Overview
Country or Region:United States
Industry:Financial services—Insurance
Customer Profile
Security-Victor Insurance is an independent insurance agency with two offices in Minnesota. Founded in 1947, the ten-person agency sells multiple lines of insurance and financial-planning products.
Business Situation
As a small business without an IT specialist on staff, Security-Victor needed an easy-to-use and easy-to-manage server solution that would help it operate efficiently and improve disaster recovery.
Solution
With the help of Mytech Partners, Security-Victor deployed the Windows Server® 2008 R2 Foundation operating system for its file-sharing, print-sharing, and authentication needs.
Benefits
Provides reliable server solution
Improves disaster recovery
Reduces IT costs
Simplifies installation and management
Provides right-sized solution, path for migration / “We chose Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation because it is reliable, and it will make us more productive. It will help us recover from outages, and it’s easy to use and maintain.”
Jerry Hendrickson, Manager, Security-Victor Insurance
Minnesota-based Security-Victor Insurance needed to replace its aging server hardware. When considering a new solution, the agency decided to improve its disaster recovery capability and simplify server management. After consulting with Mytech Partners, a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, Security-Victor deployed Windows Server® 2008 R2 Foundation. At the same time, it moved its e-mail system to Microsoft Exchange Online, managing the authentication and access for both the e-mail service and a hosted proprietary application with the new operating system. Now, the agency has a reliable server solution that improves disaster recovery and lowers costs. Along with ease of installation and management, Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation offers the right-sized solution for the agency today and an easy upgrade path as the business grows.
Situation
Established in 1947, Security-Victor Insurance is a ten-person insurance agency that offers insurance for personal and business customers in Minnesota. It has a long history of using technology to enhance its efficiency. For example, the agency has been paperless—relying almost exclusively on electronic communications—since 2002. It has also embraced the latest Microsoft® software for small businesses, continually upgrading over time to support its two offices in the cities of Lindstrom and Wyoming, Minnesota. “As a small business, we find that the right technology can make a big difference in our ability to compete,” says Jerry Hendrickson, Manager, Security-Victor Insurance.
On a daily basis, the agency uses a proprietary insurance application that includes both customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning software. In 2008, Security-Victor moved this system to an online hosting service.
Until recently, the agency was using a Dell PowerEdge 600SC server computer running the Windows® Small Business Server 2003 operating system to support its e-mail system, which was based on Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 messaging and collaboration client. But by 2009, the server hardware was nearing the end of its life. So Security-Victor contacted Mytech Partners, a Minneapolis-based Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. The Co-Founder and President of MyTech Partners, Lyf Wildenberg, has served as the agency’s IT consultant and administrator for more than 10 years.Although MyTech Partners supports many other clients, the company operates almost as though it is part of the agency. “Our partnership with Mytech has been invaluable to us,” says Hendrickson. “Our relationship is one of deep trust.”
The need to find new server hardware led to other considerations for the agency. “Rather than simply upgrading to Windows Small Business Server 2008, we decided to take a broader view,” says Wildenberg. Security-Victor wanted to explore moving additional services to online hosting to improve its disaster recovery capability and to simplify server management.
Solution
With the help of Mytech Partners, Security-Victor decided to migrate its e-mail system to the Microsoft Exchange Online hosted service. But the agency still wanted to use local authentication to manage access to its e-mail and the proprietary insurance application. The company also needed a solution that would provide file and print services, networking, and storage. “Windows Small Business Server 2008, while a good product, would have been much more than the agency needed,” says Wildenberg.
Because of the close relationship between Mytech Partners and Microsoft, Wildenberg was aware of the upcoming release of the Windows Server® 2008 R2 Foundation operating system. He encouraged Security-Victor to consider it, and the agency agreed. In September 2009, Wildenberg contacted Microsoft on behalf of his client and asked if the agency could participate in the early adoption program for the product.
Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation comes preinstalled on server hardware, but because Security-Victor was deploying a prerelease version, it was not yet available from the hardware manufacturer. Wildenberg quickly installed it on a Dell PowerEdge T105 server computer with a single AMD Opteron quad-core 2.1 gigahertz (GHz) processor and migrated the users from Small Business Server 2003. Because of the need to decommission Small Business Server roles, the entire deployment took about eight hours. “Most of the Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation deployments that Mytech has done have taken only about four hours,” says Wildenberg.
Designed as a general-purpose server for small businesses, Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation supports up to 15 user accounts. It offers IT capabilities such as file and print sharing, remote access, and security management. In addition, the software does not require Windows Server client access licenses (CALs), although Terminal Server and Rights Management CALs are required to install those server roles.
“The server deployment was fast and went well,” says Wildenberg. “We used the Microsoft Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer to make sure we were handling the migration of the Active Directory® service to the new server efficiently.” Mytech Partners moved the employees’ e-mail service to Exchange Online at the same time. Switching to the new systems took only about 10 minutes for each desktop.
Benefits
By deploying Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation, Security-Victor Insurance has gained a dependable solution that lowers costs and provides an easy upgrade path to support business growth. “If our technology isn’t working, we aren’t working, because we are 100 percent dependent on it,” says Hendrickson. “We chose Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation because it is reliable, and it will make us more productive. It will help us recover from outages, and it’s easy to use and maintain.”
Provides Reliable Server Solution
Security-Victor says the new server solution is highly reliable and efficient. The company can provide basic file and print services for its two offices and easily manage user access to e-mail and its proprietary insurance application through Active Directory. In the weeks since deployment, Security-Victor has experienced no interruptions in service. “Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation provides the dependability that we need,” says Hendrickson. “We have only three people for our support staff, and we could not function without reliable technology.”
Improves Disaster Recovery
One of Hendrickson’s reasons for choosing Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation was to improve the agency’s ability to recover from a system failure or other disaster. Previously, Security-Victor backed up its data to tapes. Now, with the combination of hosted applications and Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation, Security-Victor can use a tiered storage solution, with most data stored off-site and with file storage provided by a local backup to disk. “Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation offers a much more flexible and less expensive solution for disasterrecovery,” says Wildenberg.
Reduces IT Costs
Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation was a highly affordable option for Security-Victor. Says Wildenberg, “By combining hosted e-mail with the new server solution, the cost of the full installation was about 50 percent less than a typical Small Business Server deployment.”
Because licensing for Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation is by user account and does not require CALs, it is well-designed for small businesses, like Security-Victor, with 15 or fewer users. In addition, Security-Victor expects to save money by eliminating its tape system, which required more maintenance than the new solution. “Because Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation does not require CALs—and needs little IT attention—it was especially attractive from a cost standpoint,” says Hendrickson.
Simplifies Installation and Management
New customers who purchase Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation will benefit from the fact that the software is preinstalled on the server hardware. But even though MyTech Partners had to install the operating system for the prerelease version, the installation was fast and simple. “The setup for the users took only about 10 minutes per desktop,” Wildenberg says. “And that was mostly spent moving them to Exchange Online for their e-mail.” The new solution also needs only minimal management. “The ease of operation and limited management requirements are ideal for a small business without a dedicated IT staff,” he adds.
Provides Right-Sized Solution and Path to Migration
Security-Victor says Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation is the right-sized server for its business—not too much and not too little. And as the company grows, it can easily upgrade to another Microsoft server that supports more users. “Microsoft listened to the small-business market with Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation,” says Hendrickson. “It delivers a server solution that meets the needs of a small office and offers a clear path for migration as the business grows.”
Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation
Proven and reliable technology that provides a foundation to run the most popular business applications, Windows Server Foundation is easy on customer budgets while providing a core portfolio of IT resources, including file and print sharing, remote access, and security. Acting as the heart of a true local area network, Windows Server Foundation increases employee productivity and helps secure day-to-day data exchange by reducing Internet dependency. It also helps you manage your employees through an easy-to-use and familiar Windows experience. Windows Server Foundation can grow along with your business, making it easy to upgrade to versions of Windows Server with more capabilities when you need them. Readily available skilled IT talent, compatibility with most hardware devices, and the peace of mind gained from running a genuine Windows Server operating system help you achieve the highest return on investment.
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