These case studies are for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, in this summary. Microsoft, Windows, .NET, Windows NT and Visual Studio are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, digital or mechanical, including scanning, photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without first obtaining permission in writing from the publisher.

© 2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Contents .NET live

Introduction ...... 2

Entertainment and media British Show Jumping Association ...... 9 EnglandNet ...... 13 Subaru World Rally Team ...... 19

Industry AGCO Corporation ...... 25 BSH Appliance Care ...... 28 TheTrainline Business ...... 32

Public sector Inland Revenue ...... 37 Southend Hositals NHS Trust ...... 42 Transport Direct ...... 45

Retail services DABS.com ...... 51 Figleaves.com ...... 56 Wellness International ...... 61

1 Looking ahead to Longhorn

At the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference, held in Los Angeles in October 2003, Microsoft debuted Windows ‘Longhorn’, the code name for the next generation of the Windows platform, along with other key, next-generation platform technologies, such as Visual Studio ‘Whidbey’ and SQL Server ‘Yukon’. Microsoft Longhorn will enable developers to build great applications that connect people, groups and organisations, and that make mountains of digital information Chris Anderson meaningful and actionable. To get a fuller sense of what users can expect from the next version of the Windows platform, Information Age spoke with Chris Anderson, Don Box, and Quentin Clark, who are all helping architect Windows Longhorn.

Information Age (IA): How would you describe the driving forces behind the next generation of Windows? Clark: Windows Longhorn represents Microsoft’s effort to provide a new spectrum of possibilities and opportunities for the developer community. Much of what we are doing is based directly on what software developers, our partners, and our customers have told us they want from the platform. Windows Longhorn is about opening up innovation and getting the whole industry excited about the new kinds of applications they can build. Box: Increasingly we’re seeing developers being asked to build programs that talk to other programs. That’s a vitally important scenario in an increasingly connected world, and I think there’s lots of innovation within Longhorn that will enable those building applications to integrate code from a variety of sources. That’s going to make it much easier for developers, both to integrate applications with the Windows platform as well as solve a lot of common business problems – many of which depend on programs that don’t run on Windows. Quentin Clark Anderson: With .NET, we took the first step toward elevating the whole platform, and Longhorn is all about continuing that journey based on developer, partner and customer demand. One of the things we’re doing in the evolution of the Microsoft platform and Longhorn specifically is applying the concept of managed systems in more than just code. We’re going to have a notion of managed applications, which means that, by redefining what it means to be an application, the system can provide more services and value in the ecosystem around those applications. It’s all linked together to help developers focus on solving the problems they

2 Introduction have rather than being preoccupied with the infrastructure they need to build around the problems.

IA: How is each of you involved with the platform developments Microsoft spoke about at PDC? Clark: I work on ‘WinFS’, the code name for a fundamental new storage capability. As part of this managed-code platform, it will enable a whole new set of storage-based applications and capabilities that allow users to easily find and relate things and act on data that they have in their systems. With today’s storage systems, users have to remember things like, “What is the path to the PowerPoint slides I need?” With WinFS, users think about their data more naturally, and can get questions answered like, “Where are the slides I presented last week to this customer? What’s it related to? Who worked on this? Have I received any feedback?” Along with WinFS, the emergence of XML and Web Services has made information easier to describe and organise, and it has enabled a standardised way to store, process and share it. Box: In ‘Indigo’, which is what I work on, the main concept we deal with is that a single program by itself is nowhere near as interesting or useful as several programs that can work together in concert. We’ve spent a lot of energy in the past five years working with the industry to develop interoperable protocols based on Web Services, XML and service orientation. What we’re doing with Indigo is giving people a simple, unified way to take advantage of virtually any program that’s out there and to incorporate it into their world in an easy, reliable and secure way. In addition to making sure we have excellent implementation, we’re working with industry partners to ensure we’re all heading in the same direction so we can all provide the system interoperability that people want. The end result is connected systems that wire all the individual pieces together. Anderson: WinFS gets to store your data, while Indigo lets you talk to other machines, applications, systems and devices. Everything you see and feel on the PC goes through the presentation layer, which we’ve code- named ‘Avalon’, and which is my area. You could say Avalon is the Common Language Runtime’s face in the next version of Windows, it is the presentation layer. Developers want the ability to deliver rich text and great user experiences, and they want to blend those capabilities seamlessly with things like animation or video. The next generation of the

3 Windows platform will support all of this much more simply. With Avalon, we’re exploring the types of experiences developers want to enable, what are they being asked by those in their organisations to deliver and then looking back at the technology we have to let them accomplish those tasks. By integrating two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphics, documents, video, audio and animation, as well as tools to distribute and protect digital content, developers can more easily build software that is ‘LONGHORN’-ERA visually remarkable and offers a breakthrough experience to customers. GLOSSARY IN BRIEF IA: What was the significance of PDC 2003? Longhorn (code name): The Clark: We walked into PDC this year with an incredibly integrated, broad next major release of the platform offering that addresses many of the key needs of our customers Microsoft Windows and industry partners. We have a long way to go until we ship Longhorn, operating system. certainly but it’s very clear how what we’re doing all fits together. And it is also clear to everyone that there is a great path forward that starts Avalon (code name): today with managed code and the .NET Framework. Developers’ Graphics presentation investments in skills, code and tools will carry them into the future. technologies in Windows Anderson: I think PDC 2003 was amazing. I worked on PDC 2000, when Longhorn that provides a we announced .NET, and I believe that this year’s event absolutely unified architecture for eclipsed that one. Even with all the enthusiasm that was building up presenting user interface, before the PDC, people didn’t really understand what we’re going to show documents and media in them. PDC showcased some incredible innovations, from Whidbey [the the system. next version of the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET developer tool system] to Yukon [the next version of the Microsoft SQL Server database ClickOnce: Technology in management and analysis system] to Windows Longhorn. It’s exciting Windows Longhorn because we’re building on the .NET vision that generated so much buzz designed to speed and three years ago; we’re setting the stage for people to use those tools and simplify deployment of move the .NET Framework forward. applications. Box: We have spent a lot of time thinking about developer continuity. The Indigo team actually manages several technologies that are already out in Indigo (code name): .NET the field, such as COM, COM+, MSMQ and DTC, all of which were communications developed in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. At this year’s PDC, we let technologies in Windows people know that we won’t leave them behind when it comes to those Longhorn designed to build technologies. People’s investments in those technologies are going to and run connected move forward, as will those folks who recently invested in .NET. It’s very systems. exciting to be able to share with developers, our customers and partners the birthing of the whole platform, including an operating system.

4 Introduction IA: What kinds of reactions are you hearing from developers who have had the chance to experience some of the code that was passed out at PDC? Anderson: Developers were expecting us to do some innovations, but they are just amazed. We had something like 10 gigabytes of new stuff. People have been very surprised with what we’ve been willing to undertake in the next version of Windows. We’re advancing our user interface, our GDI [graphics device interface], huge portions of our networking stack, and our SuperFetch: Technology in file system. We’re moving over the majority of our code from the kernel Windows Longhorn memory manager to the Common Language Runtime. designed to help Clark: What I’m hearing is a lot of gears turning. People tell me they can applications launch more see how WinFS will revolutionise how people manage data on the PC. quickly. People are talking about innovations in their applications that they previously didn’t think were even possible. That helps validate our efforts Whidbey (code name): Next and reassures us we’re on the right path. generation of the Microsoft Visual Studio system of IA: How does the next version of Windows build on the work that software-development tools. developers are already doing today? Box: Developers who have embraced .NET will see their investments bear WinFS (code name): Next- fruit. Their experience with writing in C#, Visual Basic .NET, or any other generation search and data managed language will be a very useful skill in the Longhorn world. storage system that Understanding how to build XML and Web Services, which we obviously provides a unified storage put a lot of effort into in the first round of developing .NET technologies, model for applications will also serve developers well in the next generation of Windows. running on Windows Anderson: I often say that we spent a lot of time making sure we could Longhorn. leverage the developer, but maybe not always the code. There are cases where the developer will write new code to take advantage of the new WinFXTM: Windows innovations. But we wanted to make integration to the platform as easy Longhorn programming as possible. For instance, you can actually access a good portion of model used by software WinFS with the standard Win32 file library. If you want the richer developers to build functionality, then you can exploit the new API in your code. applications for the Windows platform. IA: How is Microsoft addressing the issue of security in the Longhorn ‘Yukon’ (code name): The development process? next generation of Microsoft Anderson: Security is a supreme priority for all of the design work in SQL Server database Windows Longhorn. In Avalon, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about software. how we’re going to have these rich, interactive applications that work across the network and make them run securely. So we’re building on all

5 the code access security work that happened in the .NET Framework. That enables us to have applications that are running in a less-privileged environment. So even if there is some potential to exploit security vulnerabilities, we’re making it less likely that such vulnerabilities can be accessed. Clark: Security is being designed into WinFS from the ground up. The design has the full bearing of the Windows security model and the CLR security infrastructure behind it. For the things that are stored in WinFS, we have a security model that allows full authentication and authorisation control. Box: With Indigo, we’ve built in secure protocols down to the metal so that every message can be secure. As soon as data and information go out of the box, there is a strong security infrastructure in place, based on decentralised authentication, federated identification, message-based securities, and more.

Microsoft technologies explained

The Microsoft® .NET Framework is a highly productive environment for component of the Microsoft Windows® development and integration with virtually any operating system that provides the data source, ranging from local Microsoft SQL programming model for building, deploying, Server CE databases to enterprise back and running web-based applications, smart ends. The Compact Framework’s unified, client applications, and EXtensible Mark-up hierarchical class library enables software Language Web Services. It provides a highly developers to rapidly construct rich user productive, standards-based, multi-language interfaces, access native operating system environment for integrating existing methods, and interoperate with assets on the investments with next-generation applications device, such as the infrared data port and and services, as well as the agility to solve other hardware extensions. the challenges of deployment and operation For more information go to: of Internet-scale applications. The .NET http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/ Framework consists of two main parts: the Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET is the rapid Common Language Runtime and a application development (RAD) tool for hierarchical set of unified class libraries that building next-generation web applications and includes a componentised version of Active Web Services. Visual Studio .NET empowers Server Pages (ASP.NET), a loosely coupled developers to rapidly design broad-reach web data access subsystem (ADO.NET), and an applications for any device and any platform. environment for building rich Windows-based In addition, Visual Studio .NET is fully applications (Windows Forms). integrated with the .NET Framework, providing The Microsoft .NET Compact Framework, a support for multiple programming languages subset of the .NET Framework, extends the and automatically handling many common benefits of developer productivity and Web programming tasks, freeing developers to Services integration to resource-constrained rapidly create web applications using their devices, such as Pocket PC and other language of choice. Visual Studio .NET Windows CE-based systems. It provides a includes a single IDE with RAD features for

6 Introduction IA: How can developers get started on the road to Longhorn today? Anderson: There is a ton of detailed and useful information at the new Longhorn Developer Centre on the Microsoft Developer Network site (http://msdn.microsoft.com/). The best general advice is to write managed code for new applications and start to exploit managed code selectively from existing applications, use Web Services for your connections with other systems, and take advantage of all the enormous power we have on the PC today. Box: I would tell folks to move to managed code and the .NET Framework, because doing so will make it so much easier to integrate with the Longhorn platform. In Windows XP, you can write in managed code, but most of the core capabilities were written in native code. With Windows Longhorn, if you’re writing in managed code, you’re going to have a lot of advantages. ■

building web applications and middle-tier solutions. Exchange 2003 is part of the business logic, and RAD XML designers for Microsoft .NET Windows Server System™ for working with data. building, deploying, and managing next- For more information go to: generation integrated web experiences. http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ For more information about Microsoft Microsoft Visual Studio is at the heart of Exchange 2003 Server, go to: MSDN® Subscriptions, a premier software http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/ service that provides developers with the Microsoft BizTalk® Server 2002 is for latest development tools and technologies. For orchestrating business processes within and more information go to: between organisations. It enables an http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/prodinfo/overview.asp organisation to build dynamic business Microsoft Exchange 2003 Server provides rock- processes, easily integrate applications and solid messaging and collaboration 24-hours a business partners, and ensure interoperability day, seven-days a week-with low total cost of using public standards. ownership. Designed with mission-critical For more information about BizTalk Server performance in mind, Exchange enables 2002, go to: http://www.microsoft.com/uk/servers/biztalk access to the people and information you Microsoft Windows 2003 Server™ is the server want, anytime and from anywhere. Combining operating system for line-of-business industry-leading reliability and scalability with applications and e-commerce. It provides you unmatched ease of management, Exchange with the opportunity to Internet-enable your 2003 seamlessly integrates with the Microsoft business, gain advanced manageability and Windows 2003 operating system and takes take advantage of the best new devices. advantage of the full power of the Windows For more information about Microsoft .NET 2003 Active Directory® service and security Enterprise Servers, go to: features. With Exchange 2003, businesses http://www.microsoft.com/uk/servers can further leverage their messaging infrastructure with value-added collaborative

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Microsoft. NET customer solution Entertainment and media

British Show Jumping Association seeks Olympic Gold through .NET

The British Show Jumping Association (BSJA) wanted to offer better leadership of the sport in the UK and to help source the information to breed a new generation of champions. The BSJA turned to Microsoft partner Networks Newmedia for support, having already decided to build its new computer system using the Microsoft .NET Framework and Microsoft SQL Server 2000. The first phase of the project involves a passport system for 150,000 horses.

BACKGROUND Customer profile The regulatory body for show jumping in the UK traces its history to The British Show Jumping 1923 when the BSJA was founded by 197 members. Since then the Association (BSJA), founded in sport has grown in popularity and today the association holds records 1923, is the regulatory body (literally CVs) on 150,000 horses, services up to 100,000 of its past for the sport of show jumping and present members and supervises annually 20,000 jumping horses. with 100,000 members and The BSJA also controls the British show jumping team in the UK and 150,000 show jumping horses, abroad, as well as 3,000 affiliated show days in the annual show 20,000 of which are jumping calendar. participants this year. With sponsorship and television rights creating a highly competitive environment for show jumping and the Olympics approaching, the BSJA Business challenge needed to ensure its record keeping was second to none. Every affiliated The BSJA was seeking a show jumping event in the country is obliged to submit results to the replacement for its cache BSJA, while all riders or horses entered must have their details logged legacy database that manages by the association for grading, prize money and qualifications. The BSJA every affiliated jumping horse appoints certain events so riders can qualify for the Horse of the Year and member in the country. show and other prestigious competitions. The BSJA accepts members of any age. It trains young riders, course Solution builders, judges and administrators who are all tracked on the BSJA’s The solution to replace the computer system. The ageing legacy system was installed in 1982 for current disparate systems is managing records on its members and show jumping horses. It runs on an intranet development based a cache database ‘green screen’ network. More than 30 users work on on the Microsoft .NET disparate systems including Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and various Framework. It was accounting packages. implemented by Microsoft What frustrated the BSJA most was the inflexibility of its legacy partner Networks Newmedia. system, high maintenance costs and the length of time it took to extract data from the system. The system lacked the agility to introduce new services for BSJA members and relied on double entry keying and manual support processes. Finally, the BSJA was spending £30,000 a year on its outsourced database and about the same amount again in other related maintenance costs to keep the system up-to-date.

