the end user.” With the new IT infrastructure, all the company’s applications will be built on the same technologies, for maximum integration.

DONG Energy plans to take advantage of the desktop environment’s intuitive user interface (UI) to enhance productivity. The company’s IT support staff prepared training materials to help employees adjust to the upgrade, and the transition has been very smooth to date. Says Moesgaard “Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system are designed to help our employees find and use information quickly and easily, and we expect this to boost efficiency across the company.”

The company now has one common operating environment. “We can build applications and integrate our Web platform with them in a much more standardized way,” says Moesgaard. “We will be able to provide new and sophisticated solutions to employees and customers much faster.” 

The deployment of Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 solved the post-merger communication issues; people can now easily exchange e-mail and use all the advanced calendar features, no matter which office or department they are in.

The Instant Search feature in Windows Vista Enterprise helps employees can search for relevant content and colleagues’ information on their PCs—regardless of format—in applications, Internet files, documents, media, contacts, calendar events, and e-mail messages. The company is planning to configure its network so that employees will be able to use Instant Search to find content across the intranet as well.

Standardizing on Office SharePoint Server 2007 for content publication simplifies application management. “New content solutions and sites are all standardized on the Microsoft operating environment,” says Moesgaard. “Our users only need to know Microsoft programs in order to work with any data in the company.”

We are using Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system to build a better security environment. Michael Moesgaard Chief Information Officer, DONG Energy

Security and Convenience

DONG Energy is taking advantage of enhanced security features in Windows Vista Enterprise and Office Professional Plus 2007. Moesgaard says, “We are using Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system to build a better security environment. And we expect to benefit from Duet, the SAP/Microsoft collaboration software. We could not have had the full benefit from that product with Windows XP and Office 2003.”

The Mobility Center in Windows Vista Enterprise is a favorite of Moesgaard’s. “Using Windows Vista Enterprise, we will be able to use the peripheral equipment for our meeting rooms—such as large-screen monitors to display documents to colleagues—with our portable computers.”

The mobility features in Windows Vista Enterprise integrate easily with DONG Energy’s Cisco VPN infrastructure to provide consistent access to company systems regardless of location. Moesgaard says, “You can close the lid on your mobile computer in the office, go home, open the lid again, and continue working—you computer automatically connects to the corporate network through the wireless network in your home and you continue working. You don’t need a VPN or security coding—Windows Vista takes care of everything, and it’s even more secure than the old setup.”

Better Integration of Work Processes

With simplified processes from the use of standardized technologies, DONG Energy plans to get more out of its employees’ knowledge. For example, the company wants to use the engineering capabilities from its offshore oil and gas exploration operations to find a way to safely pump the CO2 released from power plants down the reservoir to the North Sea, to reduce emissions. “Before the new infrastructure was deployed, these were two organizations working in different areas, and sharing their knowledge would have been difficult,” says Moesgaard. “We’re sure these technologies we’ve put in place will support the sharing of business insights and skill sets across offices and organizational boundaries; we can use them to have a really positive impact on our business.”

Windows Vista
Windows Vista can help your organization use information technology to gain a competitive advantage in today’s new world of work. Your people will be able to find and use information more effectively. You will be able to support your mobile work force with better access to shared data and collaboration tools. And your IT staff will have better tools and technologies to enhance corporate IT security, data protection, and more efficient deployment and management. For more information about Windows Vista, go to:
www.microsoft.com/windowsvista
 
Microsoft Office System
The Microsoft Office system is the business world’s chosen environment for information work, providing the programs, servers, and services that help you succeed by transforming information into impact. For more information about the Microsoft Office system, go to:
www.microsoft.com/office

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: http://www.microsoft.com/

For more information about DONG Energy products and services, call +45 99 55 11 11 or visit the Web site at: http://www.dongenergy.com/