4-page Case Study - Posted 11/28/2005

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Russell Investment Group (Corp)

Russell Investment Group Migrates Software and Reduces Servers by 20 Percent

Russell Investment Group, a global leader in multi-manager investing, needed to migrate from Microsoft® Windows NT® Server version 4.0, Microsoft Windows® 2000 Server, and Exchange Server version 5.5 to an up-to-date server operating system and messaging environment. The main goals were to achieve greater productivity, business efficiency, and security. Russell turned to IT services firm CGI Group Inc. to do the migration remotely from Quebec City, Canada. CGI’s technical expertise and remote delivery capabilities allowed Russell to save the cost of sending technicians to each of its remote offices located around the world. The team migrated 200 servers across 14 sites in nine time zones with very little downtime or strain on Russell’s support center. At the end of the project, the number of servers was reduced by 20 percent. With a secure and integrated environment in place, Russell’s IT team can focus less on managing day-to-day operations and help spearhead new IT initiatives that will bring additional value to its business.

Situation

Headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, Russell Investment Group (Russell) is a global leader in multi-manager investing, offering goal-oriented investors a full range of tailored solutions. With 14 locations around the world, the company advises clients on more than $2.3 trillion in assets and delivers investment programs to more than 1,600 clients in 35 countries.

Faced with an aging infrastructure, Russell needed to migrate to newer technology for its server operating system and messaging environment to achieve greater productivity, business efficiency, and security. The company’s network infrastructure was complex, with half of the organization running on the Microsoft® Windows NT® Server operating system version 4.0 and the other half on the

By upgrading our server operating systems, we no longer need to worry about the OS platform. We can now focus on other initiatives that will bring value to our business, such as our current Microsoft .NET strategy. John Stingl, Chief Technology Officer, Russell Investment Group

“This was much more than just an upgrade to Windows [Server™]2003—we wanted to overhaul our back-end infrastructure. We were also upgrading our messaging platform and standardizing our databases,” says John Stingl, Chief Technology Officer, Russell Investment Group. “We’re primarily a Microsoft-based shop and we felt that Windows Server 2003 could help us consolidate our server environment while delivering the security, reliability, and innovation we would need for the future.”
 
Russell considered manually installing the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating system, which is the foundation of Microsoft Windows Server System™ integrated server software, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, but with 200 servers in the migration project and  14 offices in locations as widespread as Paris, Toronto, and Tokyo, the cost of that option was prohibitive. Given the number of servers slotted for the migration, the organization needed a way to automate the process without having to send technicians onsite.

Solution

With the goal of creating a standardized environment, Russell turned to strategic partner CGI, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, to migrate the servers remotely.

The company migrated all servers to Windows Server 2003 from Windows NT Server 4.0 and Windows 2000 Server, laying the foundation for next-generation technologies while reducing the number of servers across the organization. CGI led all project stages including planning, design, configuration and testing, deployment, change management and project management.

Using out-of-the-box tools in Windows Server 2003 and CGI-developed VBS scripts, the CGI team was able to automate the entire installation process: from the bare-metal configuration to the operating system installation to the final configuration of the server—including all applications—and data restore. CGI used Dell OpenManage to do the bare-metal configuration, Microsoft Unattend and CGI-developed scripts for the automatic installation and configuration of the operating system and applications, and Microsoft NT Backup to backup and restore the files.

“Migrating server platforms remotely can be a challenge but the out-of-the-box tools in Windows Server 2003 and the expertise of

The vast majority of our users didn’t even know the infrastructure upgrade took place. To me, that’s a true sign of success. Dennis Grant, Project Leader, Russell Investment Group

Another key driver in Russell’s decision to deploy Windows Server 2003 was Exchange Server 2003, which is part of Windows Server System. The new messaging environment will help increase the company’s end-user productivity, while helping the organization reduce the total cost of ownership in areas such as server and site consolidation. The integration of the Exchange Server 2003 directory with the Active Directory® service reduced the number of directory services Russell uses. The integration enables users with mobile devices to synchronize directly with Exchange Server 2003, allowing access to critical business communications whenever and wherever they need, with greater security, availability, and reliability.

As a financial services company, Russell must adhere to many strict regulations governing document control, versioning, audit trail, and archiving. The security offered by Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) coupled with the storage capacity of Volume Shadow Copy (VSC) provide Russell with tamper-proof, secondary storage for historical documents no longer in use. Russell is also standardizing its databases on SQL Server 2000, which makes it easy for users to quickly locate resources whatever the size of network. 

Following the success of the migration, CGI was awarded a Microsoft Winning Customer Award in recognition of the near seamless upgrade of Windows NT Server 4.0 to Windows Server 2003 for Russell.