9 Jack Knightley, press and marketing officer at the BSJA, says: “It was like the blind leading the blind. We never knew whether something was going to take 10 hours or 10 minutes. Our hierarchical database was so rigid that almost anything would need a new program.”

SOLUTION The BSJA made a clear decision at the outset to build an intranet development based on the simplicity of the Microsoft .NET Framework with its native support for Web Services. It used Microsoft Visual Studio .NET development tools, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft Windows Server 2003. By using Microsoft SQL Server as a relational database, the BSJA is replacing its legacy hierarchical system. Knightley says: “Microsoft is constantly upgrading its development environment and will continue to grow with us. We don’t have to worry about anything going out-of-date because with the Microsoft .NET Framework we’ve picked the market leader. If we want help in developing our system using Microsoft technology we can find four million people to “Microsoft is help us not four specialist programmers who charge us the earth. constantly Microsoft’s ability to train people is world renowned.” upgrading its In choosing Microsoft partner Networks Newmedia to implement the development project BSJA also came up with a winner. “Our previous experience was environment and with a company that patched things instead of mending them. Right from will continue to the start we felt that Networks Newmedia was listening to us,” says grow with us. We Knightley. “Instead of adopting a crisis management approach it has don’t have to worry proved to be the ideal hands on partner.” about anything The first phase of the project involved creating a passport system for going out of date horses with their ownership data, veterinary history and performance because with the details electronically archived. It went live in November 2003. Networks Microsoft .NET Newmedia has helped customise the entries by installing numerous fail Framework we’ve safe devices. “Our old system was extremely prone to errors,” says picked the market Knightley. “For example, the colour of a horse, say appaloosa, could be leader.” spelled up to 20 different ways and, as a result, database searches would be made more difficult. Now there is a drop down menu with the JACK KNIGHTLEY colours to choose from.” PRESS OFFICER AND The flexibility and scalability of the .NET Framework and the versatility MARKETING MANAGER THE BRITISH SHOW of Visual Studio .NET were major factors in bringing the passport system JUMPING ASSOCIATION quickly to market. Pete Waters, general manager, Networks Newmedia,

10 Entertainment and media Microsoft. NET customer solution Entertainment and media

says: “Microsoft gave us superb technical support. Its team sat, listened Benefits and understood our needs and advised on the right platform. Microsoft • Improved services to made sure we were able to deliver appropriately and quickly with a members ground breaking project.” • Reduced IT development Waters considers that if anything other than the .NET Framework and costs Visual Studio .NET had been used his developers would have ended up • Rapid return on investment coding the same thing three or four times. The .NET Framework has • Error free record keeping increased the communication and interoperability between the • Increased capacity to customer’s information systems thereby reducing friction in the regulate events business. He also believes that the security features in the Microsoft • In-house system control .NET Framework will help safeguard the integrity of the BSJA’s data. Networks Newmedia has now interested the UK’s Department for Software and services Environment Food and Rural Affairs in adopting the passport system for • Microsoft® .NET Framework horses nationwide. Waters says: “It is a government initiative to require • Microsoft® SQL Server every horse to have a passport so it will be clear which drugs the horse 2000™ has consumed in the event of it entering the food chain.” • Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET 2002 BENEFITS • Microsoft Windows Server New services for members 2003 The 100,000 members of the BSJA will all benefit from the new services that will now be introduced thanks to the .NET Framework. Once the Partners membership services are migrated to the system new members can Networks Newmedia apply online and memberships can be renewed via the web. As important to the BSJA is the vast improvement that will now take place in the recording of results and grades at show jumping events. Knightley says: “The .NET Framework will enable us to take advantage of new ways of recording data by electronic transfer of results where shows hold similar technology. This will hugely increase our ability to report events quickly.” Knightley says: “We want to get to a position where the results on a show jumping competition on a Saturday are available on our website by For more information about Monday morning.” Networks Newmedia, go to: www.networks.co.uk Rapid return on investment By investing in Microsoft technology the BSJA is not only future proofing its computer systems, but also saving large amounts of money on its maintenance and development costs. Knightley says: “We need to have

11 total flexibility and to maintain total control over our costs. This investment will certainly pay us back handsomely over a five-year period. All we will need to do in the future is upgrade because our technology is already future proofed.” Networks Newmedia also emphasises how much the BSJA has saved because of Microsoft support and back up. Dr Richard Petheram, Networks Newmedia senior developer for the BSJA project, says: “The major benefit is the support you get from the Microsoft flagship. This could have been done with an older development tool, but with Visual Studio .NET it is technically much easier. There is also a 30 per cent saving in development time compared to any other suite of products.”

Better business processes With the Microsoft .NET Framework as the backbone of its system, the BSJA will now develop better business processes and error free record keeping. As Networks Newmedia integrates more of the existing applications with the new technology, the new system will become accountable. It will log electronically every action and record placed against an individual and their horse, both in the UK and abroad. It will also contain all accounting information and be connected to the Sage accounts package running the financial side of the business. Waters says: “With the existing system, if an error occurs in transferring horse details it could take 40 minutes to an hour to change the ownership record of a horse with the potential for human error “With the power of because of the paperwork involved. With the new system, documents the Microsoft .NET are scanned, tracked and checked taking only a matter of minutes.” Framework we can Knightley says that the new technology will also give competitors and seek short cuts to owners greater protection against fraud. Security features used in the finding horses that Microsoft technology will help the stewarding of events and maintain the will bring home the reputation of the sport for fair and open competition. results at the Olympics.” Freeing staff for new challenges The BSJA is now equipped to play a much more active role in developing JACK KNIGHTLEY the sport of show jumping in the UK. The sport’s ruling body is looking PRESS OFFICER AND at ways of mining its data to help identify ways of breeding MARKETING MANAGER THE BRITISH SHOW new champions by analysing the breeds that are producing the JUMPING ASSOCIATION best performances. ■

12 Entertainment and media Microsoft. NET customer solution Entertainment and media

Regional tourism providers gain access to national markets using Microsoft .Net

EnglandNet was created to support the tourism industry by disseminating product and destination information. To achieve this, it has implemented a national distribution system that enables regional providers to access nationwide and international consumer markets. The new system has been developed by partner netdecisions, a systems integrator specialising in the tourism sector, using the Microsoft .NET Framework environment and Visual Studio .NET.

BACKGROUND Customer profile Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) represent 80 per cent of the tourism EnglandNet Ltd provides a industry in England. Historically, the distribution of their products beyond national distribution system for their immediate localities has been restricted and the growth of tourism tourism product and in the UK was hindered by the difficulties they experienced introducing destination information. The their products to a wider consumer base. company is jointly owned by A key challenge was that the cost of offering products to the wider England’s regional tourist national and international markets through global distribution systems boards and VisitBritain. (GDS) are prohibitive for most SMEs. Typical GDS customers include airlines and tour operators, whose scale of operation is many times larger Business challenge than the average tourism SME. Equally, distributors cannot afford to Regional tourist boards and outreach to each individual business. local providers have The Government created EnglandNet to provide a national distribution experienced difficulties in system for tourism products and destination information. Initially distributing tourism product Government funded, the organisation started trading as a limited company and destination information in April 2003 with the aim of being self-funded. It is placed at the heart of beyond their immediate the industry. Its shareholders are VisitBritain (40 per cent) and RTB localities. Specific challenges Enterprises (60 per cent), an organisation representing the English Regional have been access to Tourist Boards. In addition to product distribution, EnglandNet’s plans technology and prohibitive include a broad range of services to strengthen and support the go-to-market costs. strategies of the regional tourist boards and their members. These include offering web services, web creation tools, community tools, ecommerce services and content management services. Thomas Thiollier is head of sales and marketing at EnglandNet. He summarises the company’s role: “By channelling tourism product and destination information to sales and marketing organisations, EnglandNet aims to overcome the historical go-to-market difficulties experienced in the tourism industry. We make it easier for travel agencies, resellers, distributors and holiday makers to find, book, and pay for England’s tourism products. EnglandNet closes the loop between the offer and the demand.”

13 SOLUTION In selecting a partner to help them develop the solution they required, EnglandNet looked for a company with experience in the tourism sector, expertise in the latest technologies and a proven track record of delivery. netdecisions is a systems integrator that designs, delivers and implements business strategy, process and technology solutions. With a proven track record of developing tourism platforms and a reputation for in-depth technical expertise, the company clearly met EnglandNet’s criteria EnglandNet, as Thiollier confirms: “We were looking for a company that we could rely on to provide market knowledge and the best technologies, deliver on time and guide our future development. We felt confident that netdecisions understood and would help us meet our business objectives.” The decision to use the Microsoft .NET Framework as the technology platform for the project was jointly made by netdecisions and the EnglandNet technical team. Mike Morris, solutions architect at netdecisions, recalls: “Although we work with .NET and J2EE technologies, we favoured .NET as the platform of choice. The .NET technologies stood out as an efficient, cohesive and integrated development environment and were well matched to the EnglandNet IT strategy, which was already Microsoft focused.” The immediate need was for a national distribution system for tourism products and destination information. netdecisions worked with another technology supplier, TouchVision, to develop a data collection application “The .NET to populate EnglandNet’s central repository by taking information from the technologies stood diverse destination management systems (DMS) used by the regional out as an efficient, tourist boards. EnglandNet plans to provide information to the wider cohesive and tourism industry, including major GDS players, such as Amadeus, Galileo, integrated World Span and Sabre, as well as to consumers via the VisitEngland site development and other online commercial partners. It also provides links back to the environment and regional DMSs for booking confirmations. were well matched The interoperability mechanism, which facilitates the communication to the EnglandNet between the central repository, regional systems and distributors, takes IT strategy,” advantage of channels developed within ASP.NET and uses .NET C# classes to represent the business logic. As Morris explains: “We used MIKE MORRIS Web Services to enable other destination management systems to add SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT NETDECISIONS and edit product details. This means that regional tourist boards’ back- end systems can integrate to an EnglandNet product service which, in

14 Entertainment and media Microsoft. NET customer solution Entertainment and media

turn, allows EnglandNet to provide easy access across the industry to all Solution tourism products in the UK.” EnglandNet have developed a Introducing consumers to products is only the first step. EnglandNet system that gathers recognised that to close the loop between offer and demand it had to information from the regional provide additional support services that would facilitate the sales of tourism tourist boards and offers it to products. The provision of website services, both website creation tools and tourism distributors throughout community building tools, built around a content management system the country. The system also (CMS), is a key element in EnglandNet’s strategy to facilitate sales. These provides tools and services to services include providing the website infrastructure – hosting facilitate website development, environments, Internet access, domain name management – as well as site content and community blueprints and content templates. The .NET Framework class library, management, and ecommerce especially ASP.NET, was essential to the successful integration of the CMS, transactions. as Morris verifies: “We saw the ease with which we could integrate the content management capability into a service oriented architecture based Benefits on .NET as a very compelling proposition.” • Future-proofed technology The CMS allows professional websites to be developed quickly and strategy easily, without the need for technical web skills or a large budget. The • Fast development and .NET environment enables EnglandNet to offer services to site deployment administrators that let them drag and drop component views, such as • Increased productivity product search and itineraries, onto their web pages. In this way, it is easy • Reduced costs to deploy pages with appropriate content, presented using the look and • Fast market penetration feel or colours demanded by the branding of the client organisation. • Improved customer By supporting both the publication and distribution of content, the CMS experience helps providers broaden marketing strategies further, as Thiollier • Improved quality of service explains: “EnglandNet gives speedy access to rich content for targeted • Secure technology tourism campaigns, such as cycling holidays. It also provides tourist environment boards with functionalities and a source of content for their own regional • Platform for strategic growth sites, such as itinerary services or transport information.” He sees further advantage: “Using Web Services within the .NET Framework to offer such content as subscription services to commercial tourism organisations, it has been possible to establish revenue streams that will eventually allow EnglandNet to become self-funding.” The EnglandNet solution capitalises on the capabilities of the Internet to support special interest groups. Thiollier is enthusiastic about this: “Community tools facilitate the creation and support of groups, whose members share a common interest, by enabling providers and consumers to interact. This facility also allows tourist boards members to share ideas

15 and distribute industry news.” In addition, these community building services will enable EnglandNet to establish marketing portals for trade and end-customer communities that will supply up-to-the-moment information and news feeds. Commerce Server 2002 is an integral element of the solution in this respect, as Morris describes: “We used Commerce Server to tailor the user experience to the individual’s interests, needs and preferences. It provides channel administration, user profiling, and reporting features to enable EnglandNet partners to capture detailed information on the demographics of their site users. There are further plans to provide ecommerce services to facilitate sales transactions. These will give providers who are too small to offer online services themselves the opportunity to benefit from such exposure. Thiollier says: “The .NET Framework allows us to give product providers access to a great variety of distribution mechanisms, allowing them to choose which channels they use for distribution, taking into account criteria such as target audience and cost of distribution.” By ensuring that processes and dialogues between providers and consumers are consistent at national and regional levels, EnglandNet will also help to establish common standards of quality service across the industry and enhance the consumers’ experience. A further advantage for providers will be the ability to offer consumers alternative products and to capitalise on cross-selling and up-selling opportunities. “.NET provides a The current status of the project is that the CMS element, including long-term website services and community building tools, is live. The interoperability technology strategy service is available for implementation by DMS suppliers and will be be that will ensure rolled out throughout the regions in 2004. The go-live of the ecommerce EnglandNet can functionality is targeted at the end of 2004. respond to changing Morris is clear about the importance of the .NET Framework in these market trends and achievements: “With the .NET Framework they [Microsoft] have rivalled establish its place and even surpassed the competition in providing a standards-based, high- at the centre of the productivity development environment.” tourism industry.” BENEFITS THOMAS THIOLLIER Future-proofed technology strategy HEAD OF SALES AND MARKETING EnglandNet knows it must be able to respond to the changing pattern of ENGLANDNET demand. With .NET scalability, it will be as easy to respond to high

16 Entertainment and media Microsoft. NET customer solution Entertainment and media

consumer-led demand, as it is to respond to distributor demand for more Software and services business services. Morris confirms this: “.NET ensures EnglandNet is not • Microsoft® .NET Framework tied into a restrictive strategy. It provides a flexible hosting model capable • Microsoft® Visual Studio® of including more providers with the added benefit of minimising the costs .NET of doing so.” Thiollier says: “.NET provides a long-term technology • Microsoft® Visual C#™.NET strategy that will ensure EnglandNet can respond to changing market • Microsoft® ASP.NET™ trends and establish its place at the centre of the tourism industry.” • XML Web Services • Microsoft® SQL Server™ Increased productivity, reduced development time and costs • ADO.NET With 20 developers in the technical team for the project, it was essential • Microsoft® Commerce that code was managed effectively. Component-led development within the Server .NET Framework makes it easy to share code without jeopardising integrity. • Microsoft® Index Server A further benefit of re-usable code components is the savings in cost. “The • Microsoft® Active Directory .NET Framework, in particular Visual Studio .NET, provides an integrated development environment. By providing developers with one view, .NET Partners ensures efficient management of code components. It also increases netdecisions group productivity. Business logic, once coded and tested, can be re-used, reducing development effort, costs and time,” says Morris. Morris is particularly enthusiastic about the time saved: “In the case of the presentation layer alone, the efficiencies ASP.NET delivers reduced development time by 15-20 per cent compared with the time it might have taken using alternative technologies.”

