TWP Projects in South Africa needed a single integrated system for project management and accounting, including a tool to integrate employee timesheets with invoices. The company replaced its Softline Pastel and open-source systems with Microsoft Dynamics® SL business management software. Now, it has an integrated view of operations and revenue streams, which is boosting its ability to maximise profits and eliminating the risk of billing time incorrectly.

One of the world’s best-known architectural firms, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, also needs to be a security firm—in regards to how it safeguards client project information. To provide that business-critical level of security, Pei Cobb migrated from Symantec to the Microsoft® Forefront™ Protection Suite. In addition to providing security for Microsoft Exchange Server, Office SharePoint® Server, and the Windows® operating system, Forefront products are easily deployed and updated across the enterprise.

NSW Health wanted to obtain holistic patient data across the continuum of care and provide hospital and area health managers with relevant views of data. They also wanted to improve patient care and flow by providing up-to-date information at the point of care. New South Wales Health wanted to transform the way it looks at patient information – from a system-centric view to one that is patient centric. They wanted to analyse information in terms of individual patient journeys across the spectrum of care and in relation to the business needs of health organisations, rather than in terms of the systems the data came from. At the hospital level, they also wanted to provide staff and clinicians with accurate and timely patient information at the point of care.

As legal counsel for some of the largest and most prestigious corporations in the United States, along with smaller companies and nonprofit groups, Jackson Lewis takes pride in helping businesses avoid or mitigate workplace disputes. When clients began moving from earlier versions of Microsoft® Office software to the 2007 Microsoft Office system, the firm decided to make the same move to avoid compatibility problems and improve employee productivity. Through a process that included remote training and postdeployment support, the firm upgraded its desktop software, deploying Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 to all 1,150 employees. After what one leader called an “easy adoption process,” Jackson Lewis enhanced collaboration with clients, demonstrated technology leadership, boosted productivity among attorneys and other staff, and reduced IT costs by more than U.S.$50,000 annually.

Barry-Wehmiller Companies, Inc. is a U.S.$1 billion global provider of manufacturing equipment and services. The company’s employees rely on up-to-date messaging technology to conduct business with partners and customers around the world. Barry-Wehmiller wanted to upgrade to Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 e-mail messaging and collaboration software. However, in light of tough global economic conditions and a corporate culture that promotes a “Lean” organization, the IT department re-evaluated the cost of deploying an on-premises solution. Instead, Barry-Wehmiller chose Microsoft Online Services to deliver all the scalability, security, and functionality the company needs for desktop and mobile e-mail. The hosted communications and collaboration solution saved Barry-Wehmiller $200,000 in hardware and infrastructure costs, as well as another $100,000 on an archiving solution.

Delta Sport Group upgraded its business management software to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009. Since deploying the solution, which integrates with its in house retail solution, the company has improved data accuracy by 30 per cent, increased sales by up to 10 per cent, and boosted productivity by 20 per cent.

Grant Thornton LLP needed a new document management solution that would reduce legal risk and operational costs, yet also drive business growth through secure team and client collaboration. That’s what it has achieved with Microsoft® and NextPage technologies. Its C3 solution is expected to save the company millions of dollars per year, to eliminate unneeded documents, and to streamline regulatory compliance.

The college's academic portal, built upon Microsoft Server 2008 and Microsoft SharePoint technologies, creates an integrated information space and automates operational management of key tasks including: keeping student and staff records, publishing all internal information on one resource, tracking student curricular progress, updating and displaying academic and other schedules, and disseminating data and news needed by students, staff, and parents.

Matosinhos lies to the north of Porto in Portugal. The city has a population of around 150,000 people in 10 parishes. The elected council focused its entire mandate on making life simpler for people in the city: for citizens, civil servants, businesses and visitors. “This was the main goal for our 4 year mandate,” says Nuno Oliveira, Deputy Mayor of Matosinhos. “We already have feedback from our people that the quality of service is higher and they don’t need to go to the city hall so often.”

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in the United Kingdom wanted to reduce costs and improve public service delivery by offering more services electronically and by streamlining business processes. As a national leader in local government information and communications technology (ICT), the council entered a joint venture partnership with BT—called RBT—to drive forward its modernisation agenda. As part of the programme to improve the collection of revenues and administration of benefits, the council decided to deploy an enterprise service bus (ESB) offering. It also used the Microsoft® Application Platform with Microsoft BizTalk® Server 2006 as the orchestration layer. As a result, the council is handling citizens’ requests for service—such as changes in payment methods for council tax—in seconds rather than days.