Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Publisher Simplifies IT, Improves Productivity by Switching to Microsoft Collaboration
Overview
Country or Region:The Netherlands
Industry:Information Services
Customer Profile
Wolters Kluwer is a multinational publisher and information services company. Headquartered in Amsterdam, it has annual revenues of €3.4 billion (about U.S.$4 billion) and more than 18,500 employees.
Business Situation
Multiple mergers and years of growth left Wolters Kluwer with an IT infrastructure—particularly its enterprise messaging and collaboration system—that was difficult and expensive to maintain.
Solution
Wolters Kluwer switched to tightly integrated collaboration products, including Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003, the Active Directory® service, and Microsoft Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2003.
Benefits
More effective collaboration
More reliable communications
Simpler IT administration
Reduced labor and hardware resources / “The Microsoft collaboration solution will bring employees together like never before. Colleagues in Europe, the Asia Pacific region, and North America who seldom interact will finally share their work…”
Kevin Taylor, Principal Architect for Information Technology Outsourcing, Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer, a leading multinational publisher and information services company, had an IT infrastructure with varied components that had been acquired over years of growth and several mergers. In particular, multiple enterprise messaging and collaboration technologies made it difficult for employees to share work and expertise with each other and with external partners and customers. The disparate systems were also burdensome and expensive to administer. With the help of PointBridge, a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, Wolters Kluwer began migrating to a standardized solution based on Microsoft collaboration products. Although the new solution is still a work in progress, it is dramatically simpler, requires fewer resources to maintain, and results in more productive workers who can find each other more easily and collaborate more effectively.
Situation
Wolters Kluwer is a leading multinational publisher and information services company. The company’s core markets are health, corporate services, finance, tax services, accounting, law, regulation, and education. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Wolters Kluwer maintains operations across Europe, North America, and the Asia Pacific region. It employs approximately 18,500 people worldwide and had 2005 annual revenues of €3.4 billion (U.S.$4 billion). The company’s mission is to be “The Professional’s First Choice,” providing the information, tools, and solutions that help professionals improve their productivity and effectively make their critical business decisions.
Through growth and acquisitions over several years, the IT infrastructure of Wolters Kluwer had become decentralized and heterogeneous. In particular, its enterprise messaging and collaboration systems were based on multiple products, including IBM Lotus Notes/Domino, Novell GroupWise, Microsoft® Exchange Server version 5.5, Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, eProject Project Team Collaboration, both WebEx and Netspoke Web conferencing, and a variety of internally developed tools. The company also relied on multiple directory technologies, including the Active Directory® service in the Microsoft Windows® operating system, Novell Directory Services, and the Microsoft Windows NT® Server 4.0 directory service.
The decentralized IT infrastructure interfered with employees who needed to work across business units (and even across continents) and to share their work with external partners in order to get products and services to customers in a timely manner. Maintaining so many systems had also become cumber-some, labor-intensive, and expensive. Technical problems were difficult to track down and resolve. Sometimes, messages were delayed or even lost as they moved from one domain to another.
Wolters Kluwer needed a modern, integrated infrastructure that would make it easy for employees to communicate and collaborate whenever they wanted and wherever they were. Upper management recognized the urgent need to restructure the company’s IT systems. Any solution would have to meet the following criteria:
Support for broad collaboration, including public folders, shared documents, and meetings
Remote access for mobile workers
Reliable e-mail with a unified corporate directory and shared calendars, contacts, and task lists
Relatively easy administration, low maintenance, and high uptime
Support for tight security
Scalability, encompassing several thousand users and desktop computers
Minimal disruption during deployment and adaptability to a complex deployment schedule
Secure Web sites that support external partners, customers, and vendors
“We did an analysis of all the different collaboration tools that our company was using in North America,” says Kevin Taylor, Principal Architect for Information Technology Outsourcing at Wolters Kluwer. “We looked at everything from Web conferencing, videoconferencing, and teleconferencing to e-mail and project management. We realized that we could significantly cut costs by replacing and consolidating so many tools into a more rational and integrated solution.”
Wolters Kluwer considered standardizing on IBM Lotus Notes/Domino. After reviewing that product’s competing technologies, however, the company concluded that Microsoft products and technologies would better serve the Wolters Kluwer business model.
Solution
Having chosen Microsoft as its core product vendor, Wolters Kluwer partnered with experts to define a complete collaboration solution and to develop a migration plan. Specifically, for the enterprise messaging component of the solution, Microsoft Services consultants introduced Wolters Kluwer to PointBridge in June 2004. PointBridge is a Chicago, Illinois-based IT consulting firm that uses Microsoft technologies to enable collaborative work environments that improve business performance. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, the firm specializes in portals and content management, messaging and communication, and application infrastructure.
