Manufacturer Upgrades Operating System for Easier Deployment, Cost Savings

“The many manual steps and local policies that we previously had to activate for each build are now eliminated. Windows Vista Enterprise makes deployment easy and saves time.”

Danita Remspecher, Systems Analyst, ICL-PPLP

ICL Performance Products LP (ICL-PPLP) is a global supplier of phosphate salts and phosphoric acid for food and technical applications. The organization wanted to standardize its computer operating systems and sought an easily deployable system that would address its local language requirements. By upgrading to the Windows Vista® Enterprise operating system, ICL-PPLP has cut deployment time, improved stability, eased IT administration, and raised employee productivity.

Business Needs

ICL Performance Products LP (ICL-PPLP), located in St. Louis, Missouri, produces a range of phosphate-based products used in food, detergent, fire retardants, industrial applications, and electronics.

In the past several years, the company has consolidated IT support of other ICL North American subsidiaries and recent acquisitions in St. Louis. As a result, the IT team at ICL-PPLP now manages a mix of computers that run the gamut of operating systems from Windows® 2000 to Windows XP, on at least 20 different hardware platforms. “That really complicates IT management,” says Frank Castulik, Manager of IT Operations and Support Services at ICL-PPLP. “We needed tostandardize our 700-plus computers on one operating system.”

In considering a new operating system, the company knew it had to find technology that could be quickly and easily deployed. “Managing deployment is a challenge,” says Danita Remspecher, Systems Analyst, ICL-PPLP. “I had more than 120 local policies to change every time I wanted to create a build. It took several weeks to get those changed.”

ICL-PPLP also needed to address local language challenges during deployment of a new operating system. “We have some computers we manage outside the United States, and we need to accommodate those local languages,” says Christy Barker, CIO, ICL-PPLP. “We need a feature that gives us the ability to have a single build while being able to change languages, and provide a low cost means to deploy outside the US.”

Not least of all, ICL-PPLP required a better-performing and more stable operating system. “It would regularly take me up to 10 minutes to start up and have a functioning computer every day,” Castulik states.

To address these challenges, ICL-PPLP looked to upgrade to a newer version of the Windows client operating system.

Solution

In late 2007, ICL-PPLP began to consider the idea of standardizing its desktop environment on the Windows Vista®Enterprise operating system. Windows Vista Enterprise features 800 new Group Policy settings, which would give IT administrators more control over computers and user permissions. Windows Vista Enterprise also contains a Multilingual User Interface (MUI) that makes it possible for administrators to provide multiple languages on a single computer, or to change languages without having to change the core binaries of Windows Vista.

Prior to deploying Windows Vista Enterprise, ICL-PPLP enlisted Oakwood Systems Group, a St. Louis–based Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, for consultation. Oakwood reassured ICL-PPLP that deploying Windows Vista Enterprise would not cost substantially more than the Windows XP operating system. In fact, Oakwood helped ICL-PPLP complete a survey and assessment that looked at the costs of upgrading systems, compatibility issues, and the features and benefits of Windows Vista compared with Windows XP. The report showed that, while Windows XP might be less costly to deploy based on hardware upgrades, Windows Vista contained enhanced features with a relatively small additional deployment cost. “We realized costwas not a reason for us to hold back from deploying Windows Vista. The benefits outweighed those differences,” Barker remarks.

In early 2008, ICL-PPLP began deployment of Windows Vista Enterprise at six separate U.S. sites. During the initial phase, Oakwood redesigned and reconfigured ICL-PPLP’s Group Policy settings. During a second phase, ICL-PPLP deployed Windows Vista Enterprise to a group of IT employees. In a third phase, ICL-PPLP deployed the operating system to a larger group of users. Full rollout is scheduled for completion in early 2009.

Benefits

The feature set of Windows Vista Enterprise has given ICL-PPLP the ability to define an operating system that can be deployed in hours rather than days and easily maintained, translating into an estimated savings of U.S.$210,000 annually.Once the solution is fully rolled out, the company expects its employees to become more productive, further contributing to the solution’s value.

Saves time and cuts costs. Oakwood was able to take advantage of more substantial Group Policy features in Windows Vista Enterprise to streamline policy design at ICL-PPLP. “The many manual steps and local policies that we previously had to activate for each build are now eliminated,” states Remspecher. “Windows Vista Enterprise makes deployment easy and saves a lot of time.” Also, a new image format in Windows Vista Enterprise reduces the number of images needed when deploying to computers with different language settings. Now, a new operating system can be deployed in a few hours, as opposed to days using Windows XP. ICL-PPLP estimates deployment costs will be cutby $26,000 annually as a result. Using the Windows Vista Business Value Discussion Tool, ICL estimates it can save more than $210,000 annually, due to reduced image management and deployment times, fewer support calls, better controls, and new productivity tools.

Improves IT efficiency. Using Windows Vista Enterprise, IT administrators at ICL-PPLP can more efficiently administer changes. For example, with the expanded Group Policy settings in Windows Vista, IT Server Administratorscan easily integrate Group Policy settings with the Active Directory® service. “Because Group Policy settings are integrated with Active Directory in Windows Vista Enterprise, we no longer have to go through a login script each time we need to make a Group Policy change,” Remspecher says. “We make the change once, and the policies are automatically applied when the PC reboots.”

Increases performance and productivity. Windows Vista Enterprise is also proving to be a better-performing operating system for ICL-PPLP. “The performance and stability of Windows Vista Enterprise is more reliable than what we had on our computers running Windows 2000 and Windows XP,” says Remspecher.

“The time it takes between when I turn on my computer and when it is ready to actually work for me is much less than before,”adds Castulik. ICL concludes that all employees will enjoy productivity gains through this improved performance.