San Antonio Internacional, which serves the oil and gas industry, places a high priority on using cutting-edge technologies in its IT environment. That’s why the company recently adopted the Windows 7 operating system. The company’s employees have found that Windows 7 is easy to use and supports increased productivity. With Windows 7, San Antonio Internacional also is able to conserve costs and foster enhanced security.
Business Needs
For more than 50 years, Argentina-based San Antonio Internacional has provided well-drilling and other exploration and production services to the oil and gas industry. The company operates one of the largest land-based rig fleets in South America. In the past few years, it has expanded further into Argentina and into other countries in the region, including Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil.
San Antonio Internacional takes advantage of advancements in technology to stay at the forefront of the oil and gas industry. That thirst for technological modernization extends beyond industry-specific tools to its IT environment.
As part of its ongoing search for the latest tools, the company considered updating the Windows XP operating system that it relied on to run its 2,300 desktop computers. In addition to the improvements in performance and system management that have developed since the release of Windows XP, San Antonio Internacional also was interested in more comprehensive search functionality and enhanced security. “Because we maintain operations in different countries, we have a considerable number of executives who are always on the move,” explains Claudio Garcia, Chief of IT Infrastructure for San Antonio Internacional. “We needed to give them tools that would boost their overall productivity by reducing search time, speeding up the desktop operating system, and enhancing security.”
Solution
Already underway with an upgrade to Microsoft Office Professional 2007, San Antonio Internacional decided to join an early evaluation program for the Windows 7 operating system and began with a pilot deployment in June 2009. The company also is updating its many server computers, which used the Windows Server 2003 R2 operating system. San Antonio Internacional is upgrading them to the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system and gradually adopting Hyper-V technology as a virtualization solution to replace VMware, the technology the company had used for the past few years.
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We have discovered that users feel comfortable after just one simple training session. They find Windows 7 easy to use and, at the same time, very powerful.  |
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Claudio Garcia
Chief of IT Infrastructure, San Antonio Internacional |
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“Nearly our entire IT infrastructure runs on Microsoft technologies,” says Cristiano Helio, Technology Manager at San Antonio Internacional. “Our Windows 7 pilot helped us integrate the new operating system into our deployment strategy.”
To ensure that employees would be able to operate effectively with Windows 7, the company conducted user training sessions and also meticulously tested the operating system for application compatibility. “We tested compatibility between Windows 7 and applications such as Trend Micro OfficeScan and Meta4 human resources software,” says Emiliano F. Orbe, Project Leader in the San Antonio Internacional Systems Department. “After making some necessary adjustments, we confirmed that our applications worked properly in conjunction with Windows 7. We also updated the BIOS on some computers and learned how to resolve various driver issues for our existing hardware. That way, we were better prepared to move ahead with the deployment.”
Because of the demand from San Antonio Internacional executives, some of the company’s first Windows 7 users were directors, who were anxious to capitalize on the increased productivity that the operating system made possible with its fast performance and improvements to the user interface. “The pilot results were quite satisfactory,” says Garcia. “We are already in a position to implement a massive operating system shift to Windows 7.”
As of March 2010, the company has migrated almost all the computers at its Comodoro Rivadavia and Neuquén locations, and 30 percent of the computers at its Buenos Aires location now run Windows 7. The company expects to deploy some advanced Windows 7 technologies in the future, such as BitLocker To Go for enhanced security for mobile devices and AppLocker for increased application security.
Benefits
By adopting Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, San Antonio Internacional is supporting its executives and other employees by giving them the tools that they need to be productive. At the same time, the company is better protecting its sensitive information and containing costs. Benefits include:
Easy user adoption
For the company’s employees, learning to use Windows 7 has been straightforward. “We have discovered that users feel comfortable after just one simple training session,” says Garcia. “They find Windows 7 easy to use and, at the same time, very powerful. For example, searches are intuitive and results are more complete than they were in the past.”
Increased productivity
By taking advantage of the more sophisticated user interface, comprehensive search functionality, and faster performance of Windows 7, San Antonio Internacional employees can make the most of their time. And, after the company adopts Windows 7 features such as BitLocker To Go, employees will be even better equipped to work with optimized security from anywhere, without worrying about data and application protection.
Cost efficiency
San Antonio Internacional is increasing productivity without making a significant financial investment. “We achieved something unheard of until now: we successfully tried out a new operating system on computers that were up to three years old, which greatly reduced the amount that hardware contributed to the cost equation,” says Helio.
For more information about Windows 7, go to:
www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7
