| Case studies can often provide
an important and authoritative
overview of information technology
when it comes to deciding whether or
not to implement a particular IT
solution. These studies can also help provide
a basic foundation in understanding
how an IT product or solution can
solve a particular problem, enhance
an organization's information
system, and save money. Case studies
can also illustrate through
comparative analyses how one
information technology can out
perform another in certain
situations. Therefore, as a
Microsoft partner, we have listed
below links to several white papers
produced by Microsoft Corporation
that emphasize how some small,
medium and large businesses have
benefited by moving from UNIX and
its cheaper derivative
Linux, to a
Microsoft Windows based platform.
Contrary to what you may have read
in the trade press, businesses and
other organizations are more often
than not moving to Microsoft
technology, not necessarily Linux.
Linux has often replaced older UNIX
systems as more or less a interim
step until such time a company moves to
newer and more sophisticated technology
like
Microsoft Windows Server 2003.
Winebid.com bypasses Linux with
Microsoft Business Solutions
| To improve customer service and employee productivity WineBid.com needed to replace its outdated IT infrastructure, including a UNIX-based auction engine. Determining that Linux was too risky, the company chose to standardize on the Microsoft Enterprise Portal Framework to create, customize, and maintain two portals—an employee portal and a Web auction portal. It also deployed Microsoft Business Solutions–Great Plains to integrate with a new wine database and the auction engine. Using their portal to collaborate and access data, employees are saving 100 hours a month, providing better customer service, and making better business decisions. The new auction engine's search capability encourages customers to buy more wine, raising revenue by 10 percent. WineBid.com is saving $6,300 per month in UNIX developer costs and has reduced accounting staff by 43 percent. —Microsoft (2004) Click here for more details. |
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Merrill Lynch ditches UNIX for
Microsoft Windows and SQL Server
If,
as the saying goes, money makes the
world go around, then financial
brokerage houses serve as the
earth's axis. Understanding that
businesses seek peace of mind as
much as prosperity, brokerage house
Merrill Lynch & Co. needed to
enhance its institutional trading
business with a database technology
that could keep pace with the
company's increasing amount of daily
transactions data. Merrill Lynch
chose Microsoft SQL Server 2000 to
provide it with more efficient
database storage. As a result of the
new solution, Merrill Lynch found a
significant increase in its
processing performance, including a
threefold increase in processing
transactions. More importantly, the
company now has a larger database
capable of matching the company's
future business growth potential. At
this brokerage house, the earth now
spins a little faster.
―Microsoft
(2004)
Click
here for more details.
Coopervision purchases Windows
DataCenter Server as UNIX
replacement
CooperVision's existing server was
unable to support the performance
requirements of its fast-growing
iBaan ERP application environment.
The forward-looking company
evaluated a UNIX alternative but
decided to remain a 100-percent
Microsoft shop and deploy a scale-up
solution based on Unisys ES7000
servers, Microsoft Windows 2000
Datacenter Server and SQL Server
2000. The company has realized a
50-percent improvement in
performance with the new platform.
In addition, it will allow a cost
avoidance of $400,000 in equipment
costs per subsidiary site by
providing the opportunity to
consolidate operations on the ES7000
server in a global data center. The
new platform offers room for growth
that affords CooperVision the
agility needed to stay one step
ahead of its competitors.
―Microsoft
(2004)
Click
here for more details.
Safeway
avoids Linux and SCO Unix in favor
of Microsoft technology
| Safeway was running its nearly 1,800 in-store application processor servers on SCO UNIX and Informix. With few retail ISV applications supporting the platform, Safeway considered Linux and other UNIX variants but concluded that Microsoft Windows Server 2003 provides the best platform to meet their demanding requirements. This new server platform offered Safeway powerful, easy to manage security, remote administration, and software distribution—crucial benefits since Safeway doesn't put technicians in every store. Applications that ran independently are being moved to the Windows Server platform to benefit from its functionality and cost-effectiveness. New customer-facing Microsoft Windows-based applications under development at Safeway on the Windows Server platform are expected to boost customer satisfaction and revenues for the company. ―Microsoft (2004) |
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Click
here for more details.
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