V8 Supercars is an international motorsport, media and entertainment company based in Australia. It employs 70 full-time staff with a network of approximately 1600 contractors and volunteers to manage race teams, events and broadcasts to more than 130 countries and online. V8 Supercars had outgrown its current IT infrastructure and wanted a cost-effective and flexible platform to support its expansion plans. With a highly mobile team setting up, delivering and broadcasting race events all over the world, it was critical to provide fast, efficient access to email and company files from virtually any location. V8 Supercars moved to Microsoft Office 365, giving everyone in the business stable, reliable access to their files, email and modern collaboration tools when they’re working in their Gold Coast headquarters, Sydney office or from various trackside locations in Australia and the world.

10th Magnitude designs, builds, and operates custom software solutions in the cloud. When a customer needed to quickly and cost-effectively create a new online payment-processing application, 10th Magnitude relied on Windows Azure to develop a cloud-based solution that uses Windows Azure SQL Database to process transactions. With Windows Azure, 10th Magnitude can develop solutions 30 percent faster, so its customers save on IT costs and can focus on expanding their business.

Holland America Line, one of the world’s leading cruise-ship companies, is using Microsoft business intelligence (BI) software to increase revenues and give guests a more memorable experience. By using Microsoft SQL Server 2012 and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, employees can mine data more deeply without help from the IT staff, giving the IT staff more time to improve IT solutions. The company has also eliminated expensive third-party licensing fees.

The University of Tokushima, a national university, set up a new section, “Information Strategy Room” for planning its overall information strategies. And, to implement these strategies, the university established “Center for Administration of Information Technology." Since then, Center for Administration of Information Technology of the university has implemented various reforms to provide better IT services for students and faculty members. In March 2012, as one of these efforts, the existing email systems were renewed with a hybrid email system of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and Microsoft Office 365 for Education. This renewal enables ensured security and 24/7 operation. Focusing on developing international academic ability of its students, faculty members, and institutions, Tokushima University obtained a key communication infrastructure.

In 2004, the Queensland Department for Education, Training and Employment (Queensland DETE) devised a strategy that has revolutionised education in state schools in Queensland. Called ‘Smart Classrooms’, it involves using IT to help transform education at every level: automating student record keeping; improving digital learning materials; enhancing how teachers use the technology in the classroom; and providing virtual environments where students can collaborate practically anywhere at any time. With Microsoft as a strategic delivery partner, Queensland DETE staff have brought Smart Classrooms to life. Now, approximately 490,000 state school students have virtually anywhere, anytime access to many of Queensland’s best digital learning materials, and can easily collaborate in state-wide virtual learning environments.

Staff at Hunter TAFE wanted to make their public web site a more powerful marketing tool. This called for a consistent brand feel across the site, better search functionality and more intuitive navigation. They also wanted to ensure that information on up to 500 courses remained fresh. In a high-speed deployment Computer Systems Australia helped build a new web site, using Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites Enterprise as the content management system. It includes a sophisticated search engine that enables staff to hone search results, and simple page-building tools that enable faculty staff to design, edit and upload branded content themselves. Today, Hunter TAFE has an attractive, intuitive web site, full of compelling and up-to-date content. Staff can now upload stylish, rich-media content quickly and easily, helping to keep the site fresh, focused and compelling.

When staff at St Catherine’s independent girls school developed their one-to-one learning strategy, they envisaged each pupil using one dedicated tablet device – at home, in the classroom and during independent study. In 2011, IT staff trialled the newly released Samsung Series 7 Slate PC, which uses the Windows 7 operating system. With touch-screen and digital-stylus capabilities, the slate PC enables students to hand write notes, comments and equations directly into Microsoft OneNote 2010 files. By deploying Microsoft Lync onto teachers’ computers, they can monitor each other’s presence, and start instant messaging, voice and video calls with one click. With these applications, students and teachers are pioneering innovative techniques to drive 21st century learning.

Kennards Hire is a family-owned hire company with around 125 branches across Australia and almost 1,000 employees. Its product range includes earthmoving machinery, plumbing equipment, power tools, pumps and generators, and trailers and vehicles. To improve its data analysis and reporting capabilities, Kennards implemented a new business intelligence solution based on Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, SharePoint 2010 and Excel 2010. The company now has greater insight into its business and has streamlined its reporting processes. Managers are empowered to make confident, informed business decisions and to support branch managers in providing more personalised customer service. Kennards also expects the Microsoft solution will help cut costs by reducing time spent generating reports and by providing greater insights into the company’s expenditure.

Norfolk Group (Norfolk) was a growing business with a growing problem – an ageing server infrastructure that resulted in increasing operational and management costs. Not only were the warranty costs escalating on the old equipment, there was no remote management capability, which meant data centre staff had to be contacted everytime anything needed to be updated or fixed. To solve the problem, Norfolk looked to server virtualisation and the flexibility of Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V. Working with Microsoft Consulting Services, the company deployed a Hyper-V solution that allowed for the consolidation of its physical hardware, with substantial benefits in terms of costs, failover, development and testing, and time to deploy the new servers. It’s also an intuitive solution that the Norfolk ICT team is finding easy to use and customise, which means further benefits down the line.

Chelgrave Contracting Australia Pty Ltd is an asset maintenance and specialist labour hire company founded in Melbourne, Australia in 1979. Chelgrave’s IT provider managed the company’s PCs, giving it little control of or insight into its PC environment, including software antivirus expiry dates. In early 2011, Chelgrave became aware that its antivirus software had expired, leaving the company vulnerable to an attack. In March 2011, Chelgrave implemented Microsoft Windows Intune for PC management, device protection and upgrade rights to future versions of Windows. Windows Intune has empowered Chelgrave to manage its own PC environment, improving security, simplifying IT management and reducing time to deploy new applications. Greg Scott, Chelgrave’s General Manager, now spends less time managing IT requirements and can more easily monitor and track the company’s IT assets.