Fast market penetration As a result of EnglandNet’s work, SME tourist providers will now have access to a distribution mechanism that allows them to take their product to market more efficiently and more accurately targeted than ever before. Thiollier expects the impact to be across the board: “In England there are 125,000 VAT registered providers in the tourism industry, 80 per cent of which are SMEs. Ultimately, the EnglandNet data management system will contain information about all of these. We intend to achieve high For more information about impact quickly and have set ourselves the initial target of covering 60 per netdecisions group, go to: cent by the middle of 2004.” www.netdecisions.com Improved consumer experience and quality of service By encouraging the larger providers and distributors to interface to its system, as well as the SMEs and regional tourist boards, EnglandNet

17 ensures the tourism consumer has access to the full range of products and services from one source.“The new system will enable EnglandNet to break the mould of Internet content in the tourism industry. The EnglandNet system encourages more efficient business process that better serve the consumer. It ensures improved consumer service by instilling more consistent and higher levels of offer quality. It will also ensure easier and faster access to rich information that more specifically meets the consumer’s requirements,” says Thiollier.

A platform for growth The flexibility of the platform created by the data collection and content management systems will ensure that EnglandNet can continue to increase the range of products it offers. This protects the investment made in developing the new system and guarantees long-term benefits for the industry and consumers by increasing the availability and choice of holiday options in England. Taken together, the website creation and community building tools and “The EnglandNet the planned ecommerce services, will provide SMEs with affordable system creates access to technologies that might otherwise be beyond their reach, new business enabling them to coordinate their marketing activities with national and opportunities international organisations. for providers, The benefits of the new system will be felt throughout the tourism destinations and industry. Thiollier is enthusiastic about its positive influence: “The the regional tourist EnglandNet system creates new business opportunities for providers, boards. Its national destinations and the regional tourist boards. Its national coverage and the coverage and the variety of services it offers will provide benefit to everyone in the value variety of services it chain and help to sustain the entire tourism industry.” offers will provide By offering the richest and broadest source of tourist information and benefit to everyone services, this unique system closes the gap between the product offering in the value chain and the distributors. Morris offers a simple summary: “The .NET and help to sustain Framework has allowed netdecisions to create a tourism solution that has the entire tourism not been equalled anywhere else in the world.” industry.” EnglandNet is confident about this model and its future and the EnglandNet Conference in December marked the start of the operational THOMAS THIOLLIER phase. The company name is now registered as NetworksFortourism HEAD OF SALES AND MARKETING (N4T) with trademark EnglandNet reserved for the name of the National ENGLANDNET Distribution System. ■

18 Entertainment and media Microsoft. NET customer solution Entertainment and media

Microsoft solution puts SWRT ahead of the competition

Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT) has created a new website with a solution built on the Microsoft .NET Framework. Content managers can now add new pages and types of content themselves quickly and easily using a bespoke content management system developed by leading web-based solution provider Domino Systems. The site, which brings all the latest news and results to journalists and fans, is now attracting 120,000 unique users per month.

BACKGROUND Customer profile The World Rally Championship (WRC) is a fast moving season of races The Subaru World Rally Team that takes teams, drivers, and their machines to the limits of their (SWRT) is run by Prodrive, a endurance. SWRT is a key competitor in the WRC, a competition which leading player in the runs over 14, three-day rounds on four continents. automotive industry. SWRT has In 2003, the Subaru World Rally Team won the Drivers’ Title with gained six World Rally titles Norwegian Petter Solberg. His team mate for the year was four-time since 1993. World Champion Tommi Mäkinen. The team competes with the two-litre turbocharged Subaru Impreza, Business challenge which delivers 300 brake horsepower. SWRT wanted a new website To keep journalists and rally fans up to date with all the latest results that was fast and easy to and rally news, SWRT developed an online presence in 1999. The update in house. It also website was created with a number of HTML templates into which wanted to improve scalability content could be uploaded. and site performance during In the following years, the team released several iterations of the site peak traffic periods. with updated designs, but similar underlying functionality in terms of both site administration and content. Solution During the evolution of the site, SWRT partnered with Domino A bespoke content Systems, a leading supplier of innovative web-based solutions. The management solution from company upgraded the site based on Microsoft Active Server Pages. Domino Systems built on the This version included a number of HTML templates and a simple Microsoft .NET Framework. administration area where users could upload documents such as press releases, points tables and driver profiles. Kristy Thompson, new media manager, SWRT, says: “The upgraded site Domino built for us was sophisticated at the time, but the system was not able to cope with our growing demands. There were instances when we couldn’t upload news to the site quickly enough in the administration area. It was also very difficult to add content that did not fit into the few HTML templates available. If we wanted to add a new kind of document, for example, we would need Domino to help us.”

19 The long-term plan was to add a range of new content to the SWRT site, but Domino was concerned that performance would be affected. Simon Lassam of Domino Systems says: “The ASP site would have slowed down if we added many extra pages and the number of visitors grew substantially. There was a danger that the site would become less responsive during peak traffic times, impacting on the experience of visitors.” As a result, SWRT began discussions with Domino to create a highly scalable solution that would accommodate a range of new content and enable news and other information to be uploaded quickly and easily.

SOLUTION While SWRT needed a way to manage the site more effectively, it did not need the full range of functionality available with off-the-shelf content management systems. As a result, it asked Domino to “Domino has made implement its bespoke content management system, which offered all the administration the functionality SWRT required while remaining an extremely cost- area of the site effective option. much richer by The Domino CMS was built using the Microsoft .NET Framework. It adding powerful was developed over two years using C#, an object oriented content programming language. management The Microsoft .NET Framework enabled Domino developers to reuse functionality. pre-built code functionality in class libraries, increasing their Before, we had just productivity. By using the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET developer tool, one type of which checks the syntax and logic of code being produced, Domino was template for press able to implement the SWRT solution quickly and accurately. releases. But with The old site had grown organically, with some sections much older different content than others. This made it difficult to achieve consistent functionality or requirements such look-and-feel across the site. The new solution ensures that the back- as distances, stage end database is more structured, with a standard interface to names, quickest all pages. drivers, and so on, The Domino content management system enables Subaru content we always craved editors to upload HTML templates quickly and easily, or create new more flexibility.” HTML templates on the fly to suit the page they want to add. Here, the process of building a new template is the same for all kinds of KRISTY THOMPSON NEW MEDIA MANAGER documents, from driver profiles to press releases or points tables. SWRT Thompson says: “Domino has made the administration area of the

20 Entertainment and media Microsoft. NET customer solution Entertainment and media

site much richer by adding powerful content management functionality. Benefits Before, we had just one type of template for press releases. But with • Better content for different content requirements such as distances, stage names, journalists and fans quickest drivers, and so on, we always craved more flexibility. • Improved site performance “Now, the content management system enables us to create our own • Rapid growth of site templates, depending on the documents we are putting together. We popularity can customise content from driver quotes, technical specifications of • Fast, flexible site cars, rally stage summaries, and end-of-day summaries. management “While we have always updated website content ourselves, big • A strong business changes required hard-coding from Domino. With the new content partnership with Domino management system, we can do everything ourselves using a simple, Systems and Microsoft user-friendly interface.” • Leading scalability To ensure the best possible user experience, content must be uploaded to the new site accurately first time. “We can be sure that all Software and services the content we upload will appear exactly where we want it on the • Microsoft® .NET Framework website,” says Thompson. “We can also preview the content so we can • Microsoft Visual Studio® be sure it will look right, rather than uploading it, finding a problem and .NET going back and forth.” Partners Finally, because of the performance of the new system, any new Domino Systems pages can be uploaded quickly. Even where pages contain photographs, they can be added without compromising the performance of the site. The solution will also support a rapidly growing number of visitors to the site and ensure excellent performance even at the busiest times during rally weekends.

BENEFITS Better content for journalists and fans During the last 12 months, SWRT has been improving the information available to both journalists and rally fans. Both groups are served with at least seven bulletins from 14 rallies per season. Because of the Domino Content Management System (CMS), timely driver, car and results information can be uploaded to the SWRT site. Thompson says: “Because we can now upload press releases and information such as stage summaries and quotes in near real time, the number of journalists visiting the website has grown significantly. “The next step will be to broaden the information that is specifically targeted at fans, such as photographs, audio, and video clips. To serve

21 fans better, we have already uploaded 700 images dating back to 1993. We are now able to add to this archive ourselves on an ongoing basis without any additional coding or agency involvement.” The WRC is a dynamic season of events. Next year, there will be even more rallies and more opportunities to report from new events around the world. Subaru will be ideally positioned to cover events more comprehensively than ever before, delivering news to site visitors as soon as it breaks.

Improved site performance Previously, adding new pages to the site could compromise performance. In addition, the architecture was creaking under the strain of increased user numbers during busy periods. Thompson says: “Before we implemented the Microsoft-powered CMS solution, the performance of the system was often compromised during peak user times on rally weekends. Now, with the new CMS solution we can upload any number of new pages, add new functionality such as video streaming, and handle huge numbers of users without the site slowing down.”

Rapid growth of site popularity Before the new CMS solution was implemented, the SWRT site was small. One content manager spent two hours per week updating news using rigid HTML templates. Now, a team of six people manage a host of website content on a “Because of the daily basis, using highly flexible templates that can be purpose built to work we have done fit different content types. This has resulted in the development of a with Domino, we dynamic site that is a critical resource for the motorsport press and now run the most rally fans worldwide. popular rally team Thompson says: “Before, we spent a couple of hours a week site in the WRC, managing site content, but it showed. Because of the work we have attracting 120,000 done with Domino, we now run the most popular rally team site in the unique visitors a WRC, attracting 120,000 unique visitors a month. month.” “We also have a mirror image of our site hosted in China and translated into double character language. This provides up-to-the- KRISTY THOMPSON minute rally news to journalists and fans across the entire NEW MEDIA MANAGER Asia Pacific region.” SWRT

22 Entertainment and media Microsoft. NET customer solution Entertainment and media

Fast, flexible site management Using the old ASP site, SWRT were restricted by inflexible HTML templates. For example, each press release had to contain all elements, such as heading, body text and a certain number of quotes. Now, pages can be fully tailored to the content quickly and easily, improving the look and feel of the site and saving time for site administrators. Thompson says: “We can now choose the content elements we want to ensure there is a perfect match between the material we publish and the page layout. We can also build pages and publish them much more quickly than before, which is a critical benefit when we are reporting from rally weekends where time is of the essence.”

A strong business partnership The activities of the SWRT content team are characterised by tight deadlines and constant change. The company needs to be sure that its site is always available, as well as being fast and easy to use and update. “We will always have very tight deadlines,” says Thompson. “We trust Domino to deliver systems that work first time every time. On all occasions we have worked with the company, it has answered our brief perfectly. Its decision to build the solutions on Microsoft technologies has also brought us significant benefits.”

A scalable solution The SWRT site architecture provides a highly scalable platform for future development. Not only will it handle the addition of new pages without compromising performance, it also enables the SWRT team to serve pages to journalists and fans quickly even during peak traffic times. For more information about Lassam says: “The solution we delivered is very scalable. The site Domino Systems, go to: already has eight sections, but this number could easily be doubled with www.domino.com the right navigation in place. The technology back-end can cope with up to 40,000 pages and almost certainly more. This ensures SWRT can add new content and new types of content in accordance with its evolving web strategy.” ■

23

Microsoft. NET customer solution Industry

ICS Solutions helps AGCO reap benefits from website

AGCO Corporation is the parent company of Massey Ferguson, one of the world’s leading agricultural machinery brands. It wanted to enable non-technical marketing executives to upload content, while keeping the look of the web pages consistent with its brand image. To achieve this, it implemented a content management system with the help of ICS Solutions, a leading Microsoft solution developer.

BACKGROUND Customer profile The agricultural industry is complex and fast moving, with low margins AGCO Corporation is one of the and tight budgets. Farm managers are increasingly reliant on accurate world’s largest manufacturers and up-to-date information to select the right equipment and processes. of agricultural equipment. It is The Internet is a key tool for helping them make effective decisions. the parent company of Massey Agricultural leader, AGCO Corporation, has a website for its key brand, Ferguson. Massey Ferguson, at www.masseyferguson.com. This is one of the leading makes of agricultural equipment worldwide, with products sold in Business challenge over 140 countries and annual sales of over $2.9 billion. The existing Massey Ferguson With a variety of customers, from dealer networks to individual farmers, website was outdated and aid organisations and national governments, AGCO needed a website that managed by a third party. It provides the right services and projects a suitable image. was also proving difficult to AGCO wanted the site to be a resource where customers could find update. AGCO wanted to enable information on new products, after-sales service and general advice that its marketing executives to reflected the brand’s 45-year pedigree. Maxine Hessari, general upload content as required, advertising and sales promotions manager for AGCO, says: “We needed without needing technical a good dynamic website to attract repeat visits from users, to inform and knowledge. It also wanted to even entertain the numerous enthusiasts who are fascinated by the ensure that all pages were history of the company and its engineering achievements.” What’s more, consistent with its brand image. with several international websites, AGCO was concerned that pages had a consistent look and feel in-line with its brand image. Solution As the website was managed by a third-party company AGCO had to ICS Solutions used the liaise with it every time it wanted to update the site. This was an Microsoft .NET Framework to inconvenient and time-consuming process, which meant that web pages create a solution based on were rarely refreshed. To address this issue, AGCO decided to bring Microsoft SQL Server 2000 control of the website in-house so that non-technical marketing executives and Microsoft Content could upload content in a timely and efficient manner. Management Server 2002.

