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Page 1: GOOGLE APPS CASE STUDY Maptek uses Google Apps …s.nsit.com/uk01/de/content/shop/google/maptek_white_paper_mining... · Maptek uses Google Apps to unify global . communications,

Maptek uses Google Apps to unify global communications, enhance collaboration and reduce IT costs

Business

The Maptek Group, established in 1981, has operations across the globe in Australia, the U.S., Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Peru, the U.K. and South Africa. Maptek has been at the forefront of innovative mining technology for 27 years. During its first three years in operation the company developed a true 3D interactive graphics application for mining: Vulcan geological modeling and mine planning software. Maptek has since grown into a consortium of companies providing a number of system solutions to its customers.

Challenge

Having such widely distributed offices, efficient and reliable electronic communication is key to the success of Maptek, particularly when staff work in remote locations, such as Canada’s Northwest Territories, the Pilbara region of Western Australia or the Atacama Desert in Chile.

With the mindset to move towards greater collaboration and interaction between all members of the organization, along with the need to reduce spam, a new system was needed. Before switching to Google Apps the company used a traditional server-based solution. “The old system was performing so inadequately that carrier pigeons would have been better,” says Simon Pollitt, Information Technology Manager in Maptek’s Adelaide head office.

Solution

A series of smaller companies were used as the testing ground for Google Apps. Differences were quickly realised, with significant improvements in speed, reliability of email access, and availability of mobile integration – all making Google Apps the perfect solution. “It became an obvious choice to switch to Google Apps,” explains Pollitt.

The first consideration to make the change was based on Gmail’s cost effectiveness. The solution delivered significant cost savings, reducing the company’s IT budget.

GOOGLE APPS CASE STUDY

AT A GLANCE

What they wanted to do:• Ensureefficientandreliableelectronic

communication for all their staff regardless of geographic location

• ReduceITcostsandalloweffectivecollaboration across the company

What they did:• DeployedGoogleApps,implementing

Gmail and Docs throughout the organisation

• Ensuredreliableandefficientcompanycommunications through Gmail

What they accomplished:• Decreasedspamattheirdomainand

allowed for real-time communication between their staff

• Migratedemailforanentireofficeinjust one week

• Increasedstaffproductivityacrossglobal offices, while decreasing IT costs and freeing resources to focus on revenue-generating activities

Figure 1: Maptek Vulcan™ allows mining companies to model and visualise their orebody, design the mine and then develop optimised schedules for extracting their ore.

Page 2: GOOGLE APPS CASE STUDY Maptek uses Google Apps …s.nsit.com/uk01/de/content/shop/google/maptek_white_paper_mining... · Maptek uses Google Apps to unify global . communications,

Pollitt recalls that their previous server-based architecture did not represent value for money. Gmail was a high-value, scalable solution when compared against the other options being considered.

In Pollitt’s opinion, “The decision was simple. For our company, Google Apps is taking us to a new level.” With an owner who appreciates and values emerging technologies, Maptek decided to move all Australian operations to the Google Apps solution. The entire migration process took less than one week, and the benefits of Google Apps as a communication and collaboration suite were quickly realised.

Uptake was simple, with employees finding Google Apps intuitive and easy from the start. Following the implementation, Pollitt observed that “People weren’t complaining about email anymore. They were just getting on with their work and finding processes were better than before.” Google Apps is now used by the company primarily for email, with Docs being used for meetings so that agenda items can be shared and changes can be seen in real time.

Results

For Maptek, the switch to Google Apps has raised staff productivity through “reducing by an order of magnitude the time wasted by users dealing with spam,” observes Pollitt. The company saw an immediate and obvious reduction in spam. By configuring Google Apps to take advantage of policy management options within Google Message Security and Discovery services, powered by Postini, the IT team at Maptek saved “approximately 40 hours per week of babysitting email/spam,” he adds. This new setup also allows Maptek to promptly archive, restore, back up, and access proprietary emails.

For Pollitt, Google Apps was a straightforward choice. After a lengthy review process, it was decided that Google Apps would be the best email and document management system for their widespread organisation. The facility to allow Gmail to be accessible in “a lightweight platform was a breath of fresh air.” In less than a week the entire Australian team was actively using their Maptek.com.au Gmail accounts. In terms of training, Pollitt recalls that this was not a big issue, with most employees finding the Google Apps platform intuitive, since they were already familiar with Google’s consumer products such as Gmail.

Pollitt and the Maptek management team are passionate about Google Apps and believe the product has played an essential role in helping foster growth. “It’s easy to work out your costs with Google Apps,” he adds. “It’s impossible to do this realistically with other products on the market.”

Maptek’s customer base is growing in every continent, with more than 4,000 users taking advantage of Maptek’s mining technology solutions at over 700 locations. Google Apps has increased reliability and efficiency for company communications and Maptek is looking forward to upcoming features. “More businesses should take advantage of it,” concludes Pollitt.

© Copyright 2009. Google is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. SS124-0903

GOOGLE APPS CASE STUDY

For more information, visitwww.google.com/a

ABOUT GOOGLE APPS

Google Apps offers simple, powerful communication and collaboration tools for enterprises of any size in business, education, or government – all hosted by Google to streamline setup, minimise maintenance, and reduce IT costs. With Gmail, Google Calendar, and integrated IM, users can stay connected and work together with ease, even in private domains. And, using Google Docs, which include word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation tools, they can share files and collaborate in real-time, keeping versions organised and available wherever and whenever users work.

“It’s easy to work out your costs with Google Apps. It’s impossible to do this realistically with other products on the market.”