Stork Thermeq, a provider of products and services for industrial water-steam systems, used a Red Hat Linux high-performance computing (HPC) system to support its research. But the company found that the system took considerable expertise to run and maintain, pulling researchers away from their work, and would have required outside consultants to expand and maintain the system’s structure. The company migrated to the Windows® HPC Server 2008 operating system because it provided greater scalability and easier management. Stork Thermeq also found that the system delivers greater cluster efficiency and flexibility because of the integrated Job Scheduler and because it performs 30 percent faster per node than the company’s previous Linux system. Due to the accelerated performance, Stork Thermeq researchers can run more compute jobs and gain deeper insight for improved products and services.

With the assistance of Microsoft Gold Partner, SQL Services Ltd, Powerco assessed its existing database management systems and identified SQL Server as a more cost-effective and manageable solution.

Transelectrica is a power-grid company in Romania. To ensure the reliability of the power system, the company prides itself on continuously improving its IT infrastructure. In an effort to streamline information access at branch offices, the company upgraded to the Windows® 7 operating system. Transelectrica now benefits from streamlined access to corporate resources, easier IT management, enhanced security, and improved system performance.

Based in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, Elektrodistribucija Beograd supplies electric power for over 2 million of the country’s citizens. Given the mission-critical nature and regulatory environment that Elektrodistribucija Beograd had to operate in, it found that its legacy Lotus Notes system lacked the functionality and native collaboration features that it needed. Weary of limping along with a messaging and collaboration platform that failed to completely meet its operational expectations, Elektrodistribucija Beograd decided to migrate to the Microsoft platform with the help of Microsoft systems integration partner, Smart d.o.o.

ActionBase develops human process management solutions that integrate with Microsoft® Office programs. These Office Business Applications help customers increase the effectiveness of human-centric processes, leading to greater accountability and more-informed decision making. For ActionBase, integrating with Microsoft Office programs offers an expanded market opportunity, and its customers appreciate how readily their users adopt ActionBase solutions.

The Corix Group of Companies specializes in providing products and utility solutions for the water, wastewater and sustainable energy sectors. Corix has grown in part via acquisitions which resulted in a patchwork of disparate IT systems that was proving costly to maintain. The company was looking for an IT solution that would improve the financial and operational efficiency of its business processes and keep pace with rapid growth. To accomplish its technology goals, Corix implemented Microsoft Dynamics® NAV software as an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for its management and accounting processes. As a result, Corix has streamlined its financial processes and standardized on a common platform – helping Corix improve IT support and optimize operations. Today, Corix represents the largest Dynamics NAV implementation in Canada.

Exploiting SQL Server 2008 data management software’s powerful merge replication technology, e-finity Mobile Solutions sends inspection assignments — by plat, work order, or individual component — to Tablet and Pocket PCs. This enables you to simplify the management of huge amounts of component inspections. In addition, e-finity Mobile Solutions can help you improve the quality of the data collected, store it securely, and generate the statistical reports required by the PUC. You can even analyze completed tasks electronically, while the original work orders are automatically closed. Should a deficiency be discovered, a technician can take pictures and capture the precise location of the problem using GPS. It can then be flagged for management review and the appropriate repair work orders created.

Constellation Energy supplies energy products and services to wholesale, retail, commercial, industrial, and governmental customers in the United States and Canada. Based in Baltimore, Maryland, the company owns a diversified fleet of generating units located throughout the United States, and is among the leaders pursuing the development of new nuclear plants in the United States. Having expanded rapidly over the past few years, Constellation Energy outgrew its Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003 environment and experienced slow delivery times and frequent outages. The company decided to upgrade to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2007. Constellation Energy is taking advantage of richer features, such as built-in clustering and replication. Using the innovative solution, it plans to reduce administration costs and improve e-mail performance.

MidAmerican Energy Company is highly focused on environmental responsibility, including energy generation from renewable resources. The company also promotes this responsibility within IT, relying on Microsoft® products and technologies to help reduce its energy usage and lower costs. With its “green IT” strategies, the company has reduced power consumption, minimized travel, and is working to generate energy more efficiently.

Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), one of the largest municipally owned utility companies in Colombia, has many offices throughout the state of Antioquia. Employees in different locations often need to communicate and collaborate with one another on projects and teams. Anticipating continued growth, EPM wanted to streamline and modernize its communications to improve employee productivity and reduce costs. The company decided to implement a solution based on Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007. The solution protects the company’s investment by integrating with the existing Private Branch Exchange (PBX) system while providing new voice over IP (VoIP) telephony. In addition, employees have better tools for working collaboratively, and the IT department expects to significantly reduce system administration time.