SOLUTION Following an analysis of the content management market, AGCO’s internal IT department selected Microsoft Content Management Server

25 2002 as the primary method of organising content for the new website. Hessari says: “We’d previously had some issues with the Massey Ferguson EMEA website, using products that claimed to be fully supported content management tools, which on close inspection didn’t stand-up to those claims. Content Management Server proved to be a truly comprehensive solution for handling web content.” Seeking a development partner, it approached ICS Solutions, a leading developer of Microsoft-based solutions, based on recommendation. AGCO found that the company clearly understood its aims and objectives. As a Microsoft Certified Technical Education Centre, ICS was also able to offer structured skills transfer to the AGCO team to ensure that they were able to continue development of the site at completion of the project. The Microsoft .NET Framework, which provides Web Services-based connectivity for Microsoft Windows-based applications, was at the heart of the project. It enables the flow of information between the data, stored in Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Content Management Server, and the website. Coding took just 26 days using Microsoft Visual Studio.NET and the Microsoft Visual C# object-oriented programming language. The class libraries, a comprehensive collection of reusable code, ensured that development was quick and efficient. Jan Peterson, senior project manager at ICS Solutions, says: “The Microsoft .NET Framework is the glue that holds the site together. The functionality and control was all there for us. In particular, the pre-built components offered by the .NET Framework were crucial. If we’d had to start from scratch and do things manually the new site might not have been possible within the timescale required.” “Microsoft Content ICS Solutions developed the web pages using Microsoft ASP.NET, the Management Server latest generation of Microsoft Active Server Page technology. This is proved to be a truly inherently robust thanks to features such as automatic recovery from comprehensive memory errors, enhancing the reliability of the in-demand website. solution for handling web content.” BENEFITS Speed of deployment and reduced cost MAXINE HESSARI Thanks to the rapid application development, made possible by the use GENERAL ADVERTISING of the .NET Framework, ICS Solutions was able to deliver the website in AND SALES PROMOTIONS MANAGER just three months. Additionally, the solution enabled AGCO to reduce AGCO costs by removing the need for third-party support. This brings immediate

26 Industry Microsoft. NET customer solution Industry

cost savings while reducing management costs in the long-term. Hessari Benefits says: “The .NET Framework enhanced Content Management Server • Removes cost of third-party solution was good for us because of its great value for money, an support important consideration for a business of any size.” • Ensures web page consistency Minimising risk • Brings content into Crucially, using the Microsoft .NET Framework ensures that AGCO is knowledge workers’ hands confident about future support for its chosen development framework. • Guarantees support Hessari says: “It was important to us that our system was future-proofed. • Provides platform for future By selecting Microsoft, AGCO is guaranteed that there will be ongoing growth support and development thereby protecting our investment.” • Enhances customer service

Easy customisation Software and services In addition to the speed of development, the strict design requirements for • Microsoft® Content the templates presented another challenge for ICS Solutions. Peterson Management Server 2002 says: “AGCO had distinct ideas regarding items such as headers and • Microsoft SQL Server™ footers, as well as specific navigation requirements. This meant 2000 customising Content Management Server. This only took a few days, • Microsoft Visual Studio® thanks to the .NET Framework and its class libraries.” This enabled ICS .NET 2003 Solutions to produce the designs exactly as AGCO had envisioned them. • Microsoft ASP.NET Hessari says: “We were expecting to have to compromise our designs but • Microsoft Visual C#™ as it turned out we didn’t have to do so at all.” Employees can now concentrate on producing content rather than Partners grappling with technical issues, increasing the usefulness of the website. ICS Solutions Hessari says: “The templates don’t require specialist knowledge and are easy to use. We are putting ownership of content back into the hands of the knowledge workers, where it really belongs.”

Preparing for the future While ICS Solutions already had the required C# skill base, it was necessary to transfer these skills to AGCO’s internal IT Staff to permit them to continue development. While this seemed daunting at first, once ICS Solutions demonstrated the advantages of C#, AGCO’s staff were For more information about ICS Solutions, go to: www.icss.com eager to get on board. Thanks to the training given to them by ICS Solutions, the AGCO IT Department now has plans to integrate its Microsoft SharePoint Portal 2001 Server with Microsoft Content Management Server using the .NET Framework. ■

27 Domino provides customer care solution for BSH Appliance Care

BSH Appliance Care offers after-sales support to four major domestic appliance brands – Bosch, Siemens, Gaggenau and Neff. BSH has implemented a website that improves communication with customers and makes its business more efficient. Domino Systems chose Microsoft technologies and the Microsoft .NET Framework to construct a custom-built content management solution that saves its customers time and increases satisfaction.

BACKGROUND Consumers are more demanding than ever and expect quality goods and services. But what differentiates successful companies from their competitors is also the quality of their after-sales service. This is especially true for BSH Appliance Care, the award-winning service division of BSH Home Appliances Ltd. The company has 430 after-sales staff in the UK and Ireland who provide support for four major domestic appliance brands – Bosch, Siemens, Gaggenau and Neff. BSH prides itself on the ability to deliver unrivalled response times to its customers, by fixing around 90 per cent of all problems on an engineer’s first visit – saving its customers time and money. IT is central in helping BSH achieve this level of efficiency, and every one of its engineers is equipped with a laptop computer to record information obtained from site visits. Despite this reliance on IT, BSH Appliance Care didn’t have a website until 2001. Its call centre was only available during office hours and “We looked at other was the only way for customers to make contact. developers, but BSH decided that it needed another way of communicating with were most customers. A website was the ideal solution to ensure access to after- impressed with how sales support 24-hours a day, seven-days a week, and provide Domino understood customers with the opportunity to purchase spare parts. As a visual our needs, and in medium it would also have an advantage over the call centre. This particular would increase customer satisfaction and further the reputation of each appreciated the of the four brands. importance of our Andreas Doege, commercial supervisor at BSH Home Appliances Ltd, brands.” says: “As a service provider, we always have our customers in mind. We were looking for a solution that would save them time and money, and ANDREAS DOEGE increase satisfaction.” COMMERCIAL SUPERVISOR The company needed to be able to access and update the website BSH APPLIANCE CARE quickly and easily, but it also wanted to reduce training costs. In

28 Industry Microsoft. NET customer solution Industry

addition it needed to keep the four makes quite distinct and in-line with their respective brands. Doege says: “Our sales and marketing teams invest a lot of money in branding, so it was important to maintain that customer experience on our website.” Customer profile BSH Appliance Care provides SOLUTION after-sales support for four Towards the end of 2001, BSH approached a number of developers with major domestic appliance a brief to build a website. Following an extensive review process, it brands -Bosch, Siemens, selected Domino Systems, a leading supplier of innovative web-based Gaggenau and Neff. It employs solutions. 430 staff. Domino had already produced a successful website for Neff, one of the brands of the BSH group. Doege says: “We looked at other Business challenge developers, but were most impressed with how Domino Systems Its call centre was only understood our needs, and in particular appreciated the importance of available during office hours. our brands.” Customers wanted access to Domino built a website based on its own customised content after-sales service 24-hours a management solution. This had a three-tier architecture and used the day, seven days a week. It Microsoft .NET Framework. The data-services layer runs on the needed a website to give Microsoft WindowsServer 2003 operating system and uses Microsoft customers continuous SQL Server 2000 as the database. The middle-tier business logic layer availability, and provide them generates XML and sends it to the presentation layer. All the code is with the opportunity to written in the C# programming language using Microsoft Visual Studio purchase spare parts. .NET, a next generation development tool for building Microsoft .NET applications. Solution Jeremy Anderson, senior consultant at Domino, says: “We chose the Domino Systems created a .NET Framework because of the productivity advantages it brings to custom-built content developers. This is thanks to tools such as Microsoft Visual Studio management solution, using a .NET, which offers a rich rapid application development (RAD) number of Microsoft environment, reducing development time, complexity and costs.” technologies with the Microsoft To accommodate each of the brands, the site has a different look .NET Framework at the heart of depending on which site the customer has come from. This is made the new system. possible by templates, with the relevant content automatically generated by the content management system. If the customer goes directly to the BSH Appliance Care site, they select which brand they need support for from the home page. The new website is now live following a development period of only a few months.

29 BENEFITS Speedy development reduces costs The .NET Framework has enabled Domino to create quickly a powerful content management system at an affordable level. Through support for class libraries – collections of reusable code with specific functions, Visual Studio.NET enables developers to rapidly build and deploy powerful applications, saving development time. Additionally with SQL Server at its foundation, Domino can be sure that its content management solution will scale easily to accommodate BSH Appliance Care’s future needs. SQL Server features, such as Online Backups, ensure reliability by enabling the database to be backed up while still running, avoiding disruption to all the brand sites.

Easy site maintenance BSH Appliance Care now has a website that caters to the needs of 12,000 visitors a month, while maintaining the distinct look and feel of each brand. Staff can quickly and easily upload content to the website without requiring great technical knowledge. The system integrates quality assurance into workflow processes thanks to a built-in approval system. This works by sending emails to relevant managers, alerting them to changes that have been made before they are uploaded to the “The .NET site. Additionally, BSH can be sure that potential customers can find the Framework not only site, as the content management system generates pages as HTML, enabled us to build which assists web searches. an effective solution Doege says: “Users have adapted to the new content management for BSH, it also system very easily, and training took just half a day, helping to keep our provided an overheads low. It has also enabled our customers to save both time and immediate money as they now have a direct and fast link to BSH.” springboard for further growth. BSH Better customer care now offers The site has been a major success, receiving up to 900 visits a day. enhanced customer The content management system enables staff to place information on service and a new the site that is useful to consumers. A frequently asked questions (FAQ) revenue stream.” page contains solutions for common problems. Thanks to a feedback form, BSH Appliance Care is able to gauge exactly what customers JEREMY ANDERSON SENIOR CONSULTANT require and then place it on the site. DOMINO SYSTEMS “We can now use pictures and videos to provide clear guides for

30 Industry Microsoft. NET customer solution Industry

customers. This saves customers the time and expense of having to wait for an engineer visit, and reduces costs by enabling engineers to be deployed more efficiently. Ultimately it enables us to live up to our name and deliver the high levels of customer care and service expected Benefits from BSH.” • Rapid time to market This high level has been recently recognised by customers who voted • Reliable and accurate BSH Appliance Care as the nation’s best service provider in a very • Easy to update and comprehensive survey among customers of the 10 biggest home maintain appliance manufacturers in the United Kingdom. The survey is carried • Customers get better out by Domestic & General, one of the biggest insurance companies in service Great Britain specialising in repairs. Over 450,000 British customers • Scalable for new business were asked for their opinion and 50 per cent sent their answers back! opportunities The winner receives the Total Excellence & Quality Award. • Reduced costs Since the survey was launched in 1998, BSH Appliance Care has showed improvement every year. In 2002 BSH Appliance Care was Software and services runner-up and in 2003 it reached the top position with scores never • Microsoft® .NET Framework before achieved by any other service organisation in the UK. • Microsoft Visual Studio® The great value of this award lies in the fact that it is customers .NET directly who judge the service. They can comment on the quality of their • Microsoft SQL Server™ repair, but the questionnaires also cover the whole repair process from 2000 the initial telephone call with the customer through to the politeness, • Microsoft Windows® Server punctuality, appearance and efficiency of the repair agent. 2003

New opportunities Partners The system’s success has prompted BSH to explore other means of Domino Systems leveraging its website to better serve its customers and further enhance its business. Spare parts can be purchased from the current site and BSH now plans to extend this feature to become a more fully featured online shop. Accessories, consumables, and small electrical goods, such as kettles and toasters, will be featured in the enlarged online catalogue. For more information about As with the main site, the different look and feel for each brand will be Domino Systems, go to: preserved. http://www.domino.com Anderson says: “The .NET Framework not only enabled us to build an effective solution for BSH, it also provided an immediate springboard for further growth. BSH now offers enhanced customer service and a new revenue stream.” ■

31 Microsoft helps TheTrainline to deliver information to mobile phones

When Virgin Trains won the contract to run the UK’s West Coast mainline it decided to rebrand its existing website as TheTrainline.com. When TheTrainline won a contract to provide timetable information for National Rail Enquiries it was obliged to make that information available to mobile phone users. To do this its development partner CGE&Y created a Web Service using the Microsoft .NET Framework. Users can now access timetable information using a WAP browser.

BACKGROUND For firms in any industry, innovation breeds success. This was the motivation behind the creation of the TheTrainline website in 1999. Virgin Trains launched the site after winning the franchise to run the UK’s West Coast Mainline. Following the dot-com boom, Virgin Trains realised that its web site could provide a unique business opportunity. To take advantage of this, it rebranded the site as TheTrainline.com. This was an impartial site that was not associated with any particular train operator. The site has since expanded to power the online journey planner of several other train companies. It enables “We are pioneering consumers to buy tickets online as well as related services such as in the mobile space booking hotels. just as we were on In April 2003, TheTrainline won the contract to provide the National the Internet. As Rail Enquiry Service timetable service on the web. As part of this deal third-generation it was obliged to create a solution that would supply timetable devices become information to train users over mobile phones. standard and This tied in with TheTrainline’s long-term strategy to extend its connection speeds business model and create new revenue streams. The company improve, we will be wished to gain a foothold in the mobile space so that it would be well well placed to move placed to take advantage of future telecommunications developments from timetable such as the emerging 3G standard. Additionally, it could then offer its information to ticket timetable services to other channels. retailing. This will Kizoom, a software company specialising in supplying transport enable end users to buy tickets more information for mobiles, had independently developed a service to conveniently from deliver timetable information to mobiles, however the underlying their phones.” timetable data application had become unsupported. Impressed by Kizoom’s experience of working in this area, TheTrainline teamed up with it to provide its timetable information to mobile phones using the ROBERT PARKINSON DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR WAP standard. THETRAINLINE WAP is a means of delivering information services to mobile phones

32 Industry Microsoft. NET customer solution Industry

and operates over standard second generation GSM networks, 2.5G Customer profile GPRS networks and third-generation phones. TheTrainline offers timetable information and ticket retailing SOLUTION to customers over the phone, TheTrainline required a solution that would make its timetable the Internet and over mobile information available to Kizoom. It understood that this would require phones. It was established in creating a solution based on Web Services and the Microsoft .NET 1999 by Virgin Trains and was Framework. This is a set of next-generation platforms that enables the first online ticket retailer. information to be passed easily between systems and devices. To create this solution, TheTrainline turned to its development Business challenge partner Cap Gemini Ernst and Young (CGE&Y), which is rated as one of As part of its deal to supply the top two global providers of .NET Framework and Web Services- timetable information for based solutions by the key analyst organisations. It is also the winner National Rail Enquiries, of Microsoft’s 2003 Global Services Partner of the Year Award for its TheTrainline was obliged to leadership and innovation on the Microsoft platform. make this information available The relationship between the companies stretched back to the to users over mobile phones. setting up of the original Virgin Trains website. CGE&Y has a deep At the same time it wanted to understanding of TheTrainline’s business needs and a sound make this information available appreciation of the potential of TheTrainline’s service offering. to other partners to create new Using the .NET Framework, CGE&Y created a solution that used Web revenue streams for the Services to offer mobile users the same experience as users of the company. website. CGE&Y chose to use the .NET Framework rather than alternative technologies such as Java, to save development time and Solution reduce costs. Its development partner CGE&Y Sean McBreen, lead Microsoft solutions architect, CGE&Y, says: created a Web Services-based “The existing system is made up of hundreds of thousands of lines solution using the Microsoft of code based around Microsoft Visual Basic and Active Server .NET Framework. Pages, so it was a natural progression for team members to use the .NET Framework.” CGE&Y found that using the .NET Framework was easier than starting from scratch with a new technology. McBreen says: “We were able to capitalise on the investment that had already been made. We programmed using Visual Basic.NET to keep a level of consistency in terms of the language used and to minimise the skills transition.” The beauty of Web Services based on the Microsoft .NET Framework is that by using XML, it’s possible for information to flow between systems that run on different platforms. This proved crucial, as the Kizoom service runs on a Java-based platform.