Benefits

Within an 8-month period, the team migrated 200 servers across 14 sites in 9 different time zones, with very little downtime or strain on Russell’s support center.

Windows Server 2003 offers Russell the assurance of a reliable, secure server, along with the scalability to support its next-generation applications. By upgrading to Exchange Server 2003, Russell also found efficiencies by operating on fewer servers. Russell now uses a completely automated server installation process, reducing the time needed to build new servers.

Significant Savings

Since servers were migrated remotely, Russell saved the cost of sending technicians to each of its 13 remote offices located around the world. For example, all of the Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 servers were migrated to Windows Server 2003 remotely from Quebec City without any physical presence by CGI at Russell’s remote locations. Also, all of the servers running Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5 were migrated to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 remotely from Regina. In addition, coordinating the migration from CGI’s Quebec City and Regina offices also reduced project costs.

CGI put in place a reliable and scalable solution that included a consolidation of 20 percent of Russell’s servers, realized through the use of a new technological architecture based on Windows Server 2003 components and also via a rationalization of server-based applications. The project team also consolidated 16 servers running Exchange Server 5.5 into 4 servers running  Exchange Server 2003 at Russell’s main office in Tacoma. With fewer servers to manage, Russell was able to reduce its total cost of ownership.

“Overall, we recovered or decommissioned about 50 servers. As a result of this program consolidation in our SQL [Server] farm, we went from standalone database physical servers to a clustered environment,” says Stingl. “And there are another 50 to 75 servers we can eventually decommission.”

Reliable, Scalable, and Available

In large enterprise corporations such as Russell, transactions happen all the time, from the collecting and sorting of data to offering clients 24-hour access to statistics and research. The new infrastructure offers the reliability required for an enterprise of its size and enables Russell to accommodate next-generation technologies.

“We understand the significant role that technology plays in the investment management business,” says Stingl. “CGI’s engagement allowed us to provide an environment that is flexible, scalable, and reliable to support our future business needs.”

Also, by upgrading to Windows Server 2003 and streamlining its server-based applications, Russell gained greater control over its thousands of desktops, has more effective shared administration privileges, and enjoys increased security and benefits from more efficient Web servers.

Taking advantage of Microsoft Office Outlook® Web Access (OWA), Russell has increased the availability of its workforce. Using only a Web browser and an Internet or intranet connection, OWA gives workers anywhere, any time access to corporate e-mail, schedules or other information stored on the server running Exchange Server 2003.

Minimal Impact on the User Community

The server migration touched close to 2,000 users worldwide, and the impact was minimal. 

“CGI did the upgrade for our 14 offices worldwide, with minimal to no travel for the implementation and upgrades. Incredibly, the actual update and conversion was all facilitated out of the Quebec City area,” says Dennis Grant, Project Leader, Russell Investment Group. “We were all very impressed that CGI could achieve the migration remotely. The vast majority of our users didn’t even know the infrastructure upgrade took place. To me, that’s a true sign of success.”

Empowers IT to Deliver New Business Value

Before Russell standardized its server system, the company spent a significant amount of time and money maintaining and running existing applications. With Windows Server 2003 in place, Russell can devote less of its budgets to managing its infrastructure and focus its efforts on driving new business-critical applications.

“The standardization laid the foundation for implementing newer technologies,” says Stingl. “By upgrading our server operating systems, we no longer need to worry about the OS platform. We can now focus on other initiatives that will bring value to our business, such as our current Microsoft .NET strategy.”

Next Steps

Now that Russell has standardized its base infrastructure, the company can build up other applications that are business-critical for the company.

Russell is currently looking at deploying Microsoft Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2003. The portal will give Russell employees searchable, secure access to business-critical documents. SharePoint Portal Server 2003 will also enable Russell’s workforce to organize, aggregate, and share critical information within flexible team workspaces. In addition, the company wants to upgrade to the Microsoft Office System.

Microsoft Windows Server System
Microsoft Windows Server System integrated server infrastructure software is designed to support end-to-end solutions built on the Windows Server operating system. Windows Server System creates an infrastructure based on integrated innovation, Microsoft's holistic approach to building products and solutions that are intrinsically designed to work together and interact seamlessly with other data and applications across your IT environment. This helps you reduce the costs of ongoing operations, deliver a more secure and reliable IT infrastructure, and drive valuable new capabilities for the future growth of your business.

For more information about Windows Server System, go to:
www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem

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: www.microsoft.com

For more information about CGI products and services, call 514-841-3200 or visit the Web site at:
www.cgi.com

For more information about Russell Investment Group (Russell) products and services, call 253-572-9500 or visit the Web site at:
www.russell.com

© 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Microsoft, Active Directory, Outlook, SharePoint, Windows, the Windows logo, Windows NT, Windows Server, and Windows Server System are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.