Windows VistaCustomer Solution Case Study

College Boosts Productivity, Security by Upgrading to the Latest Operating

OverviewCountry or Region: United StatesIndustry: Education

Customer ProfileThomas College, located in Waterville, Maine, is a private school with approximately 1,100 undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education students.

Business SituationThe IT department wanted to determine the value of upgrading the school’s PC client operating system from Windows® XP to Windows Vista® to enhance productivity and increase security.

SolutionAfter evaluation and pilot testing, the school decided to upgrade to Windows Vista and recommends that all incoming students purchase Dell portable computers with the latest operating system.

Benefits Greater productivity for students

and faculty Enhanced security for the IT

network Improved IT foundation for 64-bit

computing and desktop virtualization

“Knowing that Windows Vista is designed … to be more secure [than previous versions] is very important to us because of the amount of Internet traffic that we have going through the campus.”Christopher Rhoda, Vice President for Information Services, Thomas College

Thomas College is a small liberal arts school in Maine

that prides itself on providing the latest technology for

its students and staff. The school’s Information

Technology department wanted to standardize on one

PC operating system in order to improve user

productivity, enhance security, and ease management

tasks. The school decided on the Windows Vista®

operating system and recommends that all incoming

students purchase portable computers from Dell with

the operating system preinstalled. Widespread use of

Windows Vista on the campus is helping improve user

productivity, enhance security, and create a solid

foundation for future improvements in the IT

environment, including 64-bit computing.

SituationThomas College is a small liberal arts college located in Waterville, Maine, about 75 miles north of Portland. The private school, which sits on 110 acres near the Kennebec River, has about 1,100 undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education students. The college offers a number of academic specialties, including criminal justice, education, business, and technology.

Thomas College puts a high value on providing classes and resources that will help students excel in careers after they graduate. As part of that effort, the school’s IT department has created a campuswide infrastructure that offers the latest computing technology.

“We focus on getting the best cutting-edge technology whenever we can—the administration is very supportive of that,” says Christopher Rhoda, Vice President for Information Services at Thomas College. “But because there are just two of us to manage the college’s IT needs, we have to be sure that the technology we acquire allows us to streamline management tasks as much as possible. At the same time, it has to support a secure computing environment. Plus the technology must provide the maximum benefit to users.”

The college uses a range of Microsoft® software, including server products such as the Windows Server® 2008 Enterprise operating system, Exchange Server 2007 for

communication and collaboration, and Office Communications Server 2007 for instant messaging and Web-based conferencing. It also uses Microsoft Forefront™ security products, including Forefront Security for Exchange Server to help protect the e-mail infrastructure, and Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services for spam filtering.

The college has approximately 250 workstations and portable computers on campus that are used by faculty and staff, and by students in computer labs and the library. About half of these are Windows®-based workstations that connect directly to the school’s Windows Server–based network, and the rest are a mix of desktop and portable PCs that were running the Windows XP operating system.

In early 2007, the school’s IT department began evaluating the Windows Vista® operating system to see if it would improve user productivity while boosting overall network security, including offering protection against Internet-based threats introduced by high volumes of Web browsing activity. “For a number of administrative and security reasons, we had to consider the effects of moving to a new client operating system,” Rhoda says. “It was a balancing act, because we needed to figure out what incoming students would be bringing with them in fall 2007, and what the best client operating system would be for us in

terms of administrative support and security.”

SolutionThe school decided to become an early adopter of Windows Vista to take advantage of a number of new and enhanced operating system features. It ran a pilot test on four workstations and four portable PCs in January 2007. “We tested Windows Vista on the newest and oldest equipment that we owned, and it worked well on every machine,” says Rhoda.

All the college’s desktop and portable PCs were upgraded to Windows Vista Enterprise by July 2007. In addition, the school’s IT department decided to recommend that incoming students—and returning students looking for a new computer—purchase a preconfigured portable computer from Dell. The school teamed up with Dell to offer Latitude D630 portable computers with Windows Vista Enterprise, which Thomas College students can purchase at about 30 percent less than the usual retail price. Students also have the option to purchase the computers with Windows Vista Ultimate so they have access to Windows Movie Maker video creation and editing software.

To further improve PC performance, the school began deploying Windows Vista Service Pack 1 in February 2008 and completed updating all of the school’s PC assets by May 2008.

Meanwhile, the school is working with Dell to upgrade the college workstations to Windows Vista Enterprise–based OptiPlex 755 man-aged desktop computers, which are optimized to work in network environments. The school uses Windows Deployment Services and works with Dell to upload PC configuration images to the new workstations.

BenefitsBy upgrading to the latest desktop operating system, the Thomas College IT department has enhanced the school’s computing environment. Students and faculty are experiencing productivity gains, and the school has increased its security against a variety of Internet-based threats.

“We predicted that about one-third of the incoming students in late 2007 would bring Windows Vista–based laptops,” Rhoda says. “The actual number was about 40 percent, and the number is increasing. Windows Vista is well received here because it helps improve user productivity, provides great features like the video editing software, and assists the IT department by enhancing the security of our computing environment.”

In addition, the school now has a foundation for future enhancements, such as moving to 64-bit hardware and applications for greater performance.

Greater Productivity

“We tested Windows Vista on the newest and oldest equipment that we owned, and it worked well on every machine.”Christopher Rhoda, Vice President for

Information Systems, Thomas College

"Windows Vista is well received here because it helps improve user productivity, provides great features like the video editing software, and assists the IT department by enhancing the security of our computing

Students and faculty at Thomas College now are more productive. “Windows Vista introduced quite a few features that sound fairly simple in their description, yet boost the productivity of users,” Rhoda says. “For example, clicking the Start button and typing ‘Excel’ in the Instant Search field to start Microsoft Office Excel® 2007 [spreadsheet software] can save people a lot of time. The same is true for the power of Instant Search, which can be used to quickly find a particular file or e-mail message.”

Rhoda adds that the incorporation of Windows Movie Maker in Windows Vista Ultimate is also a boon. It has provided a surge of interest in students using video for classroom work, creating projects such as musical performances, and adding content to social Web sites. “The movie editing software is greatly improved over previous editions,” Rhoda says, noting that students can produce videos faster than before for both academic and personal projects. “This has added to the popularity of using video in our computer degree programs with courses like Web and Multimedia Design. Students love publishing videos on social sites like Windows Live™ Spaces.”

Enhanced SecurityThe operating system upgrade helps increase the security of the IT environment, according to Rhoda. “Knowing that Windows Vista is designed on a fundamentally different level to be more secure [than

previous versions] is very important to us because of the amount of Internet traffic that we have on campus,” he says, noting that the school is taking advantage of a number of security features provided in Windows Vista, including Windows Defender and