PerkinElmer wanted to improve the productivity and collaboration capabilities of its employees by deploying Microsoft® Office Professional Plus 2007 and Office SharePoint® Server 2007. To support that deployment, PerkinElmer used Software Assurance benefits as part of its Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, and consequently its employees are learning the software and enjoying its advantages that much faster.

Business Needs

Founded in 1931 and headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, PerkinElmer is a leading provider of scientific solutions for health, safety, and environmental quality needs. The company’s 9,100 employees are split between the United States and 125 other countries.

PerkinElmer is a technology innovator not only for its customers but also for its employees. In this spirit, Drew Lancaster, IT Support Manager at PerkinElmer, has long encouraged his company’s adoption of the latest release of Microsoft® technologies. After participating in the beta program for the Microsoft Office 2007 suites, he was eager to implement the software.

Solution

To help deliver the benefits of the 2007 Microsoft Office system to PerkinElmer employees, Lancaster decided use Microsoft Software Assurance (SA), a component of the Enterprise Agreement licensing program—in this case, for Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 and Office SharePoint® Server 2007. SA benefits are designed to support companies through the software life-cycle phases of planning, deployment, use, maintenance, and transition.

Lancaster elected to use four SA benefits to expedite deployment and adoption of the new software: E-Learning and the Home Use Program primarily for the deployment of Office Professional Plus 2007, and the Desktop Deployment Planning Services consulting engagement and Training Vouchers primarily for the deployment of Office SharePoint Server 2007.

This rollout has gone more smoothly than any prior Office suite deployment, thanks in part to the head start that employees are enjoying through E-Learning and other Software Assurance benefits. Drew Lancaster IT Support Manager, PerkinElmer

PerkinElmer initially deployed Office Professional Plus 2007 within the IT department, and then broadened deployment to other departments. Using Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003, the Office Customization Tool, and the Office Compatibility Pack, the deployment team completed the first phase by deploying to about 1,200 employees in the United States and 800 employees in 20 other countries. After that, the team began deployment of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.

Reflecting on the project, Lancaster speaks highly of his team’s progress: “This rollout has gone more smoothly than any prior Office suite deployment, thanks in part to the head start that employees are enjoying through E-Learning and other Software Assurance benefits.”

Benefits

PerkinElmer employees are learning to use Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 more rapidly than they would have otherwise, Lancaster says, thanks to the Software Assurance benefits of E-Learning and the Home Use Program. And with Desktop Deployment Planning Services and Training Vouchers for the Office SharePoint Server 2007 deployment, the company will benefit from the smooth integration of that product with Office Professional Plus 2007.

Easing Software Adoption

According to Lancaster, PerkinElmer employees are quickly becoming comfortable with the new Microsoft Office 2007 software and its Fluent™ user interface, thanks largely to Microsoft E-Learning. “About 20 percent of the 2,000 employees who received the first-phase deployment took advantage of E Learning, and in any busy environment like ours, 20 percent is good,” Lancaster says. “Employees found the training especially useful for helping them become comfortable with the new Fluent user interface and other new features.”

The Home Use Program has been even more enthusiastically received, Lancaster reports. “I receive e-mail almost daily from employees wanting to take part in the program, and those who do so get used to the user interface that much faster,” he says. “They especially like that they can have the software in their home for their own personal use, for just a token fee of $19.95.”

For those employees who were not part of the initial deployment, the Home Use Program is even more beneficial, Lancaster says. “Until they are deployed on Office 2007 at work, they can use Office 2007 at home,” he points out. “Once they do receive the software at work, they will be prepared to use the Fluent user interface, the To-Do Bar in the Office Outlook® 2007 messaging and collaboration client, and other productivity features.”

Supporting Collaboration

PerkinElmer IT professionals are using Microsoft Training Vouchers to learn about advanced Office SharePoint Server 2007 features such as integration with the Office 2007 suite. “By enhancing the expertise of our IT professionals on collaboration capabilities, these individuals will help other employees make better use of those capabilities,” Lancaster says. “We’ll take the power of Office 2007 to another level, especially in finance, research, and other areas of the company where collaboration is the most essential.”

Delivering New Technology Sooner

PerkinElmer is using another SA benefit, Desktop Deployment Planning Services, for successful deployment and adoption of Office SharePoint Server 2007 and to help employees take fuller advantage of the integration capabilities between the Microsoft Office 2007 suite and Office SharePoint Server 2007. These capabilities include business intelligence dashboards (using Excel® Services in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007) for real-time business information across multiple departments, offline files, shared calendars and contacts, and especially Microsoft PowerPoint® Slide Libraries, among others.

Desktop Deployment Planning Services is also playing an indirect role in the deployment of Office Professional Plus 2007 at PerkinElmer. This is because the company is using that SA benefit to upgrade from Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 to Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007, which the company will use in the second phase of the Office 2007 deployment.

As Lancaster explains, “With Desktop Deployment Planning Services, we’ll have System Center Configuration Manager in place sooner, which will help us have Office 2007 in place sooner—with all the benefits that implies.”