Choosing the Components
For its core set of messaging and collaboration tools, Wolters Kluwer selected the following tightly integrated Microsoft products and technologies:
The Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 operating system, the foundation of Microsoft Windows Server System™ integrated server software
Active Directory, a component of Windows Server 2003 that provides a central location for managing and securing user accounts, computers, and applications
Microsoft Windows SharePoint® Services, technology in Windows Server 2003 that provides Web hosting and document storage functions and can function as a development platform for creating collaboration applications
Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003, an enterprise collaboration solution that aggregates SharePoint sites, documents, and applications into a single, easy-to-use portal and complements Windows SharePoint Services by adding functions for navigation, searching, integration, and personalization
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 communication and collaboration server,which enables companies to send and receive e-mail and other messaging; and the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003 messaging and collaboration client to access these services from individual computers
Microsoft Identity Integration Server (MIIS) 2003, a centralized service that stores and integrates identity information for organizations with multiple directories
Microsoft Office Live Meeting, a hosted Web conferencing service that enables real-time collaboration
Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003
For the document-sharing component of the solution, Wolters Kluwer had IT administrators who were experts in SharePoint Products and Technologies—the collaboration features of Windows SharePoint Services combined with the capabilities of SharePoint Portal Server 2003.
For the enterprise messaging component, Wolters Kluwer drew upon the experience of PointBridge. “We needed a company with deep knowledge about Exchange Server,” says Timothy Watson, Program Manager at Wolters Kluwer. “PointBridge has that expertise, and it provided us with an effective messaging architect.” The companies called this portion of the solution the Exchange Directory Global Endeavor (EDGE).
Wolters Kluwer also selected third-party tools to assist in the migration to the new collaboration solution. One tool was software that extends the features of Exchange Server to certain mobile devices that do not support Windows (support for Windows-enabled mobile devices is built into Exchange Server). A second tool converted users’ e-mail, calendars, tasks, and personal address books from Lotus Notes to a format compatible with Exchange Server. And to enhance the functionality of Windows SharePoint Services, PointBridge and other third-party providers developed custom Web parts.
Deploying in Phases
In July 2004, a group of Wolters Kluwer IT experts created a conceptual design for the collaboration solution. In August, after corporate management approved the design, the group began translating it into multiple deployment designs for individual customer units (businesses within Wolters Kluwer). First, in order to understand each unit’s current system configuration, the group sent questionnaires to IT administrators in all the customer units and analyzed the responses. Next, for each customer unit, the group designed a configuration based on the new solution, coordinated moving data from the previous configuration to the new one, and then made sure the new configuration was stable. This phase lasted several months.
To streamline communication across customer units, a key priority was to create a global address list (GAL) of people, groups, and resources across the company. In September, Wolters Kluwer used MIIS 2003 to synchronize the GAL so that users in any unit could access and communicate with users in any other unit. (MIIS consolidates and reconciles identity information stored in multiple directories.) Wolters Kluwer integrated its messaging and collaboration systems with Active Directory, providing a central location to grant access to or withhold access from user accounts and to regulate group membership.
Proper GAL synchronization is required for the efficient transport of e-mail and other messages. To author the required customizing code, Wolters Kluwer used the Microsoft Visual Basic® Scripting Edition development system and Group Policy Object Editor in Microsoft Management Console.
To accommodate complex business needs, Wolters Kluwer implemented the collab-oration solution in phases, resulting in an elaborate migration schedule. For example, customer units involved with tax accounting were ineligible for software upgrades or any other major changes during tax time.
At the end of 2004, Wolters Kluwer migrated its first customer unit that was based on Lotus Notes, consisting of 1,500 users. In January, the company migrated a unit that was based on Exchange Server version 5.5. For Notes applications, Wolters Kluwer used the Microsoft Application Analyzer for Lotus Notes to understand the complexity, usage, and amount of data related to those applications that the unit would have to migrate.
“Active Directory was a key component of all our collaboration efforts,” says Taylor. “We wanted our entire collaboration solution to utilize one authentication source and to revolve around a common directory. We chose Active Directory to provide that critical service.”
Another important task was implementing support for remote procedure calls (RPC) using the standard Web protocol, HTTP. RPC permits direct Outlook-to-Exchange Server connections over the Internet so that mobile employees do not have to use a cumbersome virtual private network (VPN) connection to remotely access e-mail stored on firewall-protected servers.
Adding Collaboration Tools
With a foundation in place based on Exchange Server and Active Directory, Wolters Kluwer continued to migrate other units while implementing the documentsharing and Webconferencing components of the collaboration solution.
“It was a gradual process,” says Ethan Matyas, Engagement Director at PointBridge. “As we added other services to the solution, such as the collaboration features provided by Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies, we needed to make sure that the Active Directory model would support them. We had to make sure there were proper security provisions for the users and groups who wanted to use these services.”