33 The way the solution works is simple but elegant. Users send requests for timetable information from their mobile phones through one of many WAP portals provided by mobile operators. This request is sent to Kizoom, who strip out the raw data from this and send it in XML format to TheTrainline. TheTrainline then draws that information from its database and returns it to Kizoom, which finally presents this to the user via the Kizoom interface. The service already responds to 16,000 enquiries a day. These are direct from the National Rail Enquiries and from portals on the Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, and 3 networks.

BENEFITS Industry pioneers With the solution that CGE&Y created, users can now access timetable information on the move using WAP. Furthermore, TheTrainline now has a new revenue stream for its timetable information services. While this is beneficial in the short- term its real significance is that as the only company supplying timetable information to mobile phones, TheTrainline has established itself as a leader in its field. It puts TheTrainline in a position to take advantage of future developments in mobile technology, such as 3G, which offers far greater data bandwidth and speed than 2G and 2.5G networks. Robert Parkinson, development director, TheTrainline, says: “We are “Thanks to the pioneering in the mobile space just as we were on the Internet. As power of Web third-generation devices become standard and connection speeds Services we now improve, we will be well placed to move from timetable information to have a generic ticket retailing. This will enable end users to buy tickets more interface that’s far conveniently from their phones.” more effective and scalable than the previous available Confidence in Web Services options.” Parkinson is also certain of the importance of Web Services in making this a reality. He says: “In the last couple of years everybody has been over-hyping Web Services but we’re not going down that route. ROBERT PARKINSON, DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Standards have become a reality since 2001, moving from conceptual THETRAINLINE to actual. TheTrainline solution is a great example of this. We have

34 Industry Microsoft. NET customer solution Industry

direct applications for Web Services and they now provide us with Benefits access to different types of clients and businesses.” • Provides timetable The technical advantages of the .NET Framework also bring real information to end-users business benefits. McBreen says: “We were able to tailor our solution over mobile phones to a partner’s system that was not on the same platform. The .NET • Enables TheTrainline to Framework auto-generated much of the code that makes this possible, work with new partners saving us time and money-its an intelligent state-of-the-art platform.” • Provides new revenue The .NET Framework also has the scalability to cope with the greater streams service demands that TheTrainline expects in the near future. McBreen • .NET Framework saves time says: “The .NET Framework delivered the performance that we needed and reduces costs to enable us to achieve thousands of requests per hour. In the near • Protects investments in future we expect tens of thousands of requests per hour, serving existing infrastructure several different partner applications – all this is made possible economically through .NET.” Software and services • Microsoft® .NET Framework On track for future success • Microsoft® Visual Following on from the success of the solution, TheTrainline is now Basic®..NET looking for new ways of extending its business model and for • Web Services opportunities to do business with new partners, using Web Services Enhancements as the preferred mechanism. Its plans for growth include making its services available to travel Partners companies who will be able to integrate their own systems with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young TheTrainline timetable information. TheTrainline also intends to enter new markets such as interactive TV. This will enable users to buy tickets from the comfort of their armchairs. It also wants to offer its services available over company networks so employees can easily check timetable information and buy tickets from one easy-to-use interface. Web Services will be used to deliver these services to the various portals. These would render that information in the most suitable form for the medium. For more information about Cap Parkinson says: “Thanks to the power of Web Services we now have Gemini Ernst & Young, go to: a generic interface that’s far more effective and scalable than the www.cgey.com previous available options.” CGE&Y has already begun planning and building a more sophisticated infrastructure to offer more services and broaden the reach of the TheTrainline to a greater range of partners. ■

35

Microsoft. NET customer solution Public sector

Web Service unlocks Government Gateway for electronic PAYE returns

In response to the Government’s demand for electronic filing of employers’ PAYE returns by 2010, Digita has developed a payroll service for small businesses. The solution deploys off-line ‘smart clients’ to capture payroll returns. These are automatically filed, via a Web Service, to the Government Gateway, as soon as an Internet connection becomes available. The solution uses the Microsoft .NET Framework and Microsoft Office System components.

BACKGROUND Customer profile As part of the Government’s e-government initiative, all employers in the Digita is a leading financial UK will have to file their Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) returns electronically by services software company and 2010. Companies with 250 employees have to file returns electronically a Microsoft partner. Founded in by May 2005, for those with between 50 and 249 staff the deadline is 1986, Digita provides solutions May 2006, while for those with fewer than 50 employees the deadline is for the Inland Revenue, May 2010. Companies who fail to comply with the appropriate deadline Microsoft, accountants in will have to pay a penalty of up to £3,000 per annum per PAYE scheme, practice, consumers and major in addition to any existing late filing penalties. Internet portals. Electronic PAYE returns can be made directly or through an intermediary, such as a payroll bureau or agent, but electronic filing will be compulsory. Business challenge Payments will be made via the Government Gateway, a centralised The UK Government is registration portal for e-Government services in the UK. Registered users of introducing electronic filing for the gateway can access any of the UK Government’s services available on employers’ PAYE returns via the the Internet by using a secure user ID or digital certificate to send and Internet to the Government receive forms through Government websites or third-party providers. Gateway. The compulsory filing To encourage compliance and early adoption of e-filing, the UK date varies with the size of the government has introduced financial incentives and set some earlier pre- company, but all companies compliance deadlines. For example, small companies with less than 50 have to comply by 2010. employees who adopt e-filing before their 2010 deadline, will be eligible Companies that fail to do so to receive £825 over the five years between 2005-2010.As well as will have to pay substantial ensuring prompt submission of P14 and P35 PAYE returns, e-filing is financial penalties. expected to save time, reduce errors and simplify payroll processing. Solution SOLUTION Digita were approached by Digita is a financial services software company, employing a team of 50+ Microsoft to develop a simple dedicated developers to create solutions for the digital financial and accessible Web Service marketplace. Founded in 1986, Digita provides solutions for the Inland that would allow users of the Revenue, Microsoft, accountants in practice, consumers and major Office 2003 system to access Internet portals. Digita is a leading financial technology provider and a the Government Gateway and Microsoft partner. Since 1998, Digita has been responsible for use the online services.

37 developing the personal finance CD-ROM software family, Microsoft Money, Microsoft Financial Suite and Microsoft Personal & Business. Given the company’s rich technological experience, financial expertise and proven track record of delivering online commercial tax services, Jeremy Rihll, managing director of Digita, was delighted to be approached by Microsoft to respond to the Government’s electronic PAYE filing initiative: “On the basis of our previous work, Microsoft’s UK Office 2003 launch team invited Digita to develop a simple and accessible Web Service that would allow users of the Office 2003 system to use Government services. Out of this effort, we developed the payroll service for small businesses.” An essential requirement of the payroll service was that the solution should make the transition from manual to electronic systems as easy as possible. To this end, Digita deployed the front-end using Microsoft Office System components to give users a familiar interface to work in. InfoPath 2003 provides forms for the dissemination of information where users do “The .NET not require record-keeping facilities, while Excel 2003 workbook Framework is components provide payroll record-keeping facilities for companies who excellent for need them. The versatility of these components enabled Digita to build a creating Web powerful, yet intuitive front-end solution, capable of interacting with Services. It treats enterprise-wide business processes and data. everything as The back-end requirement was for a Web Service capable of validating objects. There are the data before packaging it and securely transmitting it to the Inland other technologies, Revenue Internet Filing service through the Government Gateway. but we haven’t Paul Duffield, product manager at Digita, did not underestimate this found any set of task: “The Government Gateway is a complex beast. It does not utilise tools that makes the latest programming methods or technologies and, consequently, can Web Services as be quite difficult to use.” Nevertheless, he considers the Web Service simply. Everything in strategy to be the obvious solution: “Once you have put a Web Service in Visual Studio .Net front of the Government Gateway, it can be easily used by a number of and the .NET forms, whether they be tax return or payroll forms, without further huge Framework is very development effort.” coherently tied The Microsoft .NET Framework was a natural choice for this work as together.” Digita already had experience with the technology, as Rihll confirms: “Digita was an early adopter of the .Net Framework technology. Our CRAIG BUCKLER LEAD DEVELOPER expertise is writing financial systems for governments and accountants. DIGITA .NET is the right corporate strategy for us. It allows us to focus on our

38 Public sector Microsoft. NET customer solution Public sector

domain expertise without being side-lined into time consuming non-core Benefits development frameworks.” Rihll was also confident about the support his • Future-proofed technology company would receive: “Having based our development on Microsoft strategy technology for over eight years, we know that Microsoft is very supportive • Increased development of us. They encourage and lead us in the right direction.” productivity Craig Buckler, lead developer at Digita, enthusiastically supports the • Reduced costs .NET choice: “The .NET Framework is excellent for creating Web Services. • Secure technology It treats everything as objects. There are other technologies, but we environment haven’t found any set of tools that makes Web Services as simply. • Compliance with mandatory Everything in Visual Studio .Net and the .NET Framework is very PAYE e-filing before coherently tied together. Not only that, but compliance with industry deadlines standards means that anyone using a services-capable application will be • Eligibility for e-government able to use our payroll filing gateway.” financial incentives Buckler also emphasises the importance of the coherence between the • Enables employers and front-end components and the .NET Framework, particularly in ensuring agents to fill in their returns usability and efficient on-going development of the payroll service: online using electronic “InfoPath focuses on the electronic reproduction and use of forms, making forms it an ideal tool for the payroll filing gateway project. It also makes it • Easy-to-use, low-cost incredibly easy to talk to a Web Service because, once pointed at the solution based on familiar service, InfoPath automatically creates the necessary forms for you. Microsoft tools Consequently, once the Web Service was in place, the client-side • More efficient end-of-year development was very straightforward. In the next few years we see PAYE reporting InfoPath as being an increasingly important part of our business.” • Guaranteed production of As the solutions are offline users can control the security of their own P60 and other mandatory data. ‘Smart client’ payroll returns can be completed and stored on the forms user’s own PC, ready for transmission to a Web Service on a secure • Improved employee Internet server whenever an Internet connection becomes available. collaboration and The simplicity and security that .NET brings to such development productivity projects is appreciated by Duffield who is delighted with the outcome: • Reduced paper-based costs “We now have a Web Service that sits between the client application and through use of electronic the Government gateway. While previous applications written to use the forms Government gateway involved creating and validating a large XML document, having to manage various dialogues with the Gateway to pass data, and receiving reports confirming pass or fail and what errors there were if any, with Web Services we simply sit in the centre of this process. This means that service-aware client applications can file very quickly. All the complexity is removed.”

39 Barry Glassberg, director of E-Services at the Inland Revenue, says: “The Inland Revenue has worked closely with payroll companies for many years. We were delighted when Microsoft and Digita decided to develop a solution to encourage greater numbers of employers to submit their end- of-year returns online.”

BENEFITS Improved productivity saves development time... The .NET Framework offers an exceptionally efficient technical environment. The benefits delivered as a result include savings in development time, cost reductions and faster deployment. “On projects that typically would have taken eight to nine months, we are achieving time savings of 65-70 per cent. Much of this is achieved simply by not having to hand code, as we have done in the past, and by being able to re-use code. Once components have been coded for the application, regardless of the language, the .NET Framework makes it possible to re- use them across all web applications. This, in turn, reduces the time required for testing, bug fixing and re-testing,” says Duffield.

... and money “The Inland Revenue Add to these efficiencies the speed of development derived from the has worked closely inherent integrity of the .NET environment and the savings made are with payroll considerable. “Standard Web Service development using C#, the .NET companies for many Framework and Visual Studio .NET delivers significant cost benefits. C# is years. We were a very elegant language, easy to learn and straightforward to use. Visual delighted when Studio .NET has none of the clumsiness of other development Microsoft and Digita environments. And the .NET Framework library is so complete, there are decided to develop objects for absolutely everything you can think of,” says Buckler. a solution to Duffield takes up the theme: “Typically, it took two or three months’ encourage greater work to create one of our client products for the Government Gateway. numbers of However, now the Web Service has been built, the time it is taking us to employers to submit build other clients has reduced to an average of a week.” In commercial their end-of-year terms this reduction in development time represents a cost saving to returns online.” Digita of about £75k.

BARRY GLASSBERG DIRECTOR OF E-SERVICES Protection for personal and financial data INLAND REVENUE Dealing with personal financial data, its transmission through different

40 Public sector Microsoft. NET customer solution Public sector

systems, and its presentation to the Government Gateway, means that Software and services security has been a key issue throughout the payroll service project. • Microsoft® .NET Framework Digita’s work in the financial services sector has provided much • Microsoft® Visual Studio® experience dealing with such issues and the company is confident that .NET the .NET environment can meet the most exacting demands. • Microsoft® Visual C#™.NET Duffield recognises the advancements Microsoft has made and, in • XML Web Services particular, the benefits .NET brings in this respect. “Microsoft recognise • Microsoft® Office System™ security is a major concern to people and has made it a special focus in 2003 the last few years. It is a key part of the .NET Framework, which is rich • Microsoft® Office InfoPath in features to ensure systems are as secure as possible. Indeed, .NET ensures it is very easy to achieve. There’s nothing special you have to Partners do, it’s all there in the Framework for you. And being compiled, .NET is Digita already more secure than other interpreted development environments,” says Duffield.

Meeting future business needs Digita knows that the .NET Framework protects the value of the work invested in the payroll service and ensures it will continue to reap benefits into the future. As Buckler explains: “If tomorrow we wanted to create a solution based around another technology it would be quite straightforward. We’d just point it at the Web Service to get the object, populate it with data and post it. We can also evolve the Web Service over time, adding more procedures as required by new client applications, without affecting any of the applications already using it.” The Digita payroll service enables key financial decision makers in business to: comply with mandatory e-filing; qualify for financial e- Government incentives; use a simple, easy-to-use, low-cost solution based on familiar Microsoft tools; increase productivity by managing end-of-year PAYE reporting and payslip production through a single solution. Neil Laver, group product marketing manager at Microsoft UK, is clear about the value of Digita’s work using .NET and the Office System, and the benefits it can bring: “This simple but effective solution by Digita For more information about highlights the benefits that Microsoft Office System and Web Services Digita, go to: www.digita.com technology can offer commercial organisations and, in this case, 1.5 million British small businesses. Any employer who needs to file end of year payroll returns to the Inland Revenue can save precious time with this solution.” ■

41 Southend creates an IT strategy that patients can trust

With many disparate systems supported by multiple vendors, rising costs and lengthy development cycles, Southend Hospital NHS Trust needed to rethink its integration strategy. By working with Microsoft partner WCI to implement an information hub built on the Microsoft .NET Framework and Microsoft BizTalk Server, the Trust is now complying with government standards and enhancing patient care.

