Vodafone Egypt is a mobile telecommunications operator with a large workforce that manages product development, sales and marketing, and call center operations for customers in Egypt. With more than 1,000 line-of-business applications supporting its employees, any upgrade to workstations needs to be planned carefully. So when the firm decided to roll out the Windows 7 Enterprise operating system, it looked at ways to keep installation costs low and avoid downtime by managing potential compatibility issues. Working with Microsoft Partner OMS, Vodafone Egypt used the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack and Microsoft Deployment Toolkit to plan a seamless, automated batch installation company-wide. The firm completed the enterprise deployment to 6,500 workstations in just 40 days.

Egypt-based mobile services provider Etisalat Misr wanted to upgrade its operating system from Windows XP to reduce maintenance costs, cut downtime, and improve productivity. In 2010, the company decided to deploy the Windows 7 Enterprise operating system to its entire workforce supported by Microsoft Gold Partner OMS. The IT team deployed Windows 7 using zero-touch installation and ensured business continuity for all users. With almost 70 per cent of staff converted to the new operating system, productivity has increased, while the burden on the IT team has been reduced by 15 per cent. IT technicians no longer need to remove unauthorized software, which is now blocked automatically by Windows 7. Etisalat Misr expects to save money on network bandwidth due to the Windows 7 Branch Cache feature.

The Center for American Progress (CAP) has a workforce of policy makers who travel the world promoting the principles of progressive thinking through advocacy and field projects. They rely on their portable computers whether they are monitoring elections in Sudan or gathering information about workplace demographics in California. Working with partner New Signature, CAP subscribed to the Windows Intune cloud-based solution for PC management and security. With built-in PC management and endpoint protection services available through a simple, web-based console, IT staff can more easily manage updates and distribute software, as well as provide remote assistance and proactive support so that CAP staff can work productively. By using Windows Intune, CAP can keep IT costs down to allocate as much funding as possible toward its core mission: increasing public awareness of progressive ideas.

TE Data, the leading data communications service provider in Egypt, wanted to offer internal and external customers hosted Windows-based servers in the public cloud to complement its product portfolio. It chose Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2. TE Data is now well positioned to provide a cloud-based hosted service to customers at significantly less than the cost of physical servers.

Located in Perth, the Fujitsu Microsoft Solutions Centre is a centre of software excellence, helping Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand create and deploy world-class enterprise solutions based on Microsoft technologies. To provide an optimal service, the centre’s 70 consultants need to continually access and assimilate data from a variety of databases, spread sheets and intranets. In September 2011, IT staff deployed the self-service data application development tool, Microsoft Visual Studio LightSwitch 2011. The tool enables non-technical staff to rapidly create line-of-business applications that integrate data from a variety of data sources into professional-looking formats. As a result, the centre has helped staff improve their own productivity, and staff can readily share their data applications with customers and colleagues by hosting them with Windows Azure.

SkyWire Media needed a PC management tool to support a growing workforce. It deployed the latest version of Windows Intune, a cloud-based service from Microsoft, to manage office PCs and portable computers. SkyWire Media simplified software distribution and security upgrades and avoided U.S.$90,000 in IT costs. IT staff used proactive PC monitoring and remote support to boost productivity among sales staff, reducing support calls by 70 percent.

Based in London, Gazprom Marketing and Trading (GM&T) trades oil and gas in global markets for Russian parent company Gazprom. In early 2011, GM&T prepared to move its headquarters to a new London office. IT staff assessed how to provide cost-effective integrated multichannel communications for staff, including traders who depend on instant communication. They selected a unified communications solution based on Microsoft Lync, which includes Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and the client component, Microsoft Lync 2010. This platform integrates instant messaging, presence, audio, and voice communications, and as a result, staff can switch instantly between different communications channels, getting the information they need fast. Impressed by the system’s capabilities and the quality of the telephony, GM&T has started to deploy Lync in other trading offices.

Berlin-based web hosting provider STRATO—the second-largest web hosting firm in Europe—wanted to give customers a service on virtualised Windows-based servers to make its pricing more competitive. Previously, STRATO was only able to provision virtualised Linux servers, but demand for a cost-effective Windows-hosted solution was growing. STRATO chose Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V virtualisation technology and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 for manageability. Hyper-V guaranteed STRATO fast time to market—using a different solution would have taken three to six months longer. The company is now offering its 1.5 million customers a virtualised Windows Server operating system for half the price of a dedicated server. Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center technology deliver a virtual server on pre-provisioned hardware within minutes of a customer’s payment.

Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) of Washington had outdated computers that interrupted program delivery and reduced staff efficiency. As part of the Extreme IT Makeover program, a joint venture between Microsoft and HP, FEAT acquired Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials and Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 running on new HP ProLiant hardware. Now FEAT can focus on developing programs that reach more families living with autism.

Cairo Amman Bank set a goal to reduce employee travel costs and improve collaboration among its commercial banking branches in Jordan and Palestine. The bank opted for Microsoft Lync 2010. By using audio and video conferencing, branch managers and head office staff are able to cut business travel for face-to-face meetings. In addition, the sales cycle for financial transactions is shorter due to faster decision making.