2 page Case Study - Posted 10/8/2009

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Seaside Buick

Auto Dealer Streamlines Communications and Reduces IT Support Costs by 70 Percent

With employee groups spread across multiple buildings, Seaside Buick struggled with internal communications. After joining the Microsoft® Technology Adoption Program for Windows® Small Business Server 2008, Seaside Buick launched a new company intranet to improve communication and collaboration, and reduce paper waste. The company was able to reduce IT support time and associated cost by 70 percent.

Business Needs

Seaside Buick is a family-owned vehicle dealership in San Diego, California. The auto dealer sells its flagship brand, Buick, as well as other brands such as Pontiac and GMC. Seaside Buick dealership employees are divided into employee groups spread across five buildings. As a result, effective communication among employees could be challenging.

For example, Seaside Buick printed a company calendar each month to inform employees of upcoming events and important deadlines. When changes were made to the calendar, updated versions were distributed. By the end of each month, multiple versions of the calendar existed and employees weren’t confident that they were reading the most up-to-date version. “We would have a last-minute event happening in the sales office but couldn’t effectively communicate it to the rest of the property,” says Lloyd Lickert, General Manager at Seaside Buick.

Another issue for Seaside Buick was IT maintenance. Support for Seaside’s network is provided by Microsoft® Certified Partner NetCIO. ”Lloyd was always interested in learning how to run things on his own,” says Jeff Adzima, Network Architect for NetCIO. Lickert wanted to handle some administration tasks himself but was concerned that they might be too complex. Plus, the dealership was using outdated hardware that required maintenance by NetCIO.

Finally, Lickert wanted a reliable way to have full access the dealership’s network while out of the office. NetCIO had developed a work-around to allow Lickert limited accessibility, but it involved multiple steps and was very slow and often unreliable. “At night or on the weekends, I wanted to be able to address issues from my computer at home,” says Lickert, “not make an extra trip to the dealership.”

Solution

In 2006, Jeff Adzima of NetCIO received an invitation to nominate customers to participate in the Microsoft Technology Adoption Program (TAP) for Windows® Small Business Server 2008. Recognizing an opportunity and the potential for network improvements at Seaside Buick, Adzima received Lickert’s approval to nominate the dealership for the program. Late in 2006, upon learning that the nomination was successful, NetCIO upgraded Seaside

On a monthly basis, I have reduced unplanned trips to the office by 85 percent. Having more time with my family and less impact on the environment is a big benefit. Lloyd Lickert General Manager, Seaside Buick

Part of Windows Small Business Server 2008, the Windows Server® 2008 Standard operating system serves as the foundation for the dealership’s network and line-of-business applications. To improve communication and efficiency throughout the dealership’s property, Adzima turned to Windows SharePoint® Services 3.0, a feature of Windows Server 2008. Seaside developed an intranet where employees post monthly calendars, sales personnel schedules, and a human resources (HR) document repository.

Seaside Buick uses Windows Server Update Services 3.0 to deploy updates to its network. The automatic system checks make it so easy to monitor and distribute needed updates that Adzima has trained Lickert to monitor system updates. “For the most part, with the ‘at a glance’ view of the network [provided through the Windows Small Business Server Console], I am managing updates myself,” says Lickert.

In addition, Lickert is taking advantage of the remote access capabilities provided by Windows Small Business Server 2008. When away from the office, Lickert can log on to Remote Web Workplace through the Internet and connect directly to his office computer or to the company’s intranet. “With improvements to remote access, Lloyd can access the network and the SharePoint site with his laptop wherever he is,” says Adzima.

Benefits

Seaside Buick has found a number of benefits from upgrading its network, including reduced network support costs and improved communication companywide.

Reduced Network Support Time, Cost

Adzima no longer needs to spend as much time monitoring the health and security of the network at Seaside Buick. “I used to spend approximately 60 hours a month on basic tasks for Seaside, and now I spend less than 20 hours,” says Adzima. “Also, the Integrated Lights-Out remote access feature of the ProLiant ML350 server allows us to boot into the BIOS [basic input/output system] screen to make adjustments and service the server at that level, rather than traveling to Seaside Buick.”

Further, Lickert has been trained to use Windows Server Update Services and is monitoring the network from outside the office using remote access capabilities. “On a monthly basis, I have reduced unplanned trips to the office by 85 percent,” says Lickert. “Having more time with my family and less impact on the environment is a big benefit.”

With the ease of use and simple administration of Windows Small Business Server 2008, Seaside Buick has been able to reduce its dependence on NetCIO. Over time, the IT support partner has trained Lickert on many aspects of managing the network, reducing the dealership’s IT support costs by 70 percent in 2009.

Improved Communications

Seaside Buick now posts its monthly calendar, daily events, and many regularly used forms on the dealership’s intranet. That means Seaside Buick is no longer printing multiple versions of documents, and employees have less paper to sift through.

Individual teams are using the intranet as well. For example, the HR team created a document library so workers can find important forms, while the sales team has developed a weekly calendar to show who is manning the sales floor at any given time.

Through their use of the intranet, Seaside employees find information easily and answers faster. Says Lickert, “Windows Small Business Server allowed us to improve the efficiency of our people resources. Individuals are getting more done throughout their day.”