Windows Server 2003

Customer Solution Case Study

IT Team Reduces Disaster Recovery to Just
Three Days with Automated Deployment
A!ter the !ire" it too# us
a wee# to recover our
$inu% system" &ut with
Windows Server 2003"
recovery is 'uic# and
easy( We can solve
routine pro&lems in less
than hal! the time it used
to ta#e()
Syed *mar Anis" Applications Team $ead"
+n,ro
Engro, a fertiliser company based in Pakistan, uses SAP
software to manage financial and human resources (HR) tasks
!n "##$, two fires damaged ser%ers in the company&s data
centre, including the 'inu( ser%er, which hosts the SAP
software )he !) team spent more than a week restoring the
operating system to guarantee access to this critical business
application Employees introduced a new solution based on
*indows Ser%er+ "##, Enterprise Edition, reducing the time
spent on ser%er management and restoration, and better
protecting the business
-usiness .eeds
+n,ro is the second/lar,est producer o!
!ertilisers in 0a#istan and employs more
than 2"000 people( +sta&lished in 1234 as
the +sso 0a#istan 5ertiliser Company" the
+n,ro ,roup includes other su&sidiaries and
partnerships involved in ener,y" !ood" and
industrial chemicals( With such a lar,e
num&er o! employees handlin, hi,h
volumes o! !inancial transactions every day"
it is essential to have ro&ust IT systems(
+n,ro needs enterprise mana,ement
so!tware to simpli!y administration(
+mployees use SA0 applications to
administer their 6R procedures" such as
producin, the payroll" and !or ,eneral
accountin,7!or e%ample" authorisin,
payments to suppliers( 8ana,ers can easily
create and monitor payment schedules"
chec# on the pro,ress o! !inancial
transactions" and mana,e new starter
tas#s" such as processin, &an# account
and ta% details( Without access to SA0
so!tware" employees would have to handle
accountin, manually" causin, delays and
increasin, the possi&ility o! errors(
IT administrators run a data centre to host
the or,anisation9s data and line/o!/
&usiness applications( While most servers
run Windows: operatin, systems" the
server that hosted the SA0 application
used Red 6at +nterprise $inu%" which
re'uired the IT department to recruit
specialised employees(
In mid/200;" two !ires destroyed much o!
the IT in!rastructure at the +n,ro head
o!!ice( It was vital !or the IT recovery team
to ,et the &usiness/critical systems up and
runnin, as soon as possi&le" to avoid the
company9s employees and customers
losin, time and money(
-ut the team !ound it di!!icult to ,et the
$inu% server wor#in, a,ain( +mployees
were !orced to use &ac#up systems" which
too# time and resulted in a &ac#lo, o!
wor#( Syed *mar Anis" Applications Team
$ead at +n,ro" says< It too# us an entire
wee# to restore the system and a&sor&ed
most o! our IT resources( We also had to
spend 0=R300"000 >*(S(?3";;3@ on
e%ternal consultants()
The IT team spent !ar more than e%pected
,ettin, the company9s in!rastructure
runnin, a,ain( +n,ro had to ensure that it
was protected" should disaster stri#e
a,ain(
Customer: +n,ro Chemicals 0a#istan
Web Site: www(en,ro(com
Number of Employees: 2"000
Country or Region: 0a#istan
Industry: Chemicals
Partner: SA0 0a#istan
Customer Profile
+n,ro is the second/lar,est producer o!
!ertiliser in 0a#istan" employin, 1"000
people in its core chemicals &usiness( It
has su&sidiaries in the ener,y and !ood
mar#ets" with a !urther 1"000 employees(
Software and Services
8icroso!t Server 0roduct 0ort!olio
Windows Server 2003 +nterprise +dition
Windows Aista
Windows B0 0ro!essional
visit<
www(microso!t(comCresourcesCcasestudi
es
Solution
In Dcto&er 200;" !ollowin, a second !ire at
the +n,ro head o!!ice" Anis and the
Application Development Team investi,ated
alternatives to hostin, the company9s SA0
so!tware on a $inu% server( They decided to
mi,rate the server runnin, SA0 !rom $inu%
to the Windows Server 2003 +nterprise
+dition operatin, system with Service 0ac#
2(
With this solution" IT mana,ers can use the
inte,rated &ac#up service to ma#e sure
their !iles can &e recovered in the event o! a
!ire or other disaster( +mployees can
automatically install the operatin, systems
on servers and client computers remotely
usin, Windows Deployment Services(
IT employees use &uilt/in tools to mana,e
the server" and solve pro&lems &e!ore they
a!!ect users( With the Active Directory:
service" administrators can ,ive ,roups o!
users access to separate data&ases and
applications" and e!!ectively mana,e their
security permissions( +mployees use the
improved Eroup 0olicy 8ana,ement Tools
to chan,e settin,s and install so!tware
updates on client computers automatically(
+mployees who used SA0 at the company
already accessed the application usin, the
Windows B0 0ro!essional and Windows
Aista: operatin, systems( They were
com!orta&le with the inter!ace and re'uired
no e%tra trainin, to use the solution( In !act"
most users don9t #now that we have
chan,ed the operatin, system on the
server") says Anis(
Desi,n and implementation o! the solution
was completed within !ive months( Anis
says< We have a lot o! e%perience wor#in,
with 8icroso!t systems( The technical
support availa&le on the We& made the
deployment as painless as possi&le()
-ene!its
.ow" employees at +n,ro can mana,e the
IT in!rastructure more e!!ectively" and use
their e%perience and !amiliarity with
8icroso!t: tools to solve pro&lems 'uic#ly(
A!ter the !ire" it too# us a wee# to recover
our $inu% system" &ut with Windows
Server 2003" recovery is 'uic# and easy")
says Anis( We can solve routine pro&lems
in less than hal! the time it used to ta#e(
8ost importantly" we9re con!ident that we
have !ar more dama,e protection should
we e%perience a similar disaster in !uture()
IT management is simpler The team can
use one set o! tools to mana,e all the
servers" with no need to mana,e a
separate s#ill set(
!isaster recovery is faster IT employees
use remote mana,ement tools to 'uic#ly
recover applications and data a!ter a
catastrophe" reducin, the ris# o!
!inancial loss or serious dama,e to the
&usiness(
Troubles"ooting is easier IT employees
are more com!orta&le with the Windows
environment" and solve pro&lems two
times !aster than with the $inu% solution(
#ess user training is re$uired +n,ro no
lon,er has to invest in $inu% trainin, !or
employees" and can easily o&tain
specialist 8icroso!t technical support(
!owntime is reduced The
implementation team ran a disaster
recovery e%ercise with the new system"
and mana,ed to restore the system
within three days(
E%pensive consultants are not re$uired
The company no lon,er needs to hire
third/ party contractors to solve
pro&lems" which reduces the money
spent on resource overheads(
&ser productivity is increased
+mployees can access the SA0 system at
all times and don9t have to mana,e the
payroll and supplier payments usin,
&ac#up systems(
All ri,hts reserved( This case study is !or in!ormational purposes only( 8ICRDSD5T 8A=+S .D WARRA.TI+S" +B0R+SS DR I80$I+D" I.
T6IS S*88ARF(
Document pu&lished April 2002