Global Process Systems Sdn Bhd.

“Previously, we had no control over the storing and archiving of emails as the email service was hosted by a third party. Now even if an employee resigns and erases important emails, we can still retrieve it as all emails are stored on our own server.”

Svein Riibe, Engineering Manager, Global Process Systems Sdn Bhd.

Global Process Systems (GPS) had been using a hosted Linux-based email service at its Kuala Lumpur office for almost 5 years. With GPS growing steadily, the limited functionalities of the Linux-based email service was affecting the productivity and effectiveness of its staff. Realizing it needed a comprehensive email server solution, GPS selected Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 over several other Linux-based email solutions.

GPS has found its new Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 solution not only eliminates the inefficiencies and frustrations that was a feature of the previous solution, it also gives it greater control of important business information contained in staff emails. With Outlook Web Access, GPS field staff no longer faces down time because of an inability to retrieve their work-related emails.

Situation
Established in 1999, Global Process Systems (GPS) has since grown to be a leading global provider of design and build project services for oil and gas production facilities, and field development solutions.

GPS has built a reputation for successful delivery of projects by a team of professionals motivated to meet clients’ business needs. GPS’ expertise in providing economical technology based solutions stems from its in-depth process knowledge and understanding of production and separation technology.

With its headquarters is in Dubai, GPS has expanded its operations by setting up offices in Canada, Russia and Malaysia. Since it was set up in 2000, GPS’ Malaysian operations has made its mark in region’s oil and gas sector, and counts Shell and Petronas, Malaysia’s national oil corporation, among its clients.

Just like in many companies today, emails play an important role in GPS’ business operations. Apart from communication, GPS staff uses email to send documentation and drawings to clients and sub-vendors in Malaysia, as well as its headquarters in Dubai.

GPS had been using a hosted Linux-based email service almost since the inception of office in Kuala Lumpur. “Since we only had a few employees then, it was cost effective option for us rather than getting our own email server solution,” says Svein Riibe, Engineering Manager, Global Process Systems Sdn Bhd.

The hosted Linux-based email service served its purpose during GPS’ early years but with its rapid growth, the service was found wanting. “When we started we only had several staff but now we have about 55 employees. Email now plays an increasingly important role in our work processes.”

Riibe says the previous mail system was “very basic” and limited in functionalities. “It has a very basic interface unlike Microsoft Office Outlook. For example, a user could only open one email at a time. “We had to close the current email before we could read another. This was very inconvenient. We would not easily cut and paste information, and this affected our staff’s productivity.”

Under the previous system, GPS felt it did not have adequate control over business information once corporate emails were downloaded to the employee’s PC or notebook. For example, once staff downloaded the emails, there were no backup copies on the mail server.

“So employees can just erase important business emails when they decide to resign. And we could not retrieve the information,” Riibe explains.

Another related problem was that if staff were out of the office or traveling overseas, they could not have access to the emails previously downloaded to their PCs. “Sometimes, we had to resort to calling our colleagues to forward important emails from our PCs back to us!,” says Riibe.

GPS realized it needed a comprehensive solution where the company had copies of emails in a dedicated mail server even after it was downloaded to individual staff PCs or notebooks.

Solution
GPS had a very short list of options to consider – it evaluated a couple of Linux-based email solutions as well as Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. The Linux solutions were quickly eliminated because its features “were too limited,” making Exchange Server the obvious choice.

The decision was relatively easy as GPS’ Malaysian office wanted to be on the same email platform as its Dubai headquarters which was also using Exchange Server. “This would enable us to synchronize our emails and easily exchange files with our headquarters,” says Riibe.

From his frequent visits to the Dubai HQ, Riibe saw first-hand that Exchange Server was more functional, user-friendly and productive than their hosted email service.

According to Riibe, the deployment process was very smooth. “It took just about week to set up the system, and move existing emails from staff PCs and the hosting service server to the new Exchange Server at our KL office.”

He affirms that the new Exchange Server solution, which runs on Microsoft Windows Server 2003, was superior to the previous Linux-based email service. It not only eliminates the inefficiencies and frustrations that was a feature of the previous solution, it also gives GPS greater control of important business information contained in staff emails.


Benefits

Regaining Control of Emails
By deploying Exchange Server at the headquarters, GPS has been able to centralize email services within the company and regain control of its corporate emails.

“Previously, we had no control over the storing and archiving of emails as the email service was hosted by a third party. Now even if an employee resigns and erases important emails, we can still retrieve it as all emails are stored on our own server.”

And because the Exchange server is sited at the headquarters, performance is also better particularly when staff send files of drawings to other colleagues within the office. “It doesn’t need to go out to the Internet and back again,” says Riibe.

“The attached drawings are usually big, sometimes more than 10MB. Now, they can just drop it into the mailbox and it will be sent directly to the colleague,” says Riibe, adding that this prevents valuable bandwidth from being clogged up.

Mobile Boost for Field Staff
For GPS staff working outside the office or traveling abroad, Outlook Web Access (OWA) provides secure access to their corporate mailbox from any place with an Internet connection.

For GPS, this is an important factor as about 90 per cent of its field staff are outstation. “For example, 15 of our staff are overseeing a project in Lumut, Perak. They get project information, send and receive drawings via email.”

With Outlook Web Access, GPS field staff no longer face “down time” because of an inability to retrieve their work-related emails. “Previously, if they are outstation or overseas they won’t have access to their drawings and emails, and this would affect their work,” he says.

Enhances Staff Productivity
OWA also allows GPS staff to access calendar, contacts, tasks, and public folders from anywhere through the Internet with only a Web browser.

“Because of Outlook Web Access, our employees are now more productive and in touch via email. They have access to the full functionalities of Outlook even when they are traveling or out of the office,” says Riibe.

He adds that the staff had little difficulty adapting to Outlook as most of them were familiar with it. “Because Outlook is tightly integrated with Microsoft Office, it helps our staff to work more efficiently and effectively.”

Unlike the previous email service, Outlook allows multiple emails to be opened simultaneously. This, Riibe adds, overcomes one of the weaknesses of the previous system and enables staff to work more efficiently..

Secure Connections
For GPS, the new solution provides greater confidence over the issue of secure email access for its staff whenever they are outside the office. The new Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) over HTTP functionality in Outlook 2003 and Exchange 2003 enables staff to use Outlook to access e-mail without needing a virtual private network (VPN) to access the rest of the network.

RPC over HTTP uses existing security authentication and network traffic is further encrypted with Secure Socket Language (SSL). “This a very useful feature. Previously, to have a secure email access we would have to use a costly third party VPN application. Now with RPC, our staff can have a secure Internet connection to our Exchange server.”

This is a boon to GPS as previously its staff based in Lumut did not a secure connection to the headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. This was because the communications line did not allow for VPN connections. With the RPC over HTTP feature, this is no longer an issue of concern for GPS.

Overview
Country: Malaysia
Industry: Oil and Gas

Customer Profile
Global Process Systems (GPS) is a leading global provider of design and build project services for oil and gas production facilities, and field development solutions. It established its Malaysian office in 2000.

Business Situation
GPS found its hosted Linux-based email service to be “basic” and limited in its functionalities. As emails have become an integral communication tool for the GPS staff, this adversely affected the productivity and effectiveness of the staff.

Solution
GPS deployed Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 at its Kuala Lumpur office.

Benefits

• Regaining control of emails
• Mobile boost for field staff
• Enhances productivity
• Secure email access

For More Information
For other case studies in this series, visit
www.microsoft.com/malaysia/business/ casestudies

For more information about Global Process Systems’ products and services, call +6(03) 4251 2535 or visit the Web site at: www.globalprocesssystems.com