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Windows 7 Customer Solution Case Study

Development Company Cuts Costs, Saves Time by Optimizing PC Environment

Overview “With Windows 7 Enterprise, we can let our employees Country or Region: Dubai, United Arab work where they need to, with the tools that they want, and Emirates Industry: Professional services—Real still maintain good control over the environment.” estate development Natalia Orsi, Service Delivery Manager, Majid Al Futtaim Properties Customer Profile Majid Al Futtaim Properties primarily focuses on the development and Fueled by aggressive growth, Majid Al Futtaim Properties found management of shopping malls, hotels, itself managing an enterprise IT environment with a disparate and mixed-use communities. mix of hardware, operating systems, applications, and vendors. Business Situation The company wanted to standardize its IT infrastructure; provide Majid Al Futtaim Properties wanted to standardize its IT infrastructure; provide its employees with the business tools they need; support its its employees with the business tools mobile workforce; and make it easier to manage, update, and they need; and make it easier to manage and safeguard its PC environment. safeguard its PC environment. In 2010, Majid Al Futtaim Properties began an organizationwide deployment of Windows Solution In September 2010, Majid Al Futtaim 7 Enterprise and a number of Microsoft management, Properties began an organizationwide productivity, and collaboration solutions, including Windows deployment of Windows 7 Enterprise and a number of Microsoft management, Internet Explorer 8 and Microsoft System Center Configuration productivity, collaboration, and security Manager 2007 R2. Now Majid Al Futtaim Properties has solutions. optimized its PC environment, reduced IT costs, improved Benefits information security, streamlined IT management, and enhanced Flexibility and control Streamlined IT management business flexibility while maintaining network control. Enhanced information security Optimized PC environment

Works the way you want Situation applications, and different vendors,” says Majid Al Futtaim Properties is a leading Natalia Orsi, Service Delivery Manager at developer of shopping malls, hotels, and Majid Al Futtaim Properties. “We wanted to mixed-use community projects across the standardize IT across the company, and we Middle East and North Africa. An ambitious wanted to start with an advanced operating growth and marketing strategy has enabled system that would make it easier to the company to develop and manage the manage and control our PC environment.” best shopping and leisure destinations that dominate their respective trade areas Orsi says that it was difficult and time- across the region. Every year, more than consuming to deploy and update software 135 million people visit the company’s 10 across the organization, because IT staff shopping malls across the region. Majid Al had to create a separate configuration- Futtaim hotels include 2,521 rooms in nine image for each model of PC in use across hotels under five international brands that the enterprise and keep each image accommodate more than 1.2 million guests updated. “It took many hours to deploy annually. software or distribute updates,” says Orsi. “And my staff resources are limited, so it Majid Al Futtaim Properties has grown was challenging to keep all the quickly, fueled in part by mergers and configuration images refreshed.” acquisitions, which has created an enterprise IT environment with a disparate In order to provide engineers and other mix of computer hardware, operating specialized workers with the flexibility to systems, applications, and vendors. Majid install and use specialized applications on Al Futtaim Holding includes several their computers, Majid Al Futtaim business units with a total of more than Properties gave all employees 2,000 employees, and while each unit administrative privileges on their PCs. But maintains an IT staff, the 35-member IT that allowed any employee to install any department at Majid Al Futtaim Properties application or download any software from provides IT services and support for the the Internet, with no monitoring or control entire organization, managing 120 servers by the IT department, and exposing the and approximately 1,400 employee PCs. company’s IT infrastructure to security threats such as computer viruses and Several years ago, the company malicious software. standardized its PCs with the Windows XP operating system and Microsoft Office Majid Al Futtaim Properties also needed a 2003 productivity software, but those way to manage PCs for an increasingly solutions were aging. Majid Al Futtaim mobile workforce. “We have architects, Properties needed to upgrade its PC engineers, and project managers on environment, and it wanted to find a way to construction sites and other locations standardize its entire IT infrastructure. “All where they can’t always connect to our of our different business units were using corporate network, so we needed a better different models of PCs, different way to manage access for our mobile

26 Works the way you want employees and outside consultants,” says Orsi. “Also, since these people are traveling, The ambitious scope of the deployment is staying in hotels, and working in public providing an opportunity for Majid Al sites with hundreds of people, we needed a Futtaim Properties to refresh its computer way to safeguard the engineering drawings hardware and eliminate or upgrade and other valuable data stored on their unnecessary or outdated software. So, the portable computers and mobile devices.” IT department thoroughly tested the application suite at Majid Al Futtaim According to Orsi, Majid Al Futtaim Properties for compatibility with Windows 7 Properties was ready to standardize and Enterprise. “It was a huge exercise, but our optimize its PC infrastructure. The company goal was to install Windows 7 Enterprise on wanted to provide its employees with the every single PC,” says Orsi. “If an business tools they need every day while application did not work with the new making it easier and less expensive for the operating system, we replaced it, upgraded enterprise to distribute, manage, and it, or found another solution.” update software; deliver network access; For example, the IT department used control the company’s application Microsoft Application Virtualization (App- environment; and safeguard information. V), a component of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, to virtualize a financial Solution application that would not run with In September 2010, Majid Al Futtaim Windows 7 Enterprise and then deliver the Properties began a pilot deployment to test software as a network service instead of the Windows 7 Enterprise operating system installing it on employee PCs. To operate on 10 PCs in the IT department. Then, from another application that would only run on the end of September to December 2010, Windows XP, Majid Al Futtaim Properties the company began the first phase of an used Microsoft Enterprise Desktop organizationwide deployment, installing Virtualization (MED-V) to install a Windows 7 Enterprise on 500 employee virtualized image of Windows XP on PCs at Majid Al Futtaim Properties. computers equipped with Windows 7. Because Majid Al Futtaim Properties was Majid Al Futtaim Properties signed a using Internet Explorer 7 with Windows XP, Microsoft Select Plus Volume Licensing almost all of its web applications were agreement that helped the company compatible with Internet Explorer 8, and deploy a host of Microsoft management, the company had very little trouble productivity, collaboration, and security migrating to the updated browser. solutions along with Windows 7 Enterprise. The IT department is also deploying IT administrators at Majid Al Futtaim Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010, the Properties used Microsoft System Center Windows Internet Explorer 8 Internet Configuration Manager 2007 R2 to prepare browser, Microsoft System Center a single configuration image for every PC Configuration Manager 2007 R2, and other model, and then to automate the image Microsoft technologies. distribution process. “Now it takes only 20

