Customer Solution Case Study
/ Latest Cloud-Based Services Simplify PC Management, Improves Employee Productivity
“Windows Intune is an outstanding support tool. I have consistent information about the condition of our network from the central office in Vienna and can see right away what is going on with PCs in other countries.”
Harald Brettlecker, MBA, Director, Finance & Controlling, POLO Handels AG
IT staff at POLO Handels AG headquarters in Vienna, Austria, faced challenges managing portable computers used by employees working at client sites throughout Eastern Europe.Then it subscribed to Windows Intune, a cloud-based PC management, endpoint protection, and remote assistance service from Microsoft.Today, IT staff use Windows Intune to keep everyone’s computers running at peak performance, boosting productivity across the company.
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document publishedMarch2012
Business Needs
POLO Handels AG emerged from a management buyout of the Mayr-Melnhof/Frantschach Group in 1986. It specializes in paper and cardboard wholesale and also sells packaging machines in Eastern Europe.
POLO Handels achieves an annual trade volume of more than 200,000 metric tons of paper and yearly revenues (including agency sales) of some €200 million (US$263 million)—with just 70 employees who work at headquarters in Vienna, Austria, and throughout Eastern Europe.
An advanced computer user, Harald Brettecker, Director of Finance and Controller at POLO Handels AG, is also responsible for the IT infrastructure of the company. The IT structure of POLO is decentralized in order to support small, local sales teams and paper specialists as they serve the market in Eastern Europe.
It was a challenge for IT staff to ensure that those employees who worked onsite with clients had up-to-date, secure portable computers, which outnumber desktop computers at the company by three to one.
“Because we have a presence in many Eastern European countries, we have to accommodate a wide range of hardware and software, data connections, and data security standards,” says Brettlecker. “A great deal of support had to be provided onsite, and this caused relatively high support costs.”
However, POLO Handels management recognized that it was crucial to provide this support. They began to look for a less expensive way to manage their computers. “All IT systems must function flawlessly around the clock,” says Brettlecker. “We always have to know the current status of the network.”
Solution
After watching a presentation by long-term IT partner, eHouse Informationstechnologie, a member of the Microsoft Partner Network, POLO Handels found a low-maintenance, cost-effective Microsoft solution. Windows Intune combines desktop management, endpoint protection, remote assistance, and the option to upgrade to the Windows 7 Enterprise operating system. The company had been using Microsoft Exchange Online for its email service for approximately nine months, so Brettlecker was already familiar with the benefits of cloud computing.
“eHouse convinced me that Windows Intune was the easy-to-install package we needed for companywide PC administration,” says Brettlecker.
eHouse deployed the Windows Intune client software to POLO Handels computers in the Vienna headquarters and the Polish branch office between October and December 2010—65 computers in all. The client software returns information to the Administration console when connected to the Internet.
“Windows Intune provides continuous and comprehensive data on the health of the PCs, from RAM and serial number to information about software upgrades, security updates, or malicious software,” says Paul Scholda, Managing Director of eHouse. “Looking at Windows Intune reports, which may include warning messages, POLO Handelscan take necessary proactive steps to avoid issues for its staff. Windows Intune also includes effective virus protection and provides alerts that display the priority of the health status information with a traffic light system that uses green, yellow, and red lights.”
Also, POLO Handel can use Windows Intune to generate reports on software inventories to determine whether someone installed unauthorized software, which may be causing problems in the system.
Benefits
By subscribing to Windows Intune, POLO Handels gained a cost-effective, easy-to-deploy, and simple-to-use PC management service that requires no physical infrastructure. Now Brettlecker can deliver an up-to-date and highly secure Windows 7 PC experience to all employees working throughout Eastern Europe, virtually eliminating the necessity for on-site support.
“The use of Windows Intune saves support hours for POLO Handelsin the intermediate term, especially time spent onsite,” says Scholda. “This frees up budget funds that are now available, for instance, to improve hardware.”
With better PC management services,POLO Handelscan finally ensure a desktop environment that fosters improved employee productivity. For example, immediately after the company subscribed to Windows Intune, the endpoint protection service detected a computer virus, which was quickly eliminated, avoiding any downtime for employees.This incident prompted management to replace the company’s firewall to improve long-term security.
Brettlecker is excited about the proactive options for maintenance that he gains with Windows Intune. “Windows Intune is an outstanding support tool. I have consistent information about the condition of our network from the central office in Vienna,and can see right away what is going on with PCs in other countries,” he says. “I am certain that the program will help us increase our quality and productivity in the intermediate to long term. The option to take proactive steps makes our clients more secure and stable, which helps avoid most downtimes and data losses.
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document publishedMarch2012