BACKGROUND The NHS is complex in structure, geographically diverse, and has to balance government legislation with the needs of patients. Technology plays an increasingly vital role in equipping staff with the information they need to enhance patient care. Southend Hospital NHS Trust was facing the challenges of meeting integration targets, and its situation was typical of most of its counterparts. Established in 1991 as one of the first NHS Trusts following the Health Service reforms, it serves a local population of 330,000. Nick Fernandez, director of IT at the Trust, says: “The National Programme of modernising the NHS is bringing a considerable investment in new IT aimed at improving workflow and quality of patient care. IT is core to these service “Microsoft delivery goals.” The National Programme objective relies heavily on consistently delivers standards to bring NHS information silos together. These include HL7, cost effective and which is a government standard for the exchange, management and scalable technology integration of clinical patient information that enables flexibility and which can be easily interoperability. The e-government interoperability framework (e-GIF) is integrated to form also focused on coherence and interoperability across not just the NHS, end to end business but the entire public sector. It is centred on the adoption of XML and XSL solution. In today’s as standards for data integration. climate of endless Most trusts have a great deal of legacy systems that they simply cannot mergers and rip out and replace. This means that they need to find other ways to meet acquisitions, a government objectives and maximise existing investments. consistent development SOLUTION strategy is hard to Southend’s previous integration strategy could not efficiently deliver the find.” required dataflow and above all, wasn’t scalable or e-GIF and HL7 compliant. The Trust needed to create a central patient master index NICK FERNANDEZ (PMI) that was synchronised across all clinical systems. It had two DIRECTOR OF IT SOUTHEND HOSPITAL NHS objectives: To create a reliable interface from the Trust’s McKesson TRUST Patient Administration System to its Masterlab pathology system to

42 Public sector Microsoft. NET customer solution Public sector

dynamically share PMI data; To generate a standalone Microsoft SQL Customer profile Server-based PMI to aid future interfacing requirements. Southend Hospital NHS Trust SQL Server was selected as it is scalable enough to grow as the was established in 1991. It Trust’s data requirements increase. The in-house team was also familiar employs 3,300 staff, serves a with SQL Server technology and had confidence that Microsoft would local population of 330,000 and support them with their future requirements. treats 70,000 inpatient/day Southend also needed to reduce the number of interfaces required to cases, and 300,000 link clinical systems. Previously these had been hooked together using a outpatients. Its annual income combination of VB and low-level Winsock OCX to communicate with the is more than £110m. McKesson Totalcare PAS Open Interface module. Now, the Trust uses some of the Microsoft .NET Framework socket classes and a Business challenge communications suite called IP*Works from nSoftware. It is ensuring all The Trust needed to meet suppliers conform to the HL7 socket protocol. national system integration Southend decided to simplify its strategy going forward by standardising requirements and ensure on Microsoft technology. It opted to work with Microsoft partner WCI, as it compliance with HL7 and e-GIF. already hosted NHSDirect and had Microsoft development expertise. The Its previous infrastructure was Trust also decided to use Microsoft BizTalk Server to sit at the core of the incompatible with ICRS strategy, new integration strategy and bring together all the necessary clinical and relied on multiple vendors, systems using industry standards such as XML and XSL. which resulted in inaccuracies. The solution was built on the Microsoft .NET Framework and was developed using Microsoft Visual Studio .NET by two in-house developers Solution and external WCI consultants over a six-month period. The .NET Southend overhauled its Framework enables speedy development thanks to the use of the integration strategy and created Common Language Runtime and standard class libraries, which means a robust, highly available IT that code used for common tasks can be quickly and easily reused. architecture that provides a The applications covered at the moment are used by the Dietetics and common view of patients and Tissue Viability departments. Ward-based applications are all accessed complies with government via a Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server homepage using Neoware Citrix standards. The new desktops. Everything is locked down using Active Directory so that only infrastructure is built on the those classed as clinical staff can submit requests to the Hospital Microsoft .NET Framework and Request System. Those who create the test results, known internally as makes use of Microsoft Visual producers, have Windows-based forms. This provides built in validation Basic .NET, Microsoft ASP .NET, and reporting. Microsoft BizTalk Server and WCI’s integrationHUB. BENEFITS Big audience, big benefits Alan Tuckwood, business systems support and development manager at

43 Benefits the Trust, says: “Up until recently we had been doing lots of fire fighting • Interface development costs which was causing a lot of frustration, but we’re now in a really good reduced by more than two- position to move forward. Most of the Trust’s 2,000 clinical employees will thirds be affected by the integration work as the entire hospital is dependent on • Development time cut from its PAS and the quality of data within it. The quality of the clinical data held four months to five days in these systems has a direct impact on patient care.” • Highly secure, scalable platform Making the most of what you’ve got • Improved patient care By using the .NET Framework, the Trust has maximised its previous IT • Compliance with HL7 and e- infrastructure investments and reduced costs. As support is now GIF centralised, support costs have been slashed by more than half. By • No errors working with Microsoft, the Trust can also be confident that it has • Common view of patients protected its investment in its technology, and ultimately patient care. • Single vendor accountability Tuckwood says: “There are now far more Microsoft skills out there in developer land, which means when people leave we are not left with Software and services knowledge gaps to fill. It’s taken us two years to get where we are today, • Microsoft .NET Framework which is fantastic considering what we’ve achieved.” • Microsoft BizTalk® Server • Microsoft Windows® 2000 Control of own destiny and improved patient care and Control is in-house and problems can be traced and resolved easily, • Active Directory meaning that patients get the best levels of care possible.“The improved • Microsoft SQL Server™ data accuracy and integrity between systems has enabled us to ensure • Microsoft Visual Studio® that quality information is available in a timely and effective manner,” .NET says Fernandez. • Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server Foundation for the future The Trust is confident that it can now react to change easily within the Partners organisation. This is incredibly valuable as Trusts and other public sector WCI institutions will need to keep up to speed with changing regulations. Based on the work done so far, Southend now has a solid platform on which to build, and it knows it can reach objectives previously prohibited by technology limitations. For more information about Tuckwood says: “The standalone PMI is the first step that leads onto WCI, go to: www.wcigroup.com integrating all systems and we are now putting our theory into practice step by step. We want absolute synchronicity of data. It comes down to having the right technology and the right people with the right skills working for you, and that’s what we have.” ■

44 Public sector Microsoft. NET customer solution Public sector

Portal just the ticket for the Department for Transport

Transport Direct is a Department for Transport (DfT) programme to provide travellers in the UK with an integrated public transport information system. Travellers will be able to use an online portal to plan their journeys and purchase tickets, for all modes of transport throughout the UK. SchlumbergerSema is heading a consortium of six suppliers to design, build and operate the portal, which will be launched in early 2004. The solution architecture uses Microsoft .NET.

BACKGROUND Customer profile In the UK, DfT is responsible for planning and executing government Transport Direct is a transport strategy. Its principle objective is to improve public transport, Department for Transport (DfT) with specific emphasis on improving safety and reliability, while reducing programme to provide congestion and the impact of transport on the environment. A key travellers in the UK with an element of its work is planning for future transport needs and integrated public transport establishing a national strategic framework for the delivery of transport information system. services to the UK’s citizens. Its success depends not only upon the provision of reliable travel services, but also upon travellers having easy Business challenge access to information about the journey options available to them. Transport Direct wants to In 1998, the UK Government published a Transport White Paper, which enable the public to make introduced the goal of a nationwide public transport information system. more informed choices about In response, in July 2000, the DfT published a 10-year plan for transport their travel decisions to called Transport 2010. An early milestone in providing a nationwide achieve more efficient and cost information system was the 2002 launch of the Traveline web portal and effective journeys. call centre platform for public transport travellers. However, the key element in achieving this goal is Transport Direct, a programme to provide Solution travellers with integrated public and private transport travel information A new dynamic Internet portal via an online Internet portal, which will centralise journey planning and built using the Microsoft .NET provide a hand-off to ticket purchase across the range of transport Framework, that integrates service providers and modes of travel. existing journey planners, fares An important additional driver of the programme is the UK and pricing legacy applications Government’s initiative to provide electronic delivery of public services. and databases to provide The aim is to enable citizens to access information and conduct itineraries using the most transactions using a variety of channels including PDAs, PCs, landlines, efficient and cost effective mobile phones, digital TVs and public kiosks. This includes plans to offer combination of services 30 key services online by 2005. One of them is Transport Direct. available from across the range Nick Illsley, previously chief executive of the National Rail Enquiry of providers and travel modes. Service, was appointed as the chief executive of Transport Direct in August 2002. He is excited about the opportunities the programme will deliver to travellers: “Currently, travellers are served by various disparate

45 sources of travel information which, although they provide a range of useful information, cannot link services of separate providers into a cohesive journey itinerary, or provide a meaningful comparison between modes. The Transport Direct portal eradicates travellers having to contact each individual company their journey involves, a time consuming and often frustrating process. Instead, it will build their itineraries using the most efficient and cost effective combination of services available from across the range of providers and travel modes.”

SOLUTION The nature of the Transport Direct project is highly complex. Illsley says: “When the tender was published in mid 2002 for the design, build and on- going operation of the Transport Direct portal, it was considered unlikely that any one vendor would be able to cover its entire scope. Instead, the selection process sought consortia to combine the business and “.NET allows us to technology expertise and capabilities that the project would demand.” easily integrate data From the 12 bids received, a shortlist of three large consortia were from new and chosen for the final selection round. In December 2002 the DfT awarded existing a £14.9m contract to SchlumbergerSema who led a consortium of six applications running suppliers, including Microsoft. Illsley says: “The SchlumbergerSema on different consortium was selected on the strength of its record and experience in platforms into one ebusiness, in dealing with government and in transport. Their proposed cohesive system. solution met the functionalities and timescales required and The Transport Direct demonstrated the flexibility needed to deal with emerging technologies fares and pricing and channels of communication. In system operation terms, the mechanism, which Microsoft .NET Framework it proposed appeared to be the perfect combines technology for the design and build of the portal.” information from The initial contract is for three years, with options for annual extensions travel service to a maximum of 10 years. Work started in early January 2003, with the providers’ legacy goal of the Transport Direct portal going live early in 2004. systems, is an The principle technological challenge is the integration of diverse excellent example applications and sources of data, such as Traveline, NRES, airline and of this.” bus companies’ websites, into the single portal. Interoperability is the key to success and the ease with which it can be achieved within the .NET MICK O’KELLY Framework ensures all the elements of this challenge are met. LEAD TECHNICAL ARCHITECT Additionally, using .NET to connect a broad range of business and SCHLUMBERGERSEMA personal technologies ensures travellers have access to information

46 Public sector Microsoft. NET customer solution Public sector

wherever and whenever it is needed. Mick O’Kelly, lead technical architect Benefits at SchlumbergerSema says: “.NET allows us to easily integrate data from • Rapid integration of diverse new and existing applications running on different platforms into one data sources and journey cohesive system. The Transport Direct fares and pricing mechanism, engines which combines information from travel service providers’ legacy • Fast development, delivery systems, is an excellent example of this.” deadlines achieved While the back-end journey planner has been built using .NET and C#, the • Secure development and dynamic front-end of the Transport Direct portal has been built using deployment environment Microsoft ASP.NET, a component of the .NET Framework class library used • Easy inclusion of new to develop web applications and Web Services. It provides a flexible access channels development environment capable of presenting the Transport Direct portal • Efficient, cost-effective across multiple channels to a range of devices. It also supports the development registration of users, allowing travellers who access the portal regularly to • Improved, personalised user create a personalised environment tailored to their needs. experience Illsley acknowledges the support Microsoft is giving the project: “I’m • Faster adoption and delighted by Microsoft’s interest in the project and the support and increased user loyalty encouragement it has given us. This is one of the earliest • Future proofed solution, implementations using the .NET technology and, being a new technology, protected investment it was very important we had confidence that it would provide the solution we needed. The consortium worked in partnership with us to develop Software and services technical demonstrations of elements of the solution to provide proof of • Microsoft® .NET Framework concept before the full development phase began.” • Microsoft® ASP.NET™ The first stage of Transport Direct, the implementation of the online portal, • Microsoft® SQL Server™ is on target go live early in the new year. Further functional enhancements • Content Management will follow as the system continues to evolve. Plans include the integration of Server information from additional travel service providers, new methods of journey • Commerce Server planning, such as search by price, and new channels of access. The consortium is adding value by helping Transport Direct plan its development. Partners Illsley says: “We have an on-going dialogue with the SchlumbergerSema SchlumbergerSema consortium. They are giving us valuable feedback on how we might develop (Consortium Prime Contractor) our services and insight into the technological developments that will Atkins support the achievement of our future goals.” EsriUK RTEL BENEFITS BBC Technology Integrating existing systems Providing a single source of journey information across all modes and covering all aspects of travel such as route planning, fares and pricing,

47 requires the integration of information from a variety of existing systems. There are, for example, 11 Traveline regions deploying five different journey planning technical solutions from five different organisations, developed using different technologies. The essential interoperability was easily achieved using the .NET Framework. Neil Thraves, web architect working on the Transport Direct project, says: “The .NET Framework wraps each of these diverse systems, their various engines and data sources, in a common technology to enable integration without the need for expensive re-development.” Rob Price, account director for Transport Direct at SchlumbergerSema, says: “We have been able to take advantage of the investment in existing systems made over the last decade. Without this advantage we could not have developed Transport Direct.” “.NET provides a flexible, distributed Security without compromise architecture that The complex integration issues meant that security had to be considered allows the addition from the outset of the solutions design. Following best practice for such of new information a complex solution, Transport Direct deploys levels of security that range sources and from the inclusion of multiple firewalls, a locked down operating system systems without the and application infrastructure as well as the application of secure coding need to rewrite techniques to minimise the potential attack surface. One of the technical code or alter the challenges this creates is how to allow the different elements of the architecture. It solution to talk to each other through these firewalls and security levels. enables the solution The .NET Framework provides a development environment in which these to be channel issues can be managed effectively. Says Thraves: “By supporting a wide neutral and avoids range of protocols, .NET facilitates communication between the different imposing data sources. It gives us the confidence that the internal hardware architecture restrictions on we need for security will not inhibit our ability to have the different parts potential of the system talk to each other.” contributors, so that new technologies Easy to use, personalised and accessible solutions and services can be The long-term achievement will be establishing Transport Direct as one of easily the premiere providers of travel information. The target for the first year encompassed.” is to service one million enquiries. To build on this goal, encourage regular visits and increase footfall, the system must be accessible, easy to use NICK ILLSLEY CHIEF EXECUTIVE and provide information relevant to the user. Thraves says: “The ASP.NET TRANSPORT DIRECT web framework will support the addition of new channels. The content

48 Public sector Microsoft. NET customer solution Public sector

management server ensures a consistent look and feel, while the commerce server maintains registration details to speed interactions and deliver a personalised portal reflecting the user’s preferences.” However, the real advantage Transport Direct offers travellers goes beyond simply being accessible and easy to use. As Illsley explains, the real benefits are to do with freedom of choice and informed decision making: “We have been able to deliver a system that is both easy to use and comprehensive. It empowers travellers by offering impartial choice, so that they can make informed decisions about how to travel.”

