Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Greenhouse Operation Enhances Communication and Saves $100,000
Overview
Country or Region:United States
Industry:Agriculture
Customer Profile
Metrolina Greenhouses is a family-owned, wholesale plant company located in Huntersville, North Carolina. Started in 1972, the company has 160 acres of heated greenhouses and 425 employees.
Business Situation
The company wanted to ensure reliable and responsive communications with its customers, improve best-practice sharing among its employees, and reduce costs.
Solution
Metrolina signed a Microsoft® Enterprise Agreement; upgraded to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, deployed Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007, and plans to deploy Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.
Benefits
Saved U.S.$100,000 over three years
Added value from Software Assurance
Increased worker efficiency and results
Continued operations in case of disaster
Expedited customer service / “With the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, we got everything we were planning to deploy … and saved $100,000 compared to what it would have cost acquiring the licenses piecemeal as we did before.”
Charles Childers, IT Director, Metrolina Greenhouses
Metrolina Greenhouses, one of the largest wholesale plant suppliers in the United States, applies technology wherever possible to increase productivity and efficiency. In 2007, wanting to ensure more reliable and responsive voice and e-mail communications with its customers, Metrolina engaged the M3 Technology Group to deploy and manage a unified communications solution based on Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. To enhance worker collaboration, Metrolina also deployed Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007. These new capabilities helped the company increase efficiency, ensure operations continuity, and expedite customer service. And, by working with SoftwareONE to acquire the software through a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, Metrolina is saving U.S.$100,000 on Microsoft software licenses over three years.
Situation
Metrolina Greenhouses is a family-owned, wholesale plant company started in 1972 by Tom VanWingerden shortly after he moved to North Carolina from Holland. Within a year of its inception, the business outgrew a 200,000-square-foot greenhouse in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was moved to a site in Huntersville, where it stands today on 320 acres.
With 160 acres under glass, Metrolina runs the largest single-site, heated greenhouse in the United States. It is also one of the most automated operations, with automatic transplanters and watering and fertilizing systems. Each year, the greenhouse ships millions of plants—including spring bedding plants, summer annuals, fall mums and pansies, and winter poinsettias—to mass merchandisers, home improvement chains, food chains, and independent retailers and florists. Three quarters of those plants go to North and South Carolina. The rest go to surrounding states. To keep those plants growing, Metrolina employs 425 people year round and another 100 in the peak spring and fall seasons.
With its operations spread outover hundreds of acres, 70 Metrolina corporate employees rely on e-mail and mobile phones to communicate with each other and with customers. Most initial orders are received through Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), but as market and weather conditions change during the growing season, customers send changes in e-mail. “The nature of our business is that we don’t know in Week 1 that in Week 40 we’re going to produce “X” amount of flowers, because a hot day, a cold day, or a rainy day can change everything,” says Charles Childers, IT Director for Metrolina.
In addition to its corporate workers, Metrolina has another 230 mobile workers who set up displays at retail customer sites to help merchandise Metrolina products. Those workers use Windows Mobile® powered smartphones for voice and e-mail.
In early 2007, the company used the Windows Server® 2003 operating system for its network infrastructure, Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003 and the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003 messaging client for e-mail, and Microsoft SQL Server® 2005 database software. Because hurricanes and other natural disasters are always a possibility, the company felt it needed to be prepared. “E-mail is critical. We weren’t having problems with our system, but since we had Exchange Server installed on only a single server, we decided we needed more redundancy so that if a server went down we’d still have e-mail,” says Childers. “In the spring, which for us means mid-February until after Memorial Day, we could lose from one to two percent of our annual income if our e-mail is down for a day.”
Along the same lines, the company began looking at what it would take to replace its 14-year-old private branch exchange (PBX) phone system should something happen to it. “We found that to replace our phone system with the exact same system would take more than 20 working days to get it all set up and configured,” says A.J. Klum, Network Operations Manager for Metrolina, “so we needed a backup system for it as well, because our phones are just as important as e-mail.”
Another challenge the company encountered as it grew was how to make it possible for growers at opposite ends of the greenhouse to immediately share best practices and solutions to problems. Since growing teams met only once a week, communicating new discoveries in a timely manner wasn’t always possible.
Although the company sees technology as a major tool in improving both the quality and efficiency of its operations, it still has to carefully balance the benefit of each piece of software with the cost. “We realize we’re an IT department in a greenhouse, not an IT department in a technology firm,” says Childers. “Our margins are very competitive, so we’re constantly looking for ways to contain costs.”
The company had been acquiring software licenses through the Microsoft Open License program. Because Metrolina had to reallocate budget each time it wanted to upgrade software, the company sometimes delayed upgrading or adding new capabilities until the next budget cycle, or delayed other expenditures to accommodate the upgrade costs.
