Microsoft Private Cloud Success Stories

Featured Case Studies

• 

  Denizbank

  DenizBank, a fast-growing bank in Turkey, constantly needed new technology to support its growth—but data center costs were spiraling…

  DenizBank, a fast-growing bank in Turkey, constantly needed new technology to support its growth—but data center costs were spiraling upward. To reduce costs and speed the delivery of IT services to the business, DenizBank first virtualized its servers by using the Hyper-V technology in the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system. It then configured its data centers as a private cloud environment by using Microsoft System Center 2012. Today, DenizBank runs its entire business from a private cloud infrastructure with 64 host servers that can scale to 1,500 virtual machines. DenizBank has been able to save US$7 million through server consolidation, avoid $12 million in data center costs, and anticipates a 20 percent reduction in IT staff costs. It can deploy IT services to the business faster and provide uninterrupted availability to critical financial applications.

  Read the Case Study

• 

  Seven-Winds

  Seven-Winds has long depended on Microsoft System Center data center solutions to monitor and support more than 2,500 customer PCs…

  Seven-Winds has long depended on Microsoft System Center data center solutions to monitor and support more than 2,500 customer PCs. However, applying security updates, creating customer reports, and performing low-level IT tasks consumed time that could be spent on billable service. To automate these and other tasks, Seven-Winds decided to upgrade to System Center 2012. It uses System Center to automate up to a week’s worth of manual tasks each month. This frees technicians to focus on higher-value work and ensures that customer computers are updated more consistently and with fewer errors. Seven-Winds can now expand its business without adding staff and can produce reports that show customers what it is doing to keep their systems running. By upgrading to System Center 2012, Seven-Winds also plans to provide private cloud consulting to enterprise customers.

  Read the Case Study

• 

  Walsh Group

  Although The Walsh Group specializes in building big things, it wanted to shrink its data center…

  Although The Walsh Group specializes in building big things, it wanted to shrink its data center. The Chicago, Illinois–based builder of highways, skyscrapers, and subways sought to reduce server costs and make IT more responsive to the business. To do both, the IT staff jettisoned VMware virtualization software and used the Hyper-V virtualization technology included in Windows Server 2008 R2 to virtualize not only servers but PCs. It is adding Microsoft System Center 2012 to create a private cloud computing structure that will enable it to deliver more reliable IT services on demand. With virtualized computer resources and automated efficiencies, Walsh reduces IT management costs by up to US$150,000 a year, frees its IT staff from repetitive work, and lowers hardware and energy costs by 20 percent. It can be greener with cloud computing and give employees easier access to applications.

  Read the Case Study

• 

  NetBenefit

  NetBenefit is a managed hosting provider in the United Kingdom that continuously refreshes its…

  NetBenefit is a managed hosting provider in the United Kingdom that continuously refreshes its technology to stay competitive. It recently upgraded to Microsoft System Center 2012 so that it could meet demand for its public and private cloud offerings and continue to reduce costs. Because it embraced cloud computing, NetBenefit has been able to trim data center costs—including power consumption—by 40 percent and pass those savings on to customers. It can also meet customer needs faster. When one digital agency turned to NetBenefit for last-minute help in bolstering its web servers to withstand thousands of website visitors during a popular marketing campaign, NetBenefit provisioned the servers within one day. With demand for cloud servers soaring, NetBenefit can now grow its business faster.

  Read the Case Study

• 

  Kroll Factual Data

  Kroll Factual Data, which provides credit reports and related services to more than 25,000…

  Kroll Factual Data, which provides credit reports and related services to more than 25,000 customers, has a history as an early adopter and pioneer of data center virtualization technology. In 2008, the company used the Hyper-V technology in Windows Server 2008, together with Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, to reduce its server holdings from 650 to 22. Kroll wanted to build on the massive efficiency gains from this initiative by increasing automation and introducing cloud management principles into its virtualized environment. The company chose to join an early adoption program for System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012, which combines resource optimization enhancements with innovative fabric and cloud management capabilities. Now, Kroll Factual Data anticipates continued cost savings and greater IT productivity in managing its virtualized assets.

  Read the Case Study

• 

  Hostway

  In 2010, hosting provider Hostway used Microsoft virtualization software to launch a line…

  In 2010, hosting provider Hostway used Microsoft virtualization software to launch a line of cloud computing services. Before it could expand its cloud business, it wanted a more comprehensive management environment that would simplify its staff’s workload and enable it to add new services without adding complexity to its infrastructure. It upgraded to Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 to gain capabilities such as the ability to manage multiple hypervisors and operating systems and support load-balanced clusters. The Hostway staff now has one place to go for all its cloud management needs, which will reduce management costs by an estimated U.S.$100,000 annually. The new management console also performs much better, is more reliable, and gives Hostway more flexibility in offering new cloud services.

  Read the Case Study

• 

  Redynamics Asia

  Redynamics Asia is a fast-growing IT services provider that wanted to remove the…

  Redynamics Asia is a fast-growing IT services provider that wanted to remove the technology barriers that limited business growth. The constant demand for more server and desktop computers consumed time and money and slowed the company’s ability to meet customer needs. Redynamics first virtualized its servers and then deployed a private cloud service for development, showcasing new solutions, and delivering training classes. Its cloud infrastructure is built on the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system with Hyper-V technology and Microsoft System Center solutions, notably Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012. With this model, Redynamics is moving faster as a business, has reduced server costs by U.S.$700,000 and annual IT costs by $350,000, and is on track to double its training business. Its servers are more fully utilized and IT service availability is much higher.

  Read the Case Study

• 

  Uni Micro

  Uni Micro, a Norway-based software development firm, needed to increase its capacity…

  Uni Micro, a Norway-based software development firm, needed to increase its capacity to respond to new market opportunities. After successfully using Microsoft virtualization tools to trim operating costs and reduce its IT staff’s workload, the company seized the opportunity to adopt Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012. Now, Uni Micro can use dynamic resource pooling and unified cloud management capabilities to boost business agility.

  Read the Case Study

• 

  LINK Development

  LINK Development of Cairo, Egypt, had already virtualized its data center servers, but it…

  LINK Development of Cairo, Egypt, had already virtualized its data center servers, but it wanted even more flexibility and speed in developing and testing customer solutions. It created a private cloud infrastructure that runs both the Hyper-V technology included in the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system and VMware virtualization software. To simplify the management of this complex environment, LINK Development upgraded to Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 to take advantage of improvements in managing multiple hypervisors, creating private clouds, and deploying applications as services. LINK Development now manages its mixed private cloud environment from a single console. It has increased service availability and can also provision new IT resources 60 percent more quickly, which leads to faster delivery of solutions to customers.

  Read the Case Study