Mario Kunz, Client & Messaging Service Manager, Syngenta

“With our new and optimized desktop infrastructure, we will save 30 percent annually on PC support costs.”

Mario Kunz, Client & Messaging Service Manager, Syngenta

With offices in over 90 countries, smooth real-time communication and team collaboration are crucial to the Syngenta agribusiness group. The company upgraded its communication and desktop infrastructure by installing Windows Vista® and the 2007 Microsoft® Office system, with Microsoft Office Communicator® 2007, on 20,000 computers. Employees now communicate more effectively and economically, and Syngenta saves 30 percent on PC support costs.

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published July 2009

Business Needs

Syngenta, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is a world-leading agriculture business. The company is the market leader in crop protection, and it ranks third in the world in the high-value commercial seed market. In 2008, the company’s sales were U.S.$11.6 billion, and Syngenta typically reinvests almost 10 percent of its sales into research and development. The company employs more than 21,000 people in more than 90 countries, and it has approximately 7,000 desktop computers and 13,000 portable computers in use.

Because Syngenta has offices in so many countries, it is important that company employees have an efficient real-time online communications solution, and Syngenta IT managers were dissatisfied with their existing system. Although solutions for virtual meetings and real-time document collaboration had been available for several years, they only permitted a limited number of simultaneous users, and they were often slow. Syngenta was looking for a better integration of the communications system into the desktop work environment.

In order to upgrade its communications infrastructure, Syngenta realized it would also need to upgrade its desktop and portable computers, because most of them were still running the Windows® 2000 operating system. In February 2007, the company launched the “Syngenta Optimized Desktop Workplace” project in order to upgrade the company’s computers to the latest releases of the Windows operating system and the Microsoft® Office system, ensure compatibility between the new operating system and the company’s 500 client applications, and implement a new unified communications solution that is optimally integrated into the desktop work environment.

Solution

Syngenta was familiar with Microsoft technology, and the company selected an integrated solution from Microsoft. Syngenta picked Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 as its solution for virtual meetings, presentations, and instant messaging, and it chose to make Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office System the backbone of the company’s modern workstations.

Ensuring the compatibility of the company’s 500 client applications with the new operating system presented a special challenge. In order to implement this ambitious project, Syngenta also enlisted the help of its long-standing system partner Hewlett-Packard. Hewlett-Packard helped Syngenta set up an efficient testing model that allowed the company to test large numbers of applications for compatibility quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively. “The standardized desktop images for our 20,000 PCs were created and tested by Hewlett-Packard at its global imaging centre in Zurich with support from Microsoft, and they were then distributed to the clients,” says Mario Kunz, Client & Messaging Service Manager at Syngenta. “This very demanding global deployment exercise went off to our complete satisfaction.”

Syngenta began its deployment in 2007 with a pilot project involving 450 employees and 450 computers. The pilot ran successfully, and the company began planning for its enterprise-wide rollout in 2008 of Office Communications Server 2007, Office Communicator 2007, Windows Vista, and applications in the 2007 Microsoft Office System.

Benefits

Syngenta employees use the company’s new communications infrastructure based on Office Communications Server 2007 to communicate more effectively and work more productively. The company has also saved money on support and increased the security of its computers.

Better Online Communication and Collaboration

Syngenta employees now communicate better online with virtual meetings, and they can work simultaneously on electronic documents. They can also easily determine if coworkers are online and available. “With Office Communications Server 2007, it is now possible to hold Web presentations in real-time with more than 350 participants,” says Daniel Rhein, Global Service Manager at Syngenta. “With Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007, employees can see at any time if other colleagues around the globe are present, and they can select the most appropriate communication channel with just a few clicks. It could be an instant message or a short inquiry, a voice link, an online conference, or a request to collaborate on an online document.”

Better Productivity and Reduced Operating Costs

Employees at Syngenta have found that they are able to work more productively as a result of the usability features built into Windows Vista. In addition, the new operating system allows automatic document synchronization between computers and mobile devices, ensuring that workers always have the most current version of a document, which can save time and prevent confusion.

Syngenta is very impressed with the cost/benefit ratio of its new communications infrastructure. “We will save considerable operating costs compared to the old solution,” says Kunz. “Office Communications Server 2007 will pay for itself within one year.”

Reduced Support Costs and Increased Security

By standardizing on a single desktop operating system, Syngenta expects to realize considerable savings on support expenditures as a result of the high reliability and extensive security features of Windows Vista. “With our new and optimized desktop infrastructure, we will save 30 percent annually on PC support costs following the rollout,” says Kunz.

Computers are now easier to deploy, and administrators can precisely adjust user permissions to ensure greater security. “With the User Account Control feature in Windows Vista, it is possible to effectively prevent manipulation of the system by users,” notes Kunz. “In addition, the fact that administrator rights are disabled by default increases the security and reduces the support outlay.”

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published July 2009