PPG Industries

PPG Enhances Employee Productivity and Data Security by Updating Operating System

In its ongoing efforts to improve business practices and reduce costs, PPG Industries is upgrading more than 25,000 PCs that were running the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional operating system to the Windows Vista® Enterprise operating system. In turn, the company is simplifying growth, enabling easier and security-enhanced wireless access, increasing productivity, and raising user uptime while lowering help-desk and IT costs.

 

Business Needs

In operation for more than 125 years, PPG is a Fortune 250 business that specializes in coatings, paints, chemicals, optical products, specialty materials, glass, and fiber glass.

IT consistency is vital in the manufacturing industry, and IT at PPG is no exception. When the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional operating system first emerged, the company standardized its global PC base on that system and retained it for several years. However, company executives recognized the need to update the system.

With employees and manufacturing facilities operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week around the globe, PPG needed more powerful tools to support ongoing stability, security, and availability. The company also wanted sophisticated collaboration and real-time communication tools for effective teamwork among its widely dispersed employees.

Moreover, as PPG dramatically expanded in size, it needed to deploy new PCs without the expense of developing and maintaining multiple images for employees using different languages. And with mobile workers growing to nearly half of its user base, the company needed to enable mobile workers to access wireless connections seamlessly around the world without jeopardizing network security.

In addition, the company wanted to boost employee productivity, and so decided  to deploy the 2007 Microsoft Office system, but that product release required an operating system newer than Windows 2000 Professional. A related concern at PPG was the need to support the addition of new peripheral devices without having to wonder whether the device manufacturer would provide a driver for the current operating system. 

Solution

To address these needs, in September 2007 PPG launched an initiative known as Desktop of the Future, which encompasses simultaneous deployments of the Windows Vista® Enterprise operating system and the 2007 Microsoft Office system. With the help of Microsoft Services, the company began to deploy these products as well as Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007, Office Communications Server 2007, Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, and Office Live Meeting 2007.

In November 2008, PPG deployed a second image that included Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to enhance system performance, maintain compatibility with third-party software, support new types of hardware, and make it easier for IT administrators to deploy and manage Windows Vista. By the end of 2008, the company had implemented Desktop of the Future to nearly 8,000 of a total of 26,000 computers, with an anticipated completion date of early to mid-2010.

With the security and productivity enhancements in Windows Vista, PPG can implement a more efficient, more secure, and easier to maintain desktop environment. Mary Ann Scutelis, Desktop Design Team Software Manager, PPG Industries

To enhance security for mobile users, PPG encrypts all portable computers with Windows BitLocker™ Drive Encryption to protect information on the hard disk drive if a computer is lost or stolen. The company also uses BitLocker Drive Encryption to help provide a more secure way to dispose of older computers. With Windows User Account Control and Windows Firewall, PPG safeguards users from unknowingly running a potentially dangerous program.

Benefits

Midway through the deployment, PPG began seeing significant benefits from its Desktop of the Future initiative, and it looks forward to realizing additional benefits once the deployment is complete.

• Simplified deployment. Thanks to built-in and companion deployment tools for Windows Vista such as the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2008, ImageX, and Windows Imaging Format, PPG has been able to deploy its Desktop of the Future initiative at a rapid pace. For the first time ever, the company can rely on a single deployment image for all countries and languages, instead of the eight separate images it used to have to develop and maintain. This arrangement is expected to streamline effort and reduce costs for all future deployments.
  
  
• Mobile readiness. Another growth enhancer for PPG is the expanded support for Tablet PCs that is available in Windows Vista. Now, the company is better prepared to expand its use of diverse PC form factors, particularly on the shop floor..
  
  
• Easier wireless access, optimized security. With the integrated wireless client in Windows Vista that supports settings management through Active Directory® Domain Services, PPG employees can seamlessly access the corporate wireless environment around the globe without compromising security. Both IT and users save time and headaches, especially as PPG increases its global operations. In addition, the company is using Windows Vista capabilities to enhance computer security for all users.
  
  
• Enhanced productivity and collaboration. PPG employees have made extensive use of Windows Vista Instant Search to access documents faster than before. Employees also have enhanced their productivity and collaboration efforts through Windows Vista features such as the Windows Aero® user experience and Sync Center. Mobile users in particular are more productive with the help of offline files and the Network and Sharing Center.
  
  
• Stronger user-to-user support. A related productivity benefit comes through the use of Windows Vista support for two layers of access: one to view a shared desktop and another to remotely control it. With this capability, PPG can enable non-technical users to access the expertise of power users for informal PC help, without having to involve IT or the help desk. To enable such user-to-user support in the past, PPG had to license, install, and support a third-party product; today, that work is eliminated.
  
  
• Increased uptime, decreased help-desk costs. Similarly, with the built-in diagnostics of Windows Vista, PPG users are better able to diagnose some common problems themselves. Users also can easily know whether their PCs are up-to-date with antivirus protection through an internally developed solution based on Windows Vista gadgets for Windows Sidebar. With this solution, PPG Industries expects to increase user uptime and decrease help-desk calls.