4-page Case Study - Posted 3/16/2009

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Utusan Group

Publishing Group Enhances Journalists’ Productivity with Unified Messaging Solution

The Utusan Group publishes Malay language newspapers Utusan Malaysia, Mingguan Malaysia and Kosmo. The company had been using freeware e-mail application Postfix for a number of years. However it encountered reliability issues and decided to replace the system. After evaluating various solutions, Utusan chose Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 as its enterprise messaging system due to its extensive capabilities and high reliability. Exchange Server 2007 has enhanced the productivity of Utusan by using Unified Messaging to integrate e-mail, voice mail and fax services into a single messaging client. Utusan’s journalists can access information from Microsoft® Office Outlook® 2007 and use Microsoft® Office Outlook® Web Access on their mobile devices. With Windows® Mobile devices, Utusan staff can receive e-mail messages, make calendar updates, get contacts and create new tasks.

Situation

The Utusan Group (Utusan) is one of Malaysia’s leading media conglomerates and has over ten companies under its wings. The group is today engaged in publishing Malay language newspapers and magazines, printing, advertising and online services.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 was chosen as it was a proven enterprise messaging system with extensive functionalities and is highly stable and reliable.” Ali Mustafa Senior Manager Information Technology, Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd

Utusan, which is listed on Bursa Malaysia, operates printing plants in Bangi, Prai, Kuala Terengganu and Johor Bahru. The group is also the country’s pioneer in Internet publishing – it launched Malaysia's first online newspaper, Utusan Malaysia Online, in 1997.

Messaging, especially e-mail, plays a very important role in the company. Reporters use e-mail to send and receive news reports including press releases. “When our reporters are working onsite covering press events they can write their articles on their portable computers. E-mail is the best tool for them to send their articles and photographs back to the office besides the remote editorial system,” says Ali Mustafa, Senior Manager Information Technology, Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd.

Being able to send news articles quickly to the office is crucial as outdated information is no longer news in the today’s media industry. “News needs to be current and timely, especially on the Internet where news is posted almost immediately," says Ali. 

“It is a big challenge for us, especially with our Utusan Malaysia Online website, and that’s why having a reliable email system to deliver news articles is absolutely vital for us. In fact, it’s a lifeline for our core business,” he adds.

The Group had been using Postfix, a Linux-based freeware e-mail application, for a number of years. However, Utusan faced reliability issues with this application. As the solution was due for an upgrade, the Group decided to evaluate other messaging systems in 2006. The management had initially decided to deploy Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003 but this was put on hold due to budget constraints.

In early 2008, there was a request from the Editorial Department to look into a better and more stable e-mail system, Ali adds. “We talked to our management and argued it was time to deploy an enterprise-class messaging system. There was greater urgency especially since the Malaysian general election was due soon, and we needed to have a reliable messaging system in place,” he explains.

Solution

Senior management chose to deploy Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 to replace the Postfix system. Ali says Exchange Server 2007 was chosen as it was a proven enterprise messaging system with extensive capabilities and was highly stable and reliable.

As the management wanted to have the new messaging solution in place before the March general election, the time allotted for implementation was about three weeks. Despite the extremely tight deadline, Ali was confident that the Exchange Server-based messaging system could be rolled out in time.

Microsoft® Certified Partner Chass Computer Consultants was engaged to handle the implementation with support from Microsoft. Microsoft Malaysia played a key role by providing technical staff to advise Utusan in designing the architecture for its Exchange Server 2007 system, says Ali. “This was very important as it enables us to have a system which is flexible and scalable in meeting our future requirements,” he adds.

The Exchange Server 2007 system implemented in Utusan runs on Windows Server® 2003 in conjunction with Microsoft® Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006 Standard Edition and Windows Server® 2003 Terminal Services.

The initial phase of the implementation started in early February 2008 and was completed before the end of February, about a week before the election. In the first phase, e-mail facilities were provided to Utusan’s editorial staff nationwide, the management and their support staff. Utusan is targeting to extend the new e-mail service to the rest of the group’s employees by the fourth quarter of 2008.

“The tight deadline was quite ridiculous actually, but we were pleasantly surprised that we could achieve it without any delays,” says Ali. Ali attributes this it to the fact that Exchange Server 2007 was a well-established product with an impressive range of features, had full technical documentation and ready availability of technical expertise and support for the deployment process.

