In its management consultant work, branes needs to protect its intellectual property and make its consultants as productive as possible. The firm deployed Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials on an HP ProLiant ML 110 server to gain reliable, automated document backup and give consultants an easy way to access and share documents when out of the office. Consultants can now use their time more efficiently and deliver better customer service.

Business Needs
Lorre Zuppan founded branes to help executives be more efficient and effective. The Alameda, California–based consultancy employs Zuppan and three full-time consultants and also relies on a network of independent consultants.

All the work that branes creates for customers—documented in reports, presentations, assessment tools, and articles—is valuable intellectual property (IP) that the company wants to safeguard at all cost. However, Zuppan was concerned that its IP was not sufficiently protected.

“For awhile, we stored all our documents on a file server for daily use, but it didn’t have space for backups, so we walked around with an external hard drive and backed up PCs individually,” says Zuppan. “All of our consultants use portable computers and are at customer sites most of the time. I worried about losing several days’ worth of data if a laptop computer was lost, stolen, or infected with a virus before it could be backed up.”

Data loss also affected employee productivity. “I’m billing my people by the hour, and I need them to be as productive as possible,” Zuppan continues. “Data loss is also a huge time loss.” In addition to losing time to PCs “dying,” which happened every six to nine months, branes consultants lost time driving to and from the office for those intermittent backups and also to get needed documents off the server.

Solution
Zuppan was motivated to come up with a better solution for data backup and remote file access when the file server failed. From her local Microsoft representative, Zuppan learned about Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials and agreed to join the related Microsoft Technology Adoption Program in March 2011. Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials is an integrated technology solution for small businesses that includes remote access, file and printer sharing, data backup and restoration, and easy connection to online services. branes runs Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials on an HP Proliant ML 110 server, a small but expandable starter server designed for small and midsize businesses.

The automatic backups in Windows Small Business Server give me huge peace of mind. I no longer need to worry whether I’m going to lose all the hard work an employee performed on a project. Lorre Zuppan Founder, branes

“What appealed to me about Windows Small Business Server was remote access and automated backups,” Zuppan says. “To have a product that can wake up a laptop at night and back it up is wonderful. I don’t have to rely on employees remembering to back up their computers.”

branes consultants use the Remote Web Access feature of Windows Small Business Server to connect to the server via the Internet to access needed files. “Being able to finish a document and post it to a shared folder on Windows Small Business Server 2011, and to retrieve it from home or a customer location is huge for us,” Zuppan says. “Not only can we share documents, but also collaborate on them without getting together in person. We have even created customer subfolders so that employees can easily find all documents related to a specific project.” Employees are able to leave the office for the evening or weekend with the confidence that any files that they need are easily accessible over the Internet.

Zuppan uses the administrative console in Windows Small Business Server to check the health of all company PCs and the server. “I can see if a laptop hasn’t been backed up in awhile and can send the employee an email to tell them to turn on their laptop so that it can be backed up,” Zuppan says. “If there is a problem with a PC, Windows Small Business Server tells me what the problem is in plain English so I know what to do.”

Benefits
With its new server solution, branes can better protect its IP. Its employees work more efficiently, deliver better customer service, and gain more time for their personal lives. Specifically, branes is experiencing:

Better protection of business data. “The automatic backups in Windows Small Business Server give me huge peace of mind,” Zuppan says. “I no longer need to worry whether I’m going to lose all the hard work an employee performed on a project.”

Valuable time savings. branes consultants save time by accessing files remotely and eliminating many trips into the office. “Companywide time savings will certainly be worth more than [U.S.]$2,000 a year. That alone covers the cost of the server,” Zuppan says.

Better customer service. branes has a large library of articles from a variety of disciplines that constitutes a big part of its competitive differentiation. With these articles on the server, branes consultants are better able to locate and share them with customers. “When I’m with a customer and realize that I have the perfect article for them, I can use their computer to access the article on my server and display it right on their computer,” Zuppan says. “The immediacy of grabbing the needed information while I’m with a customer has a real impact that can turn into more sales and certainly create a stronger relationship.”

Better quality of life. Remote access to work also contributes to better quality of life for branes consultants. “With remote access to Windows Small Business Server, employees are able to enjoy their weekend and log on remotely to do a little work,” Zuppan says. “It helps create happier employees. To the extent that I can allow employees to work anytime, anywhere, I reduce their need to work all the time, everywhere. I get better quality work from them and happier clients.”

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