36 Works the way you want minutes to deploy a PC, and we only have AppLocker to exercise control over what one image to maintain,” says Orsi. “Instead applications can be introduced into the PC of needing several staff resources to create environment. Mobile employees can use an image and keep it updated, today, one DirectAccess to connect to company IT staffer can deploy, manage, and update resources more easily and reliably from the configuration of every PC.” anywhere with an Internet connection, while Majid Al Futtaim Properties can still Because Majid Al Futtaim Properties runs safeguard network access without having its server environment with the Windows to manage a virtual private network. Server 2008 R2 operating system, it can take advantage of several features in “With Windows 7 Enterprise, we can let our Windows 7 Enterprise that are enabled by employees work where they need to, with Windows Server 2008. For instance, with the tools that they want, and still maintain DirectAccess, mobile employees will be good control over the environment,” says able to connect to the company network Orsi. through an Internet connection, instead of having to rely on a virtual private network. Streamlined IT Management And the IT department can use AppLocker The IT department at Majid Al Futtaim to create a list of approved applications Properties can now spend less time on that can be installed on employee PCs. routine PC management. Tasks that used to Majid Al Futtaim Properties anticipates take hours, like deploying Windows 7 deploying Windows 7 Enterprise to its Enterprise, Office 2010, and other software remaining 900 PCs by the third quarter of to new PCs, or distributing security updates 2011. In each business unit, the IT throughout the company, can now be done department will test applications, provide in 20 minutes or less. Now, one IT staffer user training, and then deploy Windows 7 can manage a single configuration image, Enterprise to employee PCs. instead of several staffers working to keep several images updated, and Orsi estimates Benefits that the IT staff now has 20 percent more By deploying Windows 7 Enterprise and time for more important priorities. standardizing its IT infrastructure, Majid Al Futtaim Properties optimized its PC “We can use System Center Configuration environment, reduced IT costs, improved Manager to manage all the desktops and security, streamlined IT management, and distribute updates from a single console,” enhanced business flexibility while says Orsi. “We can also generate reports maintaining network control. that give us better insight into the status of the PC environment as a whole, so we can Flexibility and Control manage more proactively instead of Now, employees with specialized jobs have reacting to problems.” the flexibility they need to use applications that are not widely used throughout the Enhanced Information Security company, while the IT department can use

46 Works the way you want With BitLocker and BitLocker To Go, two to provide access to corporate information drive encryption features in Windows 7 resources for employees working outside Enterprise, Majid Al Futtaim Properties can the company network. “It will be difficult to help safeguard valuable plans, drawings, measure, but getting employees connected and other sensitive business data in case PC to DirectAccess will increase our hard drives or portable storage devices are productivity tremendously,” says Orsi. lost or stolen. Overall, the company is comfortable with the wide acceptance and For Orsi, another big benefit of the good reputation of the security deployment has been the opportunity to technologies in Windows 7 Enterprise and clean the PC environment of unnecessary other Microsoft solutions. and outdated software that provided little business value. “When we evaluated our “After talking with other IT professionals, I applications so we could deploy Windows 7 became confident about Microsoft security Enterprise, we found many that were no technologies,” says Orsi. “I am satisfied that longer useful or that hadn’t been updated I have the tools to manage access, encrypt in more than a year,” says Orsi. “We’ve had data, and help safeguard my environment. an opportunity to look at our entire That is a benefit that is hard to quantify, infrastructure and get it under control so but it is incredibly critical.” that we can be proactive and provide new solutions for the company.” Optimized PC Environment By using a Select Plus licensing agreement to deploy Windows 7 Enterprise as part of an initiative to optimize and standardize its IT infrastructure with Microsoft solutions, Majid Al Futtaim Properties made it easier to manage its PC environment. ”It was very complicated to manage the environment with a lot of different vendors, contracts, and technologies,” says Orsi. “And it cost more, too. With the Microsoft Select Plus agreement, we will spend 40 percent less per year than we did with multiple vendors.”

Majid Al Futtaim Properties is now delivering a modern PC environment that is stable, fast, and easy to use, and that supports the applications its employees need to work and communicate effectively. IT administrators can use AppLocker, to control PC configuration and DirectAccess,

56 Works the way you want Windows 7 Works the way you want: Windows 7 will help your organization use information technology to gain a competitive advantage in today’s new world of work. Your people will be able to be more productive anywhere. You will be able to support your mobile workforce with better access to shared data and collaboration tools. And your IT staff will have better tools and technologies for enhanced corporate IT security and data protection, and more efficient deployment and management.

For more information about Windows 7, go to: www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7

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