Fast development, lower costs Given the wider context of eGovernment policies and the DfT’s commitment to the early availability of the portal, development time was limited. Nevertheless, when the portal goes live in early 2004 the target will have been met. “We had a year to deliver something hugely complex in its integration,” says Price. “It was essential that we were able to use information and functionality from the existing travel information systems to achieve the time to market target we had been set.” Avoiding the need to develop functionality from scratch was a vital factor in managing costs, staying within budget and providing full value for money. Price says: “.NET has allowed us to develop the portal without the technical solution being an issue. We have been able to do it at a reasonable cost and in reasonable time frame.”

Prepared for the future The success of the solution has allowed the vision of Transport Direct to focus on the future and a broader context. Price explains: “The project’s influence will act as an agent for change to improve the coverage, quality and accuracy of travel information generally.” Illsley sums up the potential of the system for future travellers: “To serve such a dynamic market successfully, Transport Direct must be For more information about an evolving service. Microsoft .NET provides a flexible, distributed SchlumbergerSema, go to: architecture that allows the addition of new information sources and www.schlumbergersema.com systems withoutthe need to rewrite code or alter the architecture. It enables the solution to be channel neutral and avoids imposing data restrictions on potential contributors, so that new technologies and services can be easily encompassed.” ■

49

Microsoft. NET customer solution Retail services

Retailer online for success as growth rate hits 70 per cent dabs.com, the UK’s leading online retailer of computer equipment and peripherals, has launched a completely new retail website providing customers with a more informative and improved buying experience. The project was conducted by the Dabs development team, working with partner Zendor. The new site was completed in less than a year using the Microsoft .NET Framework and Content Management Server technologies.

BACKGROUND Customer profile In common with other mail order suppliers of computer equipment, as dabs.com is an online the 20th century drew to a close Dabs recognised that Internet retailing technology retailer, supplying offered a more promising business model. The argument was especially computer equipment and compelling for the 70 per cent of its business that was business-to- peripherals to consumers. The consumer, selling to a customer base predominantly of PC hobbyists company has strategic who were proven early adopters of technology. The decision to adopt an alliances with numerous Internet strategy was confirmed when, at the end of the first week of Internet partners. online trading, 25 per cent of revenue had transferred to Internet sales. By the end of 2001, all sales were being conducted through its website. Business challenge By mid-2002 Dabs was twice the size of its nearest competitor and, Dabs wanted to maintain its having acquired dominance, needed to develop new markets to maintain strong growth by extending its growth. The decision was made to extend the business into the traditional customer base of PC computer peripherals market. To do so successfully, the company had to enthusiasts to include the broaden its appeal beyond the technically expert PC hobbyists to less technology consumer. The knowledgeable technology consumers. company also wanted to With this strategy in mind, Dabs sought a partner to help evaluate its position itself to expand into existing website. Of the three companies approached, Zendor was the the European market. only one that had the skills required, had the market knowledge and branding experience, and could deliver within the timescales set. Solution Zendor’s usability-led design process revealed difficulties, as David The launch of a completely new Hawdale, head of design and usability at Zendor, recalls: “While website that provides technology enthusiasts were able to find and purchase products with customers with a more relative ease, 90 per cent of new Internet consumers were unable to informative and improved complete a purchase transaction on the existing dabs.com website. buying experience, enables the Clearly, the customer experience was not as it should be.” company to offer the latest There were other significant business issues, as Andrew Finlayson, technology at very competitive business analyst at dabs.com, remembers: “The site was difficult to prices, and facilitates easy manage, which hindered our efforts to broaden our customer base. We integration to partner sites. had to be able to improve the speed of our response to market opportunities and competitor activity by getting new ideas, new products

51 and special offers onto the website quickly. At the time, such changes were often taking three or four days to implement. We also needed the site to be more in tune with other e-tailers, such as Amazon, to allow us to develop essential partner relationships.” Jonathan Wall, marketing director of dabs.com, adds: “The company’s strategic plans included expansion into Europe. It was obvious to us that the existing site and its technology could not support the multi-lingual and multi-currency capabilities we had to have.” In large part, these issues were the result of the site’s piecemeal development. The conclusion was inevitable as Wall summarises: “Dabs was vibrant and growing at 30 per cent year on year. We knew in January, when the project started, that the existing website would not sustain growth up to the Christmas period. We had to re-write the website from the ground up.”

SOLUTION Following discussion and definition of the business requirements, the project to redevelop the dabs.com website began in January 2003. The timescales were challenging. The new site had to be live by early Autumn to be sure of protecting the Christmas trade and the momentum of the company’s 30 per cent year-on-year growth rate. From the start it was recognised that the environment had to support easy maintenance of the site’s contents, rapid development of new functionality, easy integration with partner sites and legacy back-end “Within two months systems, rapid growth and high peaks of demand, and expansion of the the new site has business into Europe. There should be no hindrance to the adoption of increased first time new technologies, and flexibility and scalability were essential to support buyer conversions business expansion and growth. by over 600 per As both Dabs and its partner Zendor are committed to Microsoft cent and has technology, an early decision was made to review the Microsoft .NET positioned the Framework. Paul Martin, head of development at dabs.com, recalls their company for conclusion: “Having sent our developers on various training courses to expansion into review the capabilities of the .NET environment, we decided it would be Europe.” the best choice against each of our criteria.” The usability-led design process conducted by Zendor revealed the need JONATHAN WALL MARKETING DIRECTOR for sophisticated customer requirements, such as personalised pages DABS showing associated and recommended products. The result was the

52 Retail services Microsoft. NET customer solution Retail services

merchandising data support system, designed by Zendor and built using Benefits the .NET Framework. To give dabs.com the ability to take new products to • Speed of development, market as quickly as possible, an essential element of the new solution deadlines achieved had to be improved content management for the site. Microsoft Content • Fast implementation without Management Server (CMS) 2002 was selected. “We found CMS 2002 to compromising sales be perfect for our needs. In terms of the daily business, it has become • Easy addition of new site the basis of the dabs.com site. Together, .NET and CMS 2002 provide the features optimum technology for us,” explains Martin. • Increased usability, The decision to launch the new site was made in the early Autumn of personalised pages 2003, with October 4th set as the target date to protect Christmas • Improved customer trade. The ease of development and deployment using the .NET experience Framework ensured this was achieved. The go-live process was executed • Increased conversion rates in one day. “It was imperative the change over was achieved without • Broader customer base, inflicting any damage on the business and we did so without any greater market share compromise. Although growth rates fell slightly during the transition, they • Faster response to market have continued to rise throughout. No sales were lost. In fact, over a changes recent weekend growth rates hit 70 per cent. It is a testament to our • Increased competitiveness developers, our partner Zendor, and the strength of the .NET • Reduced costs environment that we met this deadline,” said Wall. • Improved business control • Secure development and BENEFITS deployment environment Speed of development at minimal cost • Platform for strategic growth Given the time constraints on the project and that the development of ‘actual use’ functionality did not start until April 2003, it was vital that development be efficient and fast. As Martin explains: “We knew our choice of technology would be key in achieving the project’s deadlines. The component led development and modular web controls of the .NET Framework ensured the developers could work as a team, collaborating on each aspect of the project without any threat to its integrity.” This was particularly important given the collaboration between the Dabs development team and Zendor, as Finlayson explains: “The .NET ‘code-behind’ model allows visual and logical elements to be kept apart. Some developers are skilled in logic, others specialise in design. .NET allows each to be assigned to tasks that play to their strengths.” The efficiency of .NET development also helped to minimise costs. Martin says: “The adoption of ASP.NET allowed us to complete this project using only five full-time developers. Using the previous

53 technology we would have needed at least another three in the team.”

Painless and secure integration Easy integration was a key factor in the success of the project. .NET Remoting and Web Services guaranteed painless and secure integration of customer-initiated stock and purchase processes with the Dabs back- end legacy system. Price and stock updates that were performed hourly now occur in real time. Instant updates mean that new products can be taken to market almost immediately. Real time communications between applications has also improved the customer experience by negating a potential for ordering products not in stock. Wall emphasises the strategic advantages .NET has delivered in this respect: “Our new site benefits from tight integration with web partners. We feed pricing information to third-party price-matching sites, share the latest information about products with manufacturers, and take advantage of component compatibility information from suppliers. Previously, integration with the Toshiba site took nearly six months. .NET “Dabs is a reduced the time needed to complete this integration to six weeks.” technology retailer that sells the latest Improved performance, increased sales technologies to the Another measure of the advantages delivered by .NET integration is the earliest adopters. improvement in system performance. From peaks of 150 per cent to 400 We apply the same per cent CPU loading on the back-end servers, utilisation is now down to principles to our less than 20 per cent at times. The result is more transactions and, business. .NET is therefore, more sales. Finlayson summarises the benefit: “As a result of the the latest increased capacity we can now handle daily sales worth £700k without technology and we putting any strain on the back-end servers. Previously, at full capacity, we have adopted it as could only achieve a maximum of £600k.” the core of our strategy for growth. Adaptable technology, supporting business growth All the early The piecemeal development of the site in the past, using the old indications are that technologies, meant that the introduction of new features often caused it is also a strategy problems that resulted in loss of service. The .NET Framework ensures for success.” scalability and facilitates the fast introduction of new features without risk. This is a vital consideration in light of the launch of the French JONATHAN WALL MARKETING DIRECTOR dabs.com site in February 2004. Wall says: “Without .NET we could not DABS have achieved the multi-currency and multi-locale developments we

54 Retail services Microsoft. NET customer solution Retail services

need. As a measure of the advantage .NET provides, the development of Software and services these capabilities in our website has taken half the time of the • Microsoft® .NET Framework equivalent development in our back office legacy systems that use more • XML Web Services traditional technology.” • Microsoft® ASP.NET™ • Microsoft® .NET Remoting Improved customer experience, increased conversion • Microsoft® Visual Studio® Dabs has many online partners, such as Kelkoo and Google, who deliver .NET hundreds of thousands of visitors to their site. It is essential to • Microsoft® Content Manager maximise the conversion rates of these visitors and a principle KPI for Server 2002 the new site was to increase the ease with which online consumers • Microsoft® Exchange Server could buy from Dabs. Where 90 per cent of potential customers had 2000 previously been unable to buy from the old site, Dabs set the KPI of • Microsoft® Operation achieving a minimum 50 per cent conversion rate for first time Internet Manager 2000 consumers. As Wall explains, they did significantly better: “As a result of • Microsoft® SQL Server™ the improvements that we have achieved in user-friendliness, ease of 2000 navigation and buying, eight out of 12 customers, or 66 per cent, who have never before transacted a purchase online can now buy from the Partners dabs.com site.” Zendor Group plc

Increased competitiveness Much of this success is due to the greater control that the business owners can now exert. The merchandising, customer service and marketing teams had always been one step removed from the customer as they relied on colleagues from systems or support departments to publish updated or new web pages. The introduction of Microsoft Content Management Server 2002 means the dependency upon technical colleagues has been removed. Templates allow business owners to create new landing pages, promotional pages and email forms without the intervention of other staff. New offerings can be taken to market within hours. The business can respond immediately, without any risks of inconsistency in branding. For more information about Finlayson is excited by this capability: “Content Management Server Zendor Group, go to: puts the control of the business issues in the hands of the business www.zendor.com people. It enables us to employ effective tactical marketing. If we learn that a competitor is challenging us, we can make a promotion page to respond within minutes now. Time provides a real competitive advantage in this market. An hour or two can gain valuable sales.” ■

55 Figleaves.com stockpiles a 40 per cent increase in logistics productivity

Figleaves.com has implemented a new logistics system to manage its end-to-end warehouse processes. The new solution, which introduces the deployment of mobile devices to processes from goods-in to picking, packing, and shipping, is a vital element in positioning the company for further expansion. The solution, which was designed, developed and implemented by Microsoft Partner Badger Software, is centred around the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework.

BACKGROUND Figleaves.com is the market leading online retailer of intimate apparel, offering an extensive choice of branded underwear, nightwear, swimwear, lingerie, and hosiery to customers around the world. The company operates principally from the UK, shipping to 66 countries through its own distribution system, supported by the company’s call centre. With five years’ experience in this competitive market, the Figleaves.com management know that successful online selling is dependent upon the provision of quality customer service. A wide choice of excellent products, speedy delivery, a guaranteed returns policy and competitive pricing are the differentiators in this sector. Now, the company is aiming to strengthen its position as a global business by extending its warehouse network into other countries, initially the US and Japan. Early in this strategic planning, the company concluded that it could not achieve these ambitions using its existing logistics solution. Not only was the Java-based system unacceptably unreliable, it was incapable of supporting a global logistics model. Daniel Nabarro, chairman of “The introduction of Figleaves.com and an electronics engineer by training, explains: .NET has been one “Figleaves.com needed a warehouse structure that would not inhibit of the most growth. A system that would provide the scalability and flexibility required outstanding to enable the easy addition of warehouses in any location.” Microsoft platform To support the global development of Figleaves.com, the company rollouts and we recognised it needed to establish warehouses close to the point of were convinced by manufacture, to build more direct-to-consumer fulfilment facilities and to the early positive transfer goods between nodes within its logistics network. As Nabarro says: indications that the “We did not want to be constrained by a conventional model, but wanted .NET platform was something that would meet our aspirations of taking products from around the right choice.” the world and distributing them to consumers around the world.”

