CASE
STUDIES
We have worked with many
clients over the years. Here are two examples of the
successes our clients have enjoyed with our help.
Engineering Company
When we
first approached the network, the Engineering Company was
running a Windows 2000 Server with 10 workstations.
The server was running a 3rd party mail exchange,
the workstations were running a variety of Windows versions
including 95, NT, 98, 2000 and XP) and a variety of
Microsoft Office versions from 97 to XP. The network
also had little virus protection and no regular patching or
error checking schedule.
The Engineering Company found that the network in its
current state was slow to respond, were prone to virus
attacks and the different versions of Windows on the
workstations caused a variety of compatibility issues.
They also experienced numerous email exchange issues, which
lead to the loss of mail, and unacceptable levels of mail
service downtimes.
In order to combat these issues, we recommended moving the
server to Microsoft Small Business Server 2003, which
includes Windows 2003, Exchange 2003, ISA Server 2003 and
SQL Server 2003.
Exchange Server 2003 includes centralised
management of document sharing (using Office), email and
calendar collaboration, and scheduling. ISA Server
2003 provides fire-walling and internet caching (for
protection from the Internet, and faster internet browsing).
SQL Server 2003 provides the ability to run client-server
databases in-house. Other features include desktop
faxing and terminal services.
In addition, we recommended installing a centrally managed
Antivirus package, ensuring that server & workstations are
protected at all times. We also recommended
upgrading all workstations to the same version of Windows &
Office. This eliminated all compatibility issues
between all network entities ensuring that shared resources
were available and accessible to all users.
The Engineering Company now enjoys a stable network
environment that suffers only minor outages and productivity
has increased significantly.
Commercial Decorating Company
When the
Commercial Decorating Company approached us to help them,
the Office Manager was running a single workstation, and the
remainder of the office staff were handling all office
processes by hand.
The Commercial Decorating Company found that this style of
office management was highly accurate (as each process was
checked several times), but this was highly time consuming.
The Commercial Decorating Company identified a number of
problems that they were experiencing, including loss of
revenue due to time consuming practices, accidental loss or
destruction of important documents, potential loss of new
clients due to inefficiencies, difficult job costing
procedures causing unexplainable revenue losses, inability
to identify and maintain up-to-date client data, and
inability to identify departmental inefficiencies among
others.
In order to combat these issues, we recommended installing a
server with Microsoft Small Business Server 2003, which
includes Windows 2003, Exchange 2003, ISA Server 2003 and
SQL Server 2003.
Exchange Server 2003 includes centralised
management of document sharing (using Office), email and
calendar collaboration, and scheduling. ISA Server
2003 provides fire-walling and internet caching (for
protection from the Internet, and faster internet browsing).
SQL Server 2003 provides the ability to run client-server
databases in-house. Other features include desktop
faxing and terminal services. The server also included
tape backup for reliable disaster recovery, and centrally
managed antivirus. We also recommended installing 3
new workstations, each with Microsoft Office.
Since the initial network installation, the Commercial
Decorating Company have added PCAnywhere to their network
which allows their remote sites access to the central
network. The Commercial Decorating Company now has a
stable network environment that provides a high degree of
efficiency and availability of information.
