System Center 2012 Success Stories

For EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services, technology is a key competitive differentiator. Even after virtualizing its data center, EmpireCLS sought even greater data center efficiency and automation. Using Microsoft System Center 2012, EmpireCLS transformed its virtualized data center into a private cloud environment. It also created a public cloud for offering software as a service to other transportation firms. By moving to cloud computing, EmpireCLS has reduced its data center footprint by a factor of seven and trimmed power and cooling costs by 50 percent. It has reduced IT and operating costs by 30 percent during a period when the business grew 30 percent. The IT staff has boosted service availability from four nines to six nines and reduced service tickets by 75 percent. Perhaps most exciting, EmpireCLS is now poised to become not only a transportation but a software provider.

Royal Mail Group wanted to upgrade its 27,000 computers to the Windows 7 operating system. However, the cost-conscious organization wanted a way to streamline and automate the mostly manual, time-consuming, and disruptive deployment process. Royal Mail Group worked with CSC, a member of the Microsoft Partner Network, and implemented the Microsoft System Center 2012 family of products to automate system management tasks, including software updates, system monitoring, and virtual machine provisioning. In addition, Royal Mail Group implemented a private cloud storage solution for data backup, which is built on Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V. As a result, Royal Mail Group expects to reduce desktop support costs by 20 percent while increasing IT efficiency, enhance IT security, and improve the user experience.

Pella has long been a trusted name in home and commercial construction, making beautifully crafted, energy-efficient windows and doors. But the construction business has been tough lately, and Pella has to create a premier product with lower overhead. The company’s IT staff supports this efficiency by moving its virtualized data center from VMware to Microsoft private cloud software—the Hyper-V technology in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft System Center 2012. With the switch, Pella is able to reduce IT inefficiencies and move to a measurable, service-oriented IT model. It can focus its IT staff on new business initiatives rather than on server management and give them a more rewarding work environment. By switching to Microsoft, Pella has also gained software licensing efficiencies that save money and provide more flexibility.

T-Systems was eager to adopt cloud computing so that it could aggressively drive down IT costs and improve service availability. To create a cloud computing environment as quickly as possible, T-Systems turned to Microsoft. It used the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system with Hyper-V technology and Microsoft System Center 2012 data center solutions to set up a global private cloud infrastructure that could scale to accommodate 1.5 million users. By using Microsoft software, T-Systems was able to quickly meet customer demand for cloud solutions, improve service quality, and reduce costs. By using System Center, the company expects to automate the resolution of up to 60 percent of IT incidents within three years, leading to an annual savings of US$500,000. A highly automated infrastructure also helps T-Systems attract top IT talent.

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.