With SharePoint Portal Server 2003, Wolters Kluwer deployed one large, centralized portal for its corporate intranet. Initially, more than 600 SharePoint sites representing more than 16,000 users started using Windows SharePoint Services to store documents for projects and group collaboration. “We have important team and project functionality that wasn’t previously available on our intranet, and our usage is growing exponentially,” says Taylor.
Wolters Kluwer is looking to standardize its videoconferencing and instant messaging capabilities among its offices in North America. Wolters Kluwer has already replaced WebEx and Netspoke Webconferencing and has standardized on Live Meeting.
With the successes realized so far, Wolters Kluwer expects that its North American businesses will be fully migrated to Exchange Server and other solution products in early 2007, followed by units in Asia Pacific and European regions.
Benefits
In the customer units where the solution has been deployed, collaboration is more effective and widespread among employees, across customer units, and between the company and its customers. Wolters Kluwer employees also receive e-mail messages faster and more reliably. The company’s messaging and collaboration systems are easier to manage, require fewer IT support personnel, run on fewer server computers, and are less expensive to maintain.
More Effective Collaboration Across Customer Units
Prior to adopting the new solution, customer units were isolated not only by their geography but also by their IT systems. The new solution enables Wolters Kluwer employees to share information across customer-unit boundaries.
“Wolters Kluwer is heavily using SharePoint Portal Server to centralize information—to create a centralized source for project management and risk management,” explains Todd Golden, Business Development Manager at PointBridge.
For example, rather than sending a lot of information in e-mail messages from one unit to another, Wolters Kluwer stores the information in one readily accessible place. It uses custom lists for collaboration on projects. The company has even begun the process of extending applications based on Windows SharePoint Services to partners and vendors for external collaboration.
Wolters Kluwer is also using SharePoint Products and Technologies to assist in implementing the new collaboration solution. “With a SharePoint site, we have a central resource where the project team can access migration schedules,” says Watson. “We can post or read documents that are specific to a customer unit’s migration issues. The site is also a useful place to keep our technical design documents.”
In addition, the company sees an advantage in preserving its employees’ expertise in a common knowledge base. “One of the main benefits of electronic collaboration is keeping the archives of work that would otherwise get left behind,” says Taylor. “The knowledge and experience that we gain from future projects will be preserved, searchable, and reusable throughout the enterprise instead of being trapped in a local department.”
And with RPC over HTTP, mobile users now routinely access Exchange Server and SharePoint Portal Server, which are protected by firewalls, even without connecting through VPN. “It’s very convenient. It’s all Web-based,” says Taylor. “In terms of remote access, all you need is an Internet connection.” Employees can thus continue communicating and collaborating with their colleagues even when they’re on the road.
More Reliable Communications
Before the solution was implemented, technical difficulties occasionally delayed messages as they traversed multiple systems. Now, messages reach their destinations immediately. “With the old system, even something as simple as an executive sending an e-mail message to the entire organization had become difficult,” says Watson. “The new system uses a coordinated directory.”
Employees can locate each other’s contact information more easily now. “Employees used to have to look in multiple address books to find an important contact,” adds Watson. “But with the common global access list, it’s a lot easier to locate people across the company—even if their accounts have not yet been migrated to the new Exchange environment.”
It’s also easier for employees to schedule meetings. “Before, if employees were using different e-mail systems, they would have to call each other to schedule a meeting,” says Watson. “After employees have been migrated to the new Exchange environment, their free and busy times are visible in Outlook and they can take advantage of easy appointment scheduling.”
Simpler IT Administration
The new collaboration solution has resulted in more efficient operation of the company’s IT department. The efficiency comes from personnel combining their expertise to support one system. “Before, we needed to have an expert administrator on Exchange Server, an expert on Lotus Notes, and an expert on GroupWise, and each one of them required a support staff and specialized tools,” continues Watson. “Now that we all use the same system, we can pool our resources to help each other resolve problems, and we don’t have to explain multiple systems to new employees.”
Reduced Labor and Hardware Resources
The new solution is not only simpler and more centralized but also consumes fewer maintenance resources. “By consolidating messaging systems, we can do the same job with fewer people,” says Watson. Specifically for e-mail, he adds, “Consolidation to the new Exchange environment requires perhaps half as many IT people, and we have dramatically consolidated our server computers.” Although the consolidation has no effect on the number of user accounts and mailboxes, the area that Watson oversees requires only 14 server computers now compared to 70 before.
Wolters Kluwer also benefits from a comprehensive Microsoft solution covered by one enterprise licensing agreement. For example, in this migration project, the cost of SharePoint Products and Technologies and of switching to them was effectively zero. “We financed the entire project of migrating from eProject to SharePoint Portal Server simply by not renewing the eProject license,” says Taylor.