Retailer Improves Corporate Communications and Boosts IT Productivity 25 Percent

Microsoft Windows Server System Customer Solution Case Study

Overview “The Exchange Server solution has greatly Country or Region: United States improved our communications companywide. Industry: Retail People rely on it now because they trust it, and it’s Customer Profile easier for them to use.” Rogers Enterprises owns Rogers & Hollands and Ashcroft & Oak, fine Steve Ramsey, Chief Information Officer, Rogers Enterprises jewelry stores located throughout the Midwest. The company employs nearly 800 people in its corporate offices and 78 retail locations. Rogers Enterprises, which operates 78 fine jewelry stores throughout the Midwest, has owned Lotus Notes messaging and Business Situation Rogers Enterprises wanted to update its collaboration software since 2001, but corporate employees messaging platform to improve rarely used it. The system was difficult and time-consuming to communications enterprisewide and integrate its 78 stores, which previously administer, and store managers were not tied into it at all. had no access to the corporate Wanting to improve messaging and communications messaging system. enterprisewide, the IT group decided to update the network

Solution infrastructure, migrate existing servers to Microsoft® Windows Rogers Enterprises migrated its messaging system from Lotus Notes to Server™ 2003 with Active Directory® service, and deploy Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003. Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 as the company’s messaging Remote users have access to e-mail through Microsoft Office Outlook® Web platform. Today, the entire company relies on e-mail as its Access. primary tool for scheduling and communications. Remote users

