Dimension Data

IT Services Provider Enhances Security, Maintains Competitive Edge with System Upgrade

IT services provider Dimension Data has 11,000 employees in offices on six continents. The company adopts technology early in order to stay ahead of the competition and help customers maximize IT investments. In this spirit, Dimension Data is upgrading to the Windows® 7 operating system. It already benefits from enhanced security, improved information access, and increased productivity and hopes to continue to maintain its competitive advantage.

 

Business Needs

Dimension Data is a global IT services provider that offers solutions to help customers plan, build, support, and manage IT infrastructure. It has offices in 47 countries across six continents. Dimension Data is a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner and has won an impressive eight partner awards since 2005. In 2008, the company reported U.S.$4.5 billion in revenue.

To support the company’s mobile workforce that is often on the road—whether at a customer’s office or one of Dimension Data’s global offices—most of it 11,000 client computers are laptops. Though a large percentage of its computers run on the Window® XP operating system, in 2007, the company began upgrading its client environment to the Windows Vista® operating system.

As a company that prides itself on helping customers maximize their IT investments, Dimension Data is diligent about adopting new technology as it becomes available. When Windows 7 Beta was released, the company knew immediately that it wanted to start deploying the operating system for both its own use, and for customers who express interest in upgrading to Windows 7 in the future. “Not only do we rely on Microsoft technology to support our business, but we also use it to drive our business,” explains Peter Menadue, Group General Manager at Dimension Data. “We need to know the technology so that we can pass along that knowledge and focus our customers’ adoption around areas that we know first-hand offer great value.”

Our mobile workforce is looking to travel with less hardware, but the smaller the device, the more likely it is to be misplaced. Windows 7 gives us the peace of mind that our information is safe. Peter Menadue Group General Manager, Dimension Data

In particular, Dimension Data wanted to take advantage of new security enhancements and improved support for its mobile workforce. With a mostly mobile workforce, the company is always conscientious about protecting its intellectual property and confidential customer data. “Our intellectual property and propriety information are our lifeblood,” says Menadue. “That’s why we’re always evaluating relevant advances in technology, such as Windows 7.”

Solution

Dimension Data started its internal deployment of Windows 7 by upgrading 200 computers in its Australia, Asia, and United Kingdom offices when the beta version of the operating system was available. The company upgraded computers that were running Windows XP and Windows Vista in order to test migration in multiple scenarios.

The company followed its standard deployment methodology, starting with application compatibility testing. After it completed testing, the company used its own Dynamic Systems Solution tool for simplified application deployment. Dynamic Systems Solution combines Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 Beta with propriety tools and best practices to automatically deploy, update, and centrally manage its client computing environment.

Dimension Data is also evaluating Microsoft Application Virtualization as a way to deliver complex applications, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and Services Management tools, to its client computers.  As part of the upgrade, Dimension Data is also evaluating Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization, particularly for scenarios where developers or consultants working with customers need to work in a virtual desktop environment.

For enhanced security and control, the company is evaluating BitLocker To Go™ and AppLocker™. It is evaluating DirectAccess technology in order to provide information access to employees—even when they are not on the corporate network. To provide faster and easier access to corporate information, Dimension Data will extend desktop search with Federated Search.

Dimension Data plans to upgrade more than half of its 11,000 computers to Windows 7, within one year of the operating system’s launch.

Benefits

Dimension Data already sees the benefits of upgrading and is enthusiastic about continuing to upgrade to the new operating system. With Windows 7, the company is maintaining its competitive advantage by enhancing security, improving information access, and increasing productivity.

• Enhanced security for mobile employees. While the company implemented Windows BitLocker™ Drive Encryption during its upgrade to Windows Vista, it wanted to also protect its intellectual property that is saved to removable media devices. With BitLocker To Go, the company can extend its data security to external drives, such as USB thumb drives. “More and more, our mobile workforce is looking to travel with less hardware, but the smaller the device, the more likely it is to be misplaced. Windows 7 gives us the peace of mind that our information is safe,” says Menadue.
  
  
• Improved information access. For mobile employees, quick access to company data on the corporate network can be challenging, requiring the extra step of setting up a virtual private network (VPN) connection. Dimension Data plans to provide its employees the ability to access corporate resources without a VPN connection by using DirectAccess. In addition, Federated Search enables employees to extend their desktop search to files on the company intranet, based on Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007, with integrated search capabilities and the familiar user interface of Windows Explorer.
  
  
• Increased user productivity. Dimension Data looks forward to a surge in employee productivity based on its observations with its early deployments. “Whether employees are upgrading from Windows XP or Windows Vista, they’re enthusiastic about the improvements in Windows 7,” explains Menadue. “There’s a noticeable difference. It’s faster, easier to use, and they are thrilled that they can complete their tasks quickly.”
  
  
• Continued competitive advantage. Using lessons learned during the rollout, Dimension Data will be a step ahead of the competition when customers look to deploy Windows 7. “We already see interest from customers, and we’ll be able to pass on tremendous business value to them and help them extend the life of their PC assets with Windows 7—and that’s what keeps our business running,” concludes Menadue.