TradeFacilitate helps importers and exporters in the European Union to exchange trade data using a paper-free online system. To meet new regulation requirements for preshipment data exchange in the United States, TradeFacilitate sought a solution that would permit the company to scale its applications to a significantly larger market without proportionately adding more personnel and technology resources. The company adopted the Windows Azure™ platform and quickly migrated the code base from its primary application to a “cloud” services model—the hosting and managing of its Web application and services on the Internet through Microsoft® data centers. With Windows Azure, TradeFacilitate quickly developed a scalable and reliable solution that helped the company improve its ability to focus on delivering new services to customers.

Super Group is a supply chain management business that handles all activities involved in sourcing, procurement, and logistics management. Based in South Africa, Super Group has 10,000 employees and owns companies in numerous African countries, Australia, and New Zealand. The company is always looking to reduce costs while providing the latest communication and collaboration capabilities to employees. To enhance its unified communications platform, Super Group chose to deploy Microsoft® Exchange Server 2010 as a part of the Microsoft Rapid Deployment Program. Benefits of the upgrade include expanding e-mail service to employees without computers, reducing IT administration, and cutting storage costs. The move to Exchange Server 2010 will also make it easier for Super Group to transition some or all user e-mail accounts to Microsoft Online Services in the future.

LFV Group operates airports throughout Sweden. LFV has a highly distributed workforce, and e-mail is the primary source of communication for the group’s 4,000 employees. In 2009, LFV began a program to upgrade its communications infrastructure, including its telephony system and Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003 e-mail solution. LFV wanted a unified messaging solution that could support a common inbox for e-mail and voice-mail messages while maintaining the high reliability that employees had come to expect. After testing Exchange Server 2010 as part of the Microsoft Rapid Deployment Program and with help from Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Logica, LFV has decided to deploy the software for its unified messaging capabilities and improved e-mail access for mobile users. It also expects to reduce server, storage, and other operating costs while providing users with larger mailboxes.

After struggling with disparate IT technologies based on Red Hat Linux, EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services decided to transform its infrastructure using Microsoft® software and HP hardware. With its new environment based on Windows Server® 2008 R2, EmpireCLS has cut support calls by 75 percent and increased IT administrators’ productivity by 35 percent. It also expects to lower power costs by 33 percent.

ITNAmerica®, the first national non-profit transportation service for the aging population and the visually impaired, was founded with the goal of providing affordable, easy-to-access transportation in automobiles by matching seniors with paid and volunteer drivers in local communities. To make it work – and to grow the ITNAmerica service nationwide – required flexible and scalable technology that could be easily deployed and managed. The ITNAmerica development team turned to Microsoft® products and, with the help of Reliable Software, used a software-plus-services model to redesign its ITNRidesTM software. The result is a highly scalable, flexible software solution that can be easily deployed to new ITN® affiliates and is opening up a huge potential market for the company.

U.S. Xpress is a Tennessee-based truckload carrier with a reputation for delivering excellent customer service and using innovative technology to do so. In the mid-2000s, the company deployed an in-cab solution that automates engine diagnostics and provides communication, navigation, and training-video presentation capabilities. The solution was so successful that U.S. Xpress decided to expand its effectiveness by redesigning the user interface using Windows® Presentation Foundation (WPF) and other rich-client technologies from Microsoft. Having deployed the new version of its solution to roughly half of its 4,600-truck fleet, the company anticipates that the enhancements will help it boost the productivity of key employees, retain skilled drivers in this high-turnover industry, enhance safety management, and significantly reduce IT costs.

Tru-Marine, one of the world’s largest specialist in turbocharger repairs and parts supply, wanted to tighten workflow integration and improve information flow within its business divisions to better meet customers’ needs. With Microsoft Dynamics™, it successfully integrated information flow, streamlined critical business processes and increased business visibility – all critical factors in accelerating its global expansion.

The SAS Group is evaluating new HTC Windows® phones with Windows Mobile® 6.5 to enhance communications for its flight crews. The increased responsiveness and easier navigation of the new user interface deliver up to 20 percent faster performance. Also, the ability to centrally manage Windows® phones with Microsoft® System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 enhances security, which will support new applications to further improve crew efficiency.

CargoWise edi is an innovative logistics software company based in Australia. In 2007, it redeveloped its flagship product called ediEnterprise to incorporate a range of Web services and technologies. The software-plus-services approach was the catalyst for a 55 per cent growth in business during the height of the global recession. CargoWise edi Chief Executive Officer Richard White says that customers are attracted to the company’s flexible purchasing model and the ability to pick and choose a range of services on a per transaction basis.

THE NEW WORLD OF WORK Companies, especially small businesses, often shy away from technology tools for improving productivity. Many assume that the tools are too complicated, designed for much larger organizations. FedEx set out to help small businesses reap the benefits of enhanced productivity with an easy-to-use application. The company extended its shipping solutions to customers’ desktops so that they can ship items more quickly and with greater accuracy, directly from the familiar e-mail program that they use every day.