Benefits and store managers use Microsoft Office Outlook® Web Access  Improved corporate communications to access e-mail. And because the solution is far easier to  Increased productivity  Increased business value manage, productivity for the IT staff has increased by 25 percent. “Exchange Server Situation stores, but Notes would have been too Midwesterners who appreciate fine jewelry difficult for us to support and too difficult for saves me time, are likely familiar with Rogers & Hollands our store managers to get accustomed to,” because I’m not and Ashcroft & Oak, two well-known says Ramsey. Without e-mail, the stores jewelry stores owned by Rogers relied on phone calls and faxes to trapped at the server Enterprises. Founded in 1910 by Miriam exchange information with one another and trying to get things to and Bernard Friedman, the family-owned with the corporate offices. company currently employs about 800 work. I can do what I people in both its corporate headquarters in From an IT perspective, Lotus Notes was need to do and move Matteson, Illinois, and its 78 retail stores difficult to manage. The Domino name and scattered throughout seven Midwestern address book didn’t synchronize with on to other topics. It states. Active Directory® service, a component of saves a good quarter Windows 2000 Server. This meant that the Since 2001, the corporate offices of Rogers IT group had to manage two different of my day.” Enterprises had been running Lotus repositories of user information. The Notes/Domino 5.12 messaging and Geoff Rance, Network and Security separate directory structures also made it collaboration software on a server running Administrator, Rogers Enterprises difficult for the IT group to integrate server- Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server, which is based applications. “We had part of Windows Server System™ interoperability issues trying to export integrated server software. The company’s address information, and there was a huge 130 corporate users ran various versions of lack of support information,” says Geoff the Microsoft Windows operating system Rance, Network and Security Administrator and the Microsoft Office System on their for Rogers Enterprises. “Notes didn’t use desktop PCs. Although users had access system resources effectively, and the to Lotus Notes client for messaging, they management tools weren’t very seldom used it. “It certainly wasn’t an sophisticated or user-friendly—they lacked application users had open on their a lot, just in terms of usability,” adds desktops throughout the workday,” says Rance. Steve Ramsey, Chief Information Officer for Rogers Enterprises, Inc. “The user Solution interface was not very intuitive; our users In 2004, the IT group at Rogers Enterprises just didn’t like it. The lack of integration with began to take stock of its systems and other desktop applications also limited its needs, and determine where there were usefulness,” says Ramsey. gaps. “There were definitely a lot of issues around communications and messaging, The company’s dozen or so district and our ability to support and extend that. managers, who spend most of their time But we had some infrastructure issues we traveling to retail stores, found it difficult to needed to solve as well,” says Ramsey. In access e-mail from their laptop computers late 2004, Rogers teamed up with Microsoft because Domino Web Access was difficult Certified Gold Partner Peters and to use. Worse yet, the PCs at each of the Associates to help redesign the network company’s 78 retail locations weren’t tied infrastructure and eliminate the multiple- into the messaging system at all. “We really directory structures. In November, Rogers needed to extend messaging out to our brought in new server hardware and The IT group completed the entire migrated to the Microsoft Windows migration to Windows Server 2003 with Server™ 2003 operating system with Active Directory and Exchange Server Active Directory. The group created a new 2003 in about three months. Onsite Windows Server 2003 domain and, after specialists from Peters and Associates testing it within the IT group, piloted it in a worked side-by-side with the IT group few corporate departments and remote throughout the project, and the transfer of retail locations. knowledge occurred on the job as the changes were implemented. Peters After completing the Windows Server 2003 provided technical and user level Active Directory pilot and rollout, the next documentation so that Rogers could train step was to migrate the messaging system its own users. from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 communications and Benefits collaboration server. Ramsey explains why With tremendous user response to the “Now that we have the company didn’t consider other rollout of Exchange Server 2003, Rogers more time, we can to messaging solutions. “Users were familiar Enterprises has accomplished its goal to and comfortable with the Microsoft Office improve communication throughout the focus on projects that interface, and we wanted to move toward a company. Remote users and store add value to the unified platform. It made sense to us to managers now have a reliable and far more have the messaging component resemble efficient means of communicating with business, rather than the rest of the desktop applications that our other employees. The new solution is much just spending time on employees use,” says Ramsey. To assist in easier to manage, which has freed the IT the migration, the IT group used Exchange staff to devote more time to mission-critical purely administrative Connector for Lotus Notes, an Exchange projects. The new solution has saved the tasks.” Server tool that synchronizes Domino company in hardware costs as well. Directory and Active Directory and provides Steve Ramsey, Chief Information Officer, mail-routing capabilities between the two Improved Corporate Rogers Enterprises environments. Communications Since the IT group deployed Exchange For the store managers, who previously Server 2003 and Outlook on every desktop, were not part of the messaging solution, e-mail has become a core part of the the IT group set up new Exchange Server employees’ desktop configuration, and one e-mail and Microsoft Office Outlook® Web of the most important tools they use. “The Access accounts. District managers were Exchange Server solution has greatly also given access to e-mail through improved our communications Outlook Web Access. All of the corporate companywide. People rely on it now users’ PCs were upgraded to the Microsoft because they trust it, and it’s easier for Windows XP Professional operating them to use,” says Ramsey. And they’re system, Microsoft Office XP Professional, not just using it for messaging. “There’s and the Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 definitely more file sharing going on—sales messaging and collaboration client. and pricing information, product images, scheduling, personnel information— mailbox for this user?’ I just click OK, and anything operations-related,” says Rance. it’s done within just a few seconds,” says Rance. Changing user settings is also far For Ramsey, one of the greatest benefits easier and quicker with Exchange. “If I has been the ability to communicate need to change any user settings—for electronically with the stores. “We’ve instance, the mailbox size—I just right-click moved from relying on phone calls and a the user name, choose the property to huge number of faxes to being able to send change, click OK, and it’s done. To find the e-mail messages to our stores instantly.” same information in Lotus Notes took Now that store managers have e-mail forever, because the system didn’t provide accounts and can log on with Outlook Web the information; I had to go search for it,” Access, e-mail usage has increased says Rance. tremendously. “The stores are no longer married to phone and fax as their primary In addition, restoring a lost e-mail message communication method. Messaging has with Exchange Server is far easier. “With opened up our ability to communicate and Lotus Notes, restoring a message was a share information across the entire two-step process that took about half an enterprise, including the stores,” says hour because I couldn’t restore directly to Ramsey. the Lotus Notes server. I had to find the tape, find the file on the tape, restore the The company’s district managers, who file to a different server first, and then move travel most of the time, use Outlook Web it to the Lotus Notes server,” says Rance. Access when they visit the stores. “Before, With Exchange Server, restoring a lost e- they carried notebook computers and mail message takes only a few minutes. looked for ways to access the Internet to get to their e-mail. Now, they use the Since using Exchange Server, the IT staff network connectivity that’s available in the estimates an increase in productivity of at stores and use Outlook Web Access to least 25 percent. “Exchange Server saves check their e-mail whenever they want,” me time, because I’m not trapped at the says Ramsey. server trying to get things to work. I can do what I need to do and move on to other Increased Productivity tasks. It saves a good quarter of my day,” Before migrating to the new solution, the IT says Rance. staff spent a great deal of time just trying to Increased Business Value support Lotus Notes. “It’s much easier for For Ramsey, increased productivity goes IT to support the Exchange environment directly to the bottom line. “Now that we than it was to support the Domino have more time, we can focus on projects environment—from adding and removing that add value to the business, rather than users, to changing policies, to recovering just spending time on purely administrative lost messages,” says Ramsey. Just tasks,” says Ramsey. Also contributing to creating a user in Lotus Notes took at least business value is the savings to the five to seven minutes per user. “Exchange company in hardware costs. The efficiency Server asks, ‘Do you want an Exchange of the new solution has enabled the IT For More Information group to consolidate the number of Microsoft Windows Server System For more information about Microsoft messaging servers from five to two. The Microsoft Windows Server System is a line products and services, call the Microsoft group was able to redeploy those servers of integrated and manageable server Sales Information Center at (800) 426- to other systems and applications. software designed to reduce the complexity 9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft and cost of IT. Windows Server System Canada Information Centre at (877) 568- Overall, Rogers Enterprises is extremely enables you to spend less time and budget 2495. Customers who are deaf or hard- pleased with the Exchange Server solution. on managing your systems so that you can of-hearing can reach Microsoft text Recognizing that messaging was a top focus your resources on other priorities for telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) priority to solve, the IT group had the you and your business. 892-5234 in the United States or (905) foresight to first assess its existing systems 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 and needs before implementing changes to For more information about Windows United States and Canada, please the network infrastructure. Now the Server System, go to: contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. company has a solid platform on which it www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem To access information using the World can move forward. “We haven’t yet Wide Web, go to: www.microsoft.com deployed some of the portal- and browser- based functionality, but we plan to do that For more information about Peters & in 2006. We have the infrastructure in place Associates products and services, call now to be able to provide store managers (630) 832-0075 or visit the Web site at: visibility to information and line-of-business www.peters.com applications that are available in our corporate offices. And we’ll be able to For more information about Rogers manage those through our Active Directory Enterprises products and services, call structure and the security we can build (708) 748 - 6400 or visit the Web site at: around that,” says Ramsey. www.rogersandhollands.com

Software and Services  Technologies  Microsoft Windows Server System − Active Directory − Microsoft Windows Server 2003 − Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access Enterprise Edition − Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Hardware  Microsoft Office  HP Proliant DL360 and DL380 − Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 © 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT  Microsoft Windows XP Professional MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Microsoft, Active Directory, Outlook, Windows, the Windows logo, Windows Server, and Windows Server System are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Document published January 2006