Atea

IT Services Provider Reduces Power Consumption with Operating System Upgrade

Atea is an IT services provider based in Oslo, Norway, with seven subsidiaries throughout Europe. To better help customers update and implement software, Atea wanted to upgrade its 950 computers to the Windows® 7 operating system at its Norwegian branch. While the company plans to complete its upgrade by December 2009, it already benefits from enhanced security, improved power consumption, and increased employee productivity.

 

Business Needs

Atea is a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner and leading IT services provider in the Nordic and Baltic regions in Europe, specializing in providing IT infrastructure solutions to its 23,000 customers. Atea has 4,500 employees and 17 locations throughout Europe. The company prides itself on delivering “green” IT solutions to its customers, and also has a strong focus on reducing its own carbon footprint.

The Norwegian branch of Atea has 950 employees and 14 locations in Norway. More than 95 percent of the employees who work for the Norwegian branch use portable computers, as they are often on the road working at customer locations. Atea uses Lenovo computers running the Windows® XP and Windows Vista® operating systems with the Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007. The company also has a heterogeneous server infrastructure and uses a mix of the Windows Server® 2003 and Windows Server 2008 operating systems. It uses Citrix servers to deliver several business-critical applications to the client desktop. 

As a technology-driven company, Atea is always interested in adopting the latest technology ahead of its customers. “We evaluate technology as early as possible so that we can gain knowledge and help our customers improve their infrastructure with cutting-edge solutions,” says Wilhelm Castberg, IT Manager at Atea Norway. “We can’t sell something to our customers until we know its true value.”

When the Windows 7 operating system was available for public download, Atea wanted to take the opportunity to start upgrading its operating system to help prepare for customer implementations.       

Solution

Atea started its deployment with voluntary upgrades; when Windows 7 became publicly available for download, technicians and technical consultants at Atea started upgrading their own PCs. “We work in a culture where employees have significant control over their PCs, and our technically-savvy users wanted to upgrade their PCs immediately,” says Castberg. By May 2009, 75 employees upgraded to Windows 7.

For each of our laptops, we get an extra 30 minutes of battery life before we have to recharge—this makes a difference in energy savings and will help us extend the life of our hardware. Wilhelm Castberg IT Manager, Atea, Norway

For its widespread upgrade, Atea will use a more structured deployment process using Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007. During this phase of the upgrade, the company plans to upgrade 200 computers by July 2009 and will finish its deployment to all 950 computers by December of 2009.  As part of the deployment, Atea will also upgrade the remainder of its computers to Microsoft Office 2007 and will implement the Internet Explorer® 8 Internet browser.

Atea will be able to use its existing Lenovo hardware with its upgrade. In addition, it will not need to run any formal application compatibility testing because the only software it runs as part of its standard desktop image is virus protection and Microsoft Office; other business-critical applications are delivered through its Citrix servers.

As part of its upgrade, Atea will evaluate several features, both for its own use and also for potential customer implementations. It is evaluating DirectAccess, a feature in Windows 7 and Window Server 2008 R2 that enables users to connect to their corporate network from any Internet connection. Atea is also looking to implement BitLocker To Go™ to extend its data security to removable storage devices.

Benefits

Still early in its deployment, Atea already sees the benefits of upgrading to Windows 7 and will pass on those benefits to its customers in the future. The company is able to enhance security, reduce its power consumption, and increase employee productivity. 

• Enhanced security. Atea is evaluating BitLocker To Go and plans to implement it during its formal deployment process. With BitLocker to Go, the company can extend encryption beyond the hard disk to removable media, such as USB thumb drives, and better safeguard its intellectual property and sensitive customer information.
  
  
• Reduced power consumption. By upgrading to Windows 7, Atea can contribute to its internal green IT strategy. Power management technologies in the operating system provide efficiencies that help reduce power consumption and increase the battery life of portable computers. “For each of our laptops, we get an extra 30 minutes of battery life before we have to recharge—this makes a difference in energy savings and will help us extend the life of our hardware,” explains Castberg .
  
  
• Increased employee productivity. Atea employees have experienced better system performance with Windows 7, helping to increase productivity. For instance, it takes less time to turn on, turn off, and resume from standby mode. “Each employee will save at least 10 minutes each day with the faster performance,” says Castberg. “That is time that can be spent doing more productive and valuable tasks—such as working with customers.”