Video Management Systems Run on Windows Embedded Server Homeland Security, gaming, public safety, education, transportation—these are just some of the markets for next-generation video surveillance technology. By hosting video management system applications on storage appliances running Windows® Server 2003 R2 for Embedded Systems, Pivot3 has solved the problem of how to store and manage all the data being generated. Windows Embedded delivers broad-based application compatibility, making the robust, reliable, hardened storage appliances easy to deploy and integrate into existing enterprise infrastructure.

INSYS, a firm which installs WWW applications, received a proposition to modernize internet television of Poznan sports club KKS Lech, LechTV Online. Analysis of service needs showed that the previous solution was not efficient enough, and had limitations of scale and expandability. Windows Server 2008 platform was used to build the service, which resulted in the start of the service in only 6 weeks.

E-learning specialist Aula Salud wanted a highly available, robust, and cost-effective solution to deliver education programs with video streaming for healthcare professionals in Spain. Aula Salud chose Atnova, which offered this kind of solution based entirely on Microsoft® technologies, rather than open-source development tools. With these solutions, Aula Salud achieved increased student numbers and a return on investment in the first year.

Cafe News, because of the character of its operations, is based on two foundations: creation of application code (desktop and internet) and hosting these applications. Previous software was created with the help of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, and Microsoft IIS 6.0 servers were hosting platforms working under the control of Microsoft Windows 2003. The company decided to update every element of software used by the firm. On programmers' desks appeared Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 instead of 2005, servers were started under the control of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 in place of the 2003 version, and IIS7 was responsible for internet hosting.

CentrumXP.pl is a service, which presents technological news, about Microsoft products, but also the service should be a reflection of the current functions and capacity of Windows Server. Owners of the service decided to update, as fast as possible, its platform to Windows Server 2008 RC1. The main reason was the opportunity to use the newest function of IIS7 server to improve service capacity and to make it easier to manage the entire portal.

ChromeCRM, as MarIT, from the beginning specialized in the production of advanced computer systems for business needs. The majority of its products is network applications. These programs are still developed, improved and enriched with additional functions. When the newest version of Windows Server 2008 appeared on the market, ChromeCRMfirst decided to create a test environment for its programs, and then purchased a totally new server platform. Thanks to this solution, the firm gained a modern and effective system, which increased speed and capacity.

The Track and Trace Solutions Department of 3M, a Fortune 500 company, provides radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions. One such solution is the 3M™ RFID System, which is used by nearly 1,000 libraries and other facilities. To ensure customers can easily transition to and quickly benefit from the Windows® 7 operating system, 3M recently migrated its library RFID applications from Windows Vista® to run on Windows 7. The applications have nearly 2 million lines of code, yet it took just two days to verify the migration results—and no modifications to the applications were needed. As a result, 3M has noted enhanced security and reliability, and application performance improvements of up to 30 percent. Library patrons and staff should realize enhanced ease of use and productivity, strong support services, and simple deployments.

To improve its own development process, Dot Net Solutions created a virtual project-collaboration application. When the software, called ScrumWall, drew great interest from customers, the company used Windows Azure™ to offer it as a hosted service. The solution made it possible for Dot Net Solutions to bring its new product to market quickly, with minimal investment costs, while offering superior performance to users.

Sitemasher, developer of an innovative platform for building and managing Web sites, wanted to help Web professionals create scalable, data-driven Web sites faster, and at lower cost. The company also needed to lower its own systems infrastructure costs. Sitemasher used the Windows Azure™ platform to offer its application as a hosted service, delivering an efficient, highly available, and highly scalable Web site development and hosting environment to its customers. By hosting its application on Windows Azure through Microsoft® data centers, the company has minimized infrastructure costs and reduced ongoing maintenance. Finally, with no data centers of its own to manage, Sitemasher will refocus the time its development staff spent maintaining servers to improving and expanding the Sitemasher application, representing a time savings of approximately 20 percent.

A recognized world leader in technology research and development, 3M wanted to make its decades of expertise in the workings of the human visual system available as a service to customers. Using the Windows Azure™ platform, 3M created a Web-based application that gives designers the ability to invoke complex algorithms to analyze the effectiveness of a design, based on how the human eye will respond. By hosting its application in Microsoft® data centers, 3M has made an innovative service available to a global audience, while minimizing its investment in hardware infrastructure and ongoing administration. The solution, which permitted developers to evaluate frequent iterations of the application, helped the company speed time-to-market for its service and achieve higher quality results, faster than in a traditional development environment.