Solution
To ensure the highest degree of reliability, as well as better integration between its voice and messaging systems, Metrolina decided to upgrade to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise with Service Pack 1 for its database redundancy and improved clustering capabilities. The company engaged with M3 Technology Group (M3TG), a nationally managed Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, to handle the migration to Exchange Server 2007 and manage the solution once it was deployed. “We went with full-blown Exchange Server redundancy, with cluster continuous replication and a co-located standby continuous replication cluster,” says Childers. “The guys at M3TG know Exchange Server in and out, up and down, so it’s actually cheaper for us to outsource to them than to hire mail administrators to handle the management in house.”
To address the company’s need for integration between phone and messaging, and for real-time communication between growers at opposite ends of the greenhouse, Microsoft suggested that the company deploy additional unified communications capabilities. To illustrate its point, Microsoft demonstrated Exchange Unified Messaging, Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007, and the collaboration features of Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007.
Metrolina immediately saw the potential of those technologies—especially the presence capabilities— for its operations. “One of the features we loved in the Office Communications Server demo was the ability to call in and reschedule appointments by voice and automatically send reminders to everybody on the list,” says Childers. “That’s really going to help our executives.”
Using presence information, Metrolina employees will be able to see immediately if someone they need to talk to is available for immediate communications through instant messaging (IM) or a phone call. This will be particularly helpful for executives on customer calls because they will be able to get answers in real-time while they’re at the customer site or on the phone with the customer rather than having to call back later with the needed information. In addition, Metrolina expects to federate with some of its customers who also are using Office Communications Server 2007. In so doing, Metrolina employees will be able to share presence information, instant messaging, and conferencing capabilities with those federated customers in the same way as with other employees.
By deploying Exchange Unified Messaging, Metrolina employees will be able to retrieve voice mail and e-mail from a single inbox.And, the company will use the integrated Voice over IP (VoIP) capabilities in Office Communications Server 2007 to provide a cost-effective replacement forpart of the company’s 14-year old PBX system and provide a backup for the portion of the system that remains.
Discovered the Value of
Volume Licensing
To secure the most appropriate and cost-effective licensing for Microsoft products, M3TG recommended that Metrolina contact SoftwareONE, a Microsoft Large Account Reseller and Gold Certified Partner that focuses exclusively on software licensing. After evaluating the company’s software deployment plans and user environment, SoftwareONE presented a comparison of two volume licensing options—a Microsoft Select agreement that provides volume prices for the latest Microsoft technology on a pay-as-you-go basis, and a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement that provides volume pricing based on the company’s total number of workstations and includes support, tools, and training benefits.
The comparison showed that the Enterprise Agreement provided much more value for Metrolina, with upgrade rights, predictable equal payments over three years, and training vouchers; and it cost approximately U.S.$9,000 less annually than the Select agreement. The Enterprise Agreement cost about $100,000 less over three years than acquiring CALs separately for individual server products through the Microsoft Open License program as Metrolina had done in the past. In addition, the Enterprise Agreement is easier to manage because it only requires an annual evaluation of the installed base.Not surprisingly, Metrolina chose to go with the Enterprise Agreement.
The agreement covers licenses for the Microsoft Core Client Access License (CAL) suite—Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Standard, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Standard, and System Center Configuration Manager—for 300 users (the 70 corporate workers and the 230 mobile workers). In addition, Metrolina acquired CALs for Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise and Office Communications Server 2007 Enterprise for the 70 corporate workers. The company also has licenses for the Windows® XP operating system, Microsoft Office Professional 2003,and Microsoft Office Professional 2007.
Upgraded to Exchange Server 2007
over a Weekend
Metrolina outsourced the upgrade, management, and support for the Exchange Server 2007 environment to M3TG. The upgrade was completed over a weekend in August 2007. “We went from one server running Exchange Server 2003 to a fully clustered configuration of four servers running Exchange Server 2007 in just two days,” says Klum. “We started on Friday at 6 P.M. andfinished on Sunday at about 2 P.M. Then we did a lot of testing Sunday night. When the employees came to work on Monday morning, they could access their e-mail the same as before through their Office Outlook client.”
M3TG plans to start testing Exchange Unified Messaging and Office Communications Server 2007 in June 2008 so that they will be ready to deploy after the fall 2008 season. Metrolina corporate users will use virtually all aspects of Office Communications Server 2007, including presence, IM, audio, video, Web conferencing, and VoIP. The company plans to use the VoIP capabilities to replace the majority of its traditional phone system. “Our final system will be a hybrid. In the greenhouses, they’ll be fine with a PBX system because they have cell phones as a backup,” says Childers. “The office staff will use either a computer with a softphone or a VoIP cell phone.”