Benefits

Greater productivity

The new enterprise-class total messaging solution enables Utusan’s journalists to be more productive. Journalists no longer need to rush back to the editorial office to check their information sources and file their articles. This means reporters can be more productive as they can cover multiple assignments in a day. “Our journalists can now cover up to four or five assignments in a day compared to one or two previously,” confirms Ali.

“Now with a highly reliable and stable communications solution like Exchange Server 2007, our editorial staff can send and receive news, articles, press releases and photos by e-mail from wherever they are. This means they can meet the deadlines and produce the publications on time,” explains Ali.

Ali points out that in the newspaper industry, any delays in sending and receiving information because of an unreliable messaging system can disrupt production schedules. “This could result in thousands of copies of our newspapers left unsold, resulting in losses to the company,” Ali adds.

With Exchange Server 2007, Utusan employees can access information from Microsoft® Office Outlook® 2007 messaging and collaboration client, Microsoft® Office Outlook® Web Access, their mobile devices to even ordinary telephones. Through Microsoft® Office Outlook® Voice Access, employees can use telephones to listen to messages translated from text to speech and then take the most efficient action, such as replying by e-mail.

The productivity tools in Exchange Server 2007 are expected to help Utusan automate various work processes and promote collaboration. For example, familiar tools in Outlook such as contacts, calendar and tasks have been enhanced and can be accessed from anywhere.

Enhanced mobility

Ali says that Exchange Server 2007 adds a new dimension to work of the Group’s journalists as they can now have access to their e-mails and information sources from the site of their assigned events using portable computers.

“Outlook Web Access 2007 serves us nicely as our journalists and management will be able to be more productive while on the move, outside of the office. Mobility is the key,” says Ali.

“For example, our management and editors can access their mail anytime and from anywhere, such as from home or while traveling. This enables them to have access to business information, which helps them to make better decisions from anywhere, at anytime,” he adds.

Utusan also plans use the mobile device capability of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 by connecting it to Windows Mobile® devices, Blackberry phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). “We are currently testing out these mobile devices. This will eventually be a huge benefit for our staff and management in terms of being able to access e-mails while on the move,” comments Ali.

Users with mobile devices powered by the Windows Mobile® operating system will be able to enjoy Direct Push Technology to receive new e-mail messages, calendar details, contacts, and tasks from Exchange Server 2007 as soon as it arrives on the server.

Provides Unified Messaging

The Group is also looking at leveraging on the innovative Unified Messaging approach of Exchange Server 2007 which integrates e-mail, voice mail and fax into a single system.

This essentially enables voice mail and fax messages to be delivered to the user’s inbox, displayed and played in Outlook or Outlook Web Access or even pushed out to a mobile device. Ali confirms that Utusan is looking at the potential benefits of Unified Messaging. “We are still exploring this option for our journalists to easily share information. Unified Messaging can be very useful because sometimes they need a tool to share their viewpoints and information with others. This enables our staff to collaborate and will be a huge benefit because our core business is all about information,” says Ali.

Strategic advantage

The Group is confident the Exchange Server 2007 solution will provide it with a strategic edge in the publishing industry as it is helping its journalists become more productive, access information faster through various channels, and deliver news faster to its readers, both through its Web site and in print.

Ali also says Exchange Server 2007 provides the IT department with the assurance that it can meet user demands for better and more comprehensive messaging features. “Previously, with the freeware solutions we were unable to meet the requests from users. But with an enterprise-class system like Exchange Server 2007, we have the confidence to meet their demands for a better system,” he adds.

Much of this confidence stems from the realization that the Group has the support of Microsoft and its able partners behind Utusan to handle any technical and support issues which may arise, he says.

Having signed up for Microsoft® Services Premier Support, Utusan has access to Microsoft’s support assistance, problem resolution support, workshops, and a comprehensive suite of online information services including Microsoft Premier Online and TechNet. With Premier Support, Microsoft assigned a Technical Account Manager to Utusan to ensure that the necessary technical resources and expertise were made available to ensure the success of the project.

“Exchange Server 2007 is flexible and scalable, and Microsoft-based resources are readily available. From a technical perspective, we are very happy with our new Exchange Server 2007 system,” affirms Ali.

Microsoft Server Product Portfolio

For more information about the Microsoft server product portfolio, go to: www.microsoft.com/servers/default.mspx

For more information about Microsoft Exchange Server, go to: www.microsoft.com/exchange