DANIEL NABARRO CHAIRMAN SOLUTION FIGLEAVES.COM Badger Software is a long-term partner of Figleaves.com, having

56 Retail Microsoft. NET customer solution Retail services

developed the Figleaves.com order processing and product data Customer profile management systems. On the strength of these previous implementations, Figleaves.com is an online Figleaves.com approached Badger Software at the beginning of 2002 to retailer of intimate apparel. The design, develop, and implement a new logistics system. company operates principally Both companies are committed to Microsoft technologies. They from the UK, shipping to 66 selected the Microsoft .NET Framework for the project because it would countries through its own provide the multi-tier environment they needed to develop applications distribution system,supported capable of functioning on a variety of devices. “[Microsoft].NET promised by the company’s call centre. all the things needed – handheld devices, Internet-based applications and a secure environment. The introduction of .NET has been one of the most Business challenge outstanding Microsoft platform rollouts and we were convinced by the Figleaves.com wants to position early positive indications that the .NET platform was the right choice,” itself as a global business. It says Nabarro. needed a flexible logistics The time constraints on the project were challenging. The development solution that could expand with of the solution had to be scheduled so that the implementation could take the company’s growth and place as Figleaves.com moved its stock operation to a new warehouse in would allow the fast September 2003, in readiness for the lead-up to Christmas. To ensure deployment of new locations minimal interruption to the 1,500 daily shipments the implementation and anywhere in the world. Its go-live would have to be achieved in just one weekend. previous Java applications were Simon Reader, senior developer at Badger Software, is enthusiastic considered sufficiently scalable about what has been achieved: “This is the first large scale, Web for these plans. Services, multi-tiered application we’ve put in. Compared to other development environments, the .NET Framework is absolutely fantastic. Solution The speed of development enabled by the object model, the ease of A new global logistics connectivity to remote devices using Web Services between application management solution, tiers – both were invaluable to us in hitting our implementation targets.” deploying mobile devices, Mobile devices were a key part of the new strategy. Their introduction capable of managing end-to-end into the warehouse environment was vital to achieve the increased warehouse processes from productivity required to sustain business expansion and to provide goods-in to picking, packing and accurate operational metrics to support management decision-making. By shipping, in multiple taking advantage of the .NET Framework support for Web Services and warehouses. HTTP wireless connections to communicate with the application server, Badger Software was able to implement client applications as easily on warehouse operators’ mobile devices as on desktop PCs. Derek Goodridge, business development director at Badger Software, acknowledges the support his company receives from Microsoft: “Badger Software has been a certified Microsoft partner since 1996 and we are

57 very pleased with the relationship. A good example of the support we receive was the help given by Microsoft’s Mobile Solutions Programme, which provided early access to the .NET Compact Framework technology we needed for the mobile aspects of this project.” The reliability of the environment was also a key factor, as Goodridge makes clear: “The strength of the .NET Web Services and the .NET Framework ensures the new logistics solution is robust. It can recover quickly from lost connections, should the wireless device move out of range, and interrupted picks can now be resumed from the correct picking route position simply by scanning a trolley barcode.” This is a vast improvement on the previous manual trolley rebuilds. A further advantage of using Web Services across standard HTTP connections is being able to optimise performance by reducing the amount of data transmitted on each call. This delivers significant improvements on the time it takes to perform business routines, such as booking multiple items into the warehouse. In terms of orders shipped per day, it has enabled Figleaves.com to increase numbers to almost 3,000 without any loss of performance, including dealing with last minute urgent orders. This has a positive impact on customer relationships. In the future, Web Services offer the opportunity of extending business “Nothing else could processes to external organisations. These might include offering have allowed us to suppliers the ability to pre-book deliveries into Figleaves.com’ develop faster. warehouses and distribution centres using the goods-in module. Given the benefits Reader summarises: “.NET provides an application architecture that we’ve experienced lends itself to changing the client device very easily. With shared business so far, especially logic on the client, we have only to alter the presentation layer to be able with the Web to present all the functionality on any device.” This means that parts of services elements, the application, such as packing, can be unplugged and delivered to we feel very another location as a standalone application, connected to the back-end confident about via the Internet. In this way it will be possible to establish new areas of suggesting .NET business, such as fulfilment centres, without having to re-engineer any technology to systems. Reader confirms: “Within weeks of Figleaves.com finding a new clients in the location, we can have the warehouse up and running.” future.” BENEFITS SIMON READER SENIOR DEVELOPER Reduced development times BADGER SOFTWARE The development of the new logistics solution was just one part of a triple

58 Retail services Microsoft. NET customer solution Retail services

challenge Figleaves.com faced at the time of this project. The company Benefits was moving location, recruiting a new team and planning to go live with • Fast development new software. These circumstances imposed stringent deadlines on • Increased reliability Badger Software and its work developing the system. The solution had to • Increased productivity be ready by 27th September 2003 for implementation overnight. The • Reduced costs .NET Framework was central to this deadline being successfully met. Its • Secure development object modelling reduced development times by allowing easy environment implementation of new business processes without the need to re-work code or rebuild business models. Software and services Reader confirms: “The .NET Framework has allowed us to take this • Microsoft® Visual Basic project from design to implementation in about 12 months, using between .NET four and five developers. Being able to re-use code has delivered a gain of • Microsoft Visual Studio® 15-20 per cent, possibly even up to 30 per cent, on development times .NET 2002 compared to using traditional technologies.” Once created and tested, re- • Microsoft SQL Server 2000 usable code and components, such as the MOVE component for • Microsoft Windows® 2000 repositioning stock and the ASK component for barcode-driven stock Advanced Server enquiries, can be integrated into other applications without further testing. • Microsoft Windows 2000 Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 and Microsoft SQLServer 2000 Server also played an important part in reducing development times. Visual • Microsoft .NET Framework Studio 2003 ensured the developers at Badger Software could easily • Microsoft SQL™ Server2000 manage the complex sets of code components and share class libraries Notification Services across the different devices and operating systems. It also allowed • XML Web Services business logic, written once, to be easily deployed on both the Microsoft Windows CE devices and Microsoft Windows 2000 desktops. SQL Partners Server enabled business logic and data rules to be stored once and Badger Software applied to data when accessed by individual components, rather than defining them for each application. Reader concludes: “Nothing else could have allowed us to develop faster. Given the benefits we’ve experience so far, especially with the Web Services elements, we feel very confident about suggesting .NET technology to clients in the future.” For more information about Badger Software, go to: Increased reliability www.badger.co.uk Reliability was a vital requirement for Figleaves.com. Previously, the company was experiencing an average of two stoppages per day. These resulted in business delays during which operators stood waiting. Such failures used to result in partial picks having to be returned to stock and

59 started afresh. Productivity was lost as costs rose. The new system has eradicated these problems, as Nabarro confirms: “For a new system, this has been incredibly reliable from day one. In the first two months there have been no major outages. .NET has enabled us to develop a system 10 times more reliable than the previous one, which never ran for a day error free.”

Increased productivity, reduced costs, greater control During recent years, when many companies were struggling against economic challenges, Figleaves.com continued to achieve strong growth. Productivity and profitability have doubled year-on-year for the last three years. It might have seemed unlikely to improve on such figures. Nevertheless, in the first two months following the go-live of the new logistics system productivity has risen spectacularly as costs have dramatically reduced. An important factor in these improvements is the detailed management information provided by the new system. Figleaves.com can collate statistics on each operator, such as the numbers of successful and unsuccessful scans. These can be analysed to reveal individual “As a result of the productivity levels. “This analysis allows us to identify training issues, improvements in benchmark achievable performance levels and then aspire to reach those reliability and levels all the time,” says Nabarro. The results are impressive and increase in Nabarro is delighted with the achievements: “As a result of the operational improvements in reliability and increase in operational efficiency, our efficiency,our investment in .NET technology has already delivered a 40 per cent investment in .NET increase in productivity, matched by a 30 per cent reduction in costs.” technology has already delivered a Supporting future growth 40 per cent 2004 will an important year in Figleaves.com’ development into a global increase in business. The company is set to introduce significant warehouse productivity, operations in the US and Japan, micro-warehouses into other locations matched by a 30 and stock movements between locations. Reader is certain of the per cent reduction importance of .NET in achieving this: “The .NET Framework, and in in costs.” particular its Web Services capability, ensures we can maintain forward and backward compatibility when introducing new releases or additional DANIEL NABARRO CHAIRMAN modules. It ensures easy maintenance of the application server and FIGLEAVES.COM deployment of new releases.” ■

60 Retail Microsoft. NET customer solution Retail services

adidas employees benefit from PeakCare Wellness Software

Major global sporting goods retailer adidas has implemented a new, Microsoft-powered IT solution to extend the work of its established employee wellness programme to the desktop. The solution, which was developed by PeakCare Inc., based in San Diego, USA, delivers personalised, streamed video content to employees. This includes advice on improving fitness, handling stress at work and coping with emotional issues.

BACKGROUND Customer profile Most companies spend approximately 50 per cent of their profits For over 80 years, adidas has supporting escalating costs relating to employee turnover, illness and been delivering state-of-the-art absenteeism. Such expenses are expected to increase by approximately sports footwear, apparel and 200 per cent in the next seven years. According to a report released by accessories. Today, the the Institute of Medicine, organisations need to focus on increasing the company generates total net levels of health education among their employees. This approach can help sales of €6.5bn and a net to deliver a culture of improved self-management and health literacy. income of €229m. It employs This need is driven by the staggering statistics that globally there are around 14,700 people around 430 million cases of occupational injury and disease each year, worldwide. at an estimated cost of $1,250 billion (4 per cent of the world’s GDP). Further, it is estimated that the impact of poor work environments and Business challenge poor worker health on productivity is approximately 9 per cent of payroll. adidas already has a wellness By any measure these are very significant costs. In addition, the social programme to help employees impact on workplaces and communities is equally significant. stay healthy. It wanted to Major global sporting goods retailer adidas takes the well being of its extend personalised information 14,700 employees extremely seriously. In 1996, the company made and resources on everything contact with Dr Dorian Dugmore, an experienced health professional and from safe lifting to good diet creator of wellness programmes since the early 1980s. Dugmore, now and exercise direct to director of Wellness International at adidas, assembled an international employee’s desktops. PeakCare team of health professionals. This group worked to establish measures was chosen to achieve this that would help identify health risks among corporate employees and goal. suggest lifestyle changes that could help to promote better health. As a result of this work, adidas now operates a Lifestyle Centre with all the Solution equipment required for full health and fitness testing and cardio-vascular A streaming video application risk analysis. from PeakCare, powered by a Dugmore says: “While we have done some excellent work with Microsoft architecture. employees during face to face consultations following testing at the Lifestyle Centre, there are always people who will shy away from coming to see us and attend a health risk appraisal in person. After spending so many years developing information and services on everything from safe

61 lifting and manual handling to good diet and exercise, we needed a way to make resources more generally available. We decided to deliver this information into the work environment, direct to the desktop.”

SOLUTION To achieve this goal, Wellness International at adidas partnered with PeakCare, a provider of corporate wellness applications for managing rich media content. The system used to store and distribute this information was created by experienced solution provider and Microsoft Certified Partner Pecol Software Solutions. With the PeakCare software, adidas employees will receive streamed videos that address health and safety issues, such as handling repetitive physical work and dealing with mental stress. These videos will be delivered directly to the desktop over the corporate network. The PeakCare solution is built on the Microsoft .NET Framework and was developed using Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, a tool that enables rapid application development with a range of languages. This technology creates the necessary XML and SOAP interfaces required to render “We strongly expect applications as Web Services. This means that developers can focus on that the PeakCare developing the right application functionality, rather than on plumbing solution will help different elements of a solution together. deliver significant The PeakCare software is powered by the Microsoft Windows 2000 benefits in terms of Server operating system and uses Microsoft Media Server to handle the reducing incidences broadband media streaming functionality. Meanwhile, desktop clients run of illness and on a mix of Windows 2000 Professional Edition and Windows XP. absenteeism. It is The Microsoft .NET-powered solution builds a custom interface for each also expected to employee. Richard Grogan, sales director, Pecol, says: “When the web help reduce staff application is accessed, a command is triggered and sent to a back-end turnover, improve Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database using XML. The right video content morale and help for the individual concerned is then requested from the database and employees to take a presented back to the user.” pro-active approach Dugmore says: “The PeakCare application enables us to extend our to managing their wellness initiatives into the desktop environment in a highly personalised own health.” way. As well as providing information on safe goods handling and lifting, we have material for issues such as managing stress, coping with difficult DR DORIAN DUGMORE DIRECTOR OF WELLNESS family issues and dealing with conflict in the workplace. These are all ADIDAS problems that employees might avoid discussing in person, which makes

62 Retail services Microsoft. NET customer solution Retail services

the video streaming solution a potentially practical intervention that can be Benefits offered in complete confidence. • Rapid application John Trembath, CTO, PeakCare, says: “Employees use a simple form development to fill in their age, sex, race and language preference. As a result of this • Better health for adidas diagnostic survey, a 50 year old can be presented with a video aimed at employees that age group.” • Future-proof solution • Industry-leading BENEFITS performance Rapid application development From the outset, the PeakCare solution was developed using Software and services technologies such as Microsoft Active Server Pages, Microsoft Visual • PeakCare At Work Basic and COM. Now, all development work is being undertaken using the • Microsoft® .NET Framework Microsoft .NET Framework, vastly reducing the time required for coding • Microsoft Windows® 2000 and enhancing application functionality. Grogan says: “Using the class Server libraries inside the Microsoft .NET Framework in tandem with the • Microsoft SQL Server™ Microsoft Visual Studio .NET development tool, we have achieved much 2000 faster development times, not to mention faster video streaming. The • Microsoft Windows Media development environment also enables us to handle disparate browsers Server and simplify maintenance and system management significantly. All of these things mean that our developers are much more productive, and Partners they love working with the .NET Framework.” PeakCare, Inc. Andrew Correll, development director, Pecol agrees that the Microsoft Pecol Software Solutions .NET Framework delivers significant development benefits. “We initially had a wellness application for rehabilitation written several years ago,” he says. “Every time we wanted something changed, we had to go back to the developers. This was very inefficient and expensive. We wanted a way to make all necessary changes and upgrades quickly and easily ourselves without extensive custom recoding. Using the .NET Framework, an application was developed that helps us make alterations to our applications and respond more quickly to customer demands.”

For more information about Better health for adidas employees PeakCare, go to: The wellness programme at adidas has received world and European best www.peakcare.com practice awards for its innovative approach to corporate wellness. Data are currently being collected relating to the wellness of employees that have been involved in the programme compared with those who have not. Dr Dugmore says: “We strongly expect that the PeakCare solution will

63 support significant benefits in terms of helping to reduce incidences of illness and absenteeism. It is also expected to help reduce staff turnover, improve morale and help employees to take a pro-active approach to managing their own health. The PeakCare solution will hopefully play a key role in extending the influence of the programme as much as possible in the regular working environment.” Dugmore continues “It is very difficult to quantify the benefits of the programme in hard terms, but it aims to foster an approach of prevention where employees take full responsibility for their own health on an ongoing basis, rather than reacting to illnesses after they occur. In the long term, this approach will lead to improved health and well being among employees. It will also send the positive message that adidas values its people extremely highly and is prepared to go to great lengths to ensure their well being.”

“We are currently Return on investment looking at Keith Brown, international business director for PeakCare says that “Early implementing new estimates indicate that companies can realistically target a return on digital rights investment from the PeakCare software program of somewhere between management 500 – 1000 per cent, with even higher numbers for very large companies. technology and we Broad application of this program would therefore have significant impact are involved in a on those staggering global statistics.” number of other innovative IT Future-proof solution initiatives. With the The PeakCare streaming media application was initially developed to Microsoft operate in the single server environment. The system can handle a vast architecture in quantity of streaming media content and serve a large number of users. place, we have a If necessary, it can also be distributed over any number of servers using strategic clustering functionality already built into the Microsoft Windows 2000 development Server operating system and SQL Server 2000. platform, enabling In addition, adidas can be confident that the standards-based us to build on what architecture will integrate seamlessly with any future software or we have achieved hardware implementations. Dr Dugmore says: “We are currently looking so far.” at implementing new digital rights management technology and we are involved in a number of other innovative IT initiatives. With the Microsoft DR DORIAN DUGMORE DIRECTOR OF WELLNESS architecture in place, we have a strategic development platform, enabling ADIDAS us to build on what we have achieved so far.” ■

64 Retail services More information

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