Automated Supply Inventory
After learning more about the collaboration, portal, and enterprise content management capabilities in Office SharePoint Server 2007, Metrolina decided to explore how the growing teams in the greenhouses could use it to monitor and share details of various aspects of the growing process. The company started testing Office SharePoint Server 2007 in October 2007 to track use of fertilizer and other supplies.
In the past, growing teams kept track of these details on a paper clipboard, which made it very difficult to share techniques with each other. To automate that process, Metrolina set up a tracking system in Office SharePoint Server, which the growing team accesses through ruggedized Panasonic Toughbook portable computers stationed throughout the greenhouses. The growers enter information on any product they use on the plants, and that entry immediately updates the database. At that point workers in any of the greenhouses can see how much product is available and what other growers are doing and when.
After testing the tracking system for about two weeks with a few growers, the response was so positive the system was made available to the rest of the growers. “Office SharePoint Server took off as soon as we installed it. Within three weeks, we couldn’t live without it,” says Childers.
In addition, Metrolina growers use the portal capabilities in Office SharePoint Server to share best practices. “We have a horticulturist Ph.D. on staff who set up several growing calendars in Office SharePoint Server to keep track of what needs to be done and when, to ensure proper plant growth,” Klum explains.
Benefits
By signing a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, Metrolina saved $100,000 on licensing costs over three years and gained Software Assurance benefits. In addition, deploying the latest unified communications and collaboration technologies is helping the company increase efficiency and quality, ensure operations continuity, and expedite customer service.
Saved $100,000 over Three Years
With its Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, Metrolina not only gained access to the unified communications and collaboration capabilities that it was looking for, but also saved a significant amount of money over the three-year life of the agreement. “With the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, we goteverything we were planning to deploy—Exchange Server 2007, Office SharePoint Server 2007, and Office Communications Server 2007—and saved $100,000 compared to what it would have cost acquiring the licenses piecemeal as we did before,” says Childers.
Added Value Through
Software Assurance
Employing the latest technologies in both its business and growing operations is critical to the Metrolina competitive strategy. “Technology is vital part of what makes us competitive by helping us increase productivity and increase our margins,” says Childers. “The upgrade rights in the Software Assurance piece of the Enterprise Agreement help us maintain that competitive edge. If we didn’t have that, we’d have to purchase all those licenses every time we wanted to upgrade, which might delay our ability to gain the benefit of the technology.”
Metrolina also takes advantage of several other Software Assurance benefits, including predictable annual payments spread over three years, training vouchers to help the IT staff stay current with the latest technologies, and 24x7 Problem Resolution Support.
Increased Worker Efficiency and Results
Growers now have the ability to track the use and availability of growing supplies in a database and to make that information available to others in real time through the SharePoint portal. This automated tracking helps reduce inventory labor while ensuring that growers have enough products available to meet their needs. In addition, the Metrolina horticulturist can use Office SharePoint Server 2007 to make information on growing schedules and other best practices available to all growers at all times.
“If a grower at one end of the greenhouse finds that a practice is making the pansies grow better, that person can easily share that information with the rest of the growers through Office SharePoint Server,” says Klum. “We all want the plants to do as well as possible, so the quickest way to get that information out is to post it on the SharePoint site, instead of waiting for the next meeting.”
Helped Ensure Continued Operations
in Case of Disaster
The enhanced replication and recovery capabilities in Exchange Server 2007 provides Metrolina with critical backup systems if a disastrous event occurs. “Something could happen in one area that wouldn’t affect the growing area 20 acres away,” says Childers. “We’d still have to sell our plants, so we have to make sure that our corporate environment can continue even if something happens in one part of the operation. The redundancy in Exchange Server 2007 and the VoIP capabilities in Office Communications Server 2007 will help us to do that.”
Expedited Customer Service
Metrolina can use the presence, IM, and conferencing capabilities in Office Communications Server 2007 to expedite responses to customers. “Before, if a customer called a Metrolina sales rep to get information about an order, the rep would hunt down the information and call the customer back, and maybe trade voice mail for awhile before resolving the issue,” says Childers.
With Office Communications Server, the representative will be able to use the presence capability to see who is available to answer the question at that moment and then send that person an IM. The representative can set up an instant conference call with one click so that the person with the information can talk directly to the customer to resolve the issue in real time. “We have to be able to react quickly. We can’t say we’ll get back to you tomorrow, because it might be raining tomorrow, which changes everything,” Childers notes.
Microsoft Volume Licensing