Case Studies

This leading insurance company turned to virtual machines in their test labs, where pilot tests showed a 25- to 50-percent reduction in server growth, with the potential to save millions of dollars over five years.

AtlantiCare created virtual machines using Virtual Server 2005 and now runs 33 virtual servers on two physical servers, saving money on hardware, power, and data center space.

Thanks to prior planning and server imaging using Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 and the Virtual Server Migration Toolkit, Barker’s was able to bring back on line a server that suffered a hardware failed during an upgrade. The balance of the server upgrade and migration was performed with no further problems. Without Virtual Server, Barker's losses from data recovery efforts would have been crippling to its business and its customers.

Exchange Server 2003 and Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 provided solutions that helped the City of Stratford improve IT security, simplify IT administration, and implement a more comprehensive disaster recovery plan.

Cigna Healthcare used Virtual Server 2005 to consolidate servers in it’s lab by at least 25 percent, increase server utilization by 45 percent, create a more consistent test environment, and support more flexible resource allocation.

Delta Holding S.A. used Virtual Server 2005 for a server consolidation solution to accommodate for growth and improvement the organization’s IT infrastructure. The solution improved installation of applications and updates, increased IT productivity, and it eases disaster recovery.

Denver Health consolidated the servers into virtual machines, maintaining and improving response time while building redundancy and failover capabilities into the network. Hardware costs were cut by $25,000 per year and network manageability was improved.

This large midwestern utility cuts capital and operational costs by deploying Virtual Server 2005 in its test and development lab, converting physical servers into virtual machines for testing new software applications, patches, and upgrades.

By using Virtual Server 2005, HSBC was able to test and develop their consolidated solution based on the Microsoft® Windows Server® 2003 operating system and the Active Directory® service, Systems Management Server 2003, and Operations Manager 2005 for more than 1,400 branch locations and improved system management.

Using Virtual Server 2005, PING created images of engineering applications from seven servers and migrated them to a single server-class system. This saved 25 percent of the projected hardware costs, reduced the initial deployment and management costs by 60 percent, and returned valuable data center space back to the IT department.

By using Virtual Server 2005, RackForce, a rapidly growing hosting-service provider, was able to expand market opportunities with products featuring broader access to co-technologies and greater market stability than its Linux-focused offerings. As a result, RackForce and its customers have enjoyed benefits in revenue, scalability, accessibility, and support.

By using Virtual Server 2005, Rail Manche Finance (RMF) migrated their custom-built accounting, apportionment, and settlement applications that kept detailed records of sales and traveller information to an upgraded and consolidated newer hardware platform.

By using Virtual Server 2005 to run server images inside virtual machines in their training labs, SWCC students gained hands-on server experience while IT and hardware costs were slashed.

Surgient, a leading provider of on-demand applications, used Virtual Server 2005 to provide on-demand virtual test and training labs by means of a browser—without the hassle of long downloads and installations.

Using Virtual Server 2005, solution provider Tectura created a set of standard development environments that resulted in projected annual cost savings of $18,000 U.S. this year alone.

The Town of Oakville chose to upgrade its existing Windows Server System technology to Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 virtualization technology. The first phase of the upgrade has saved the municipality $25,000 through consolidation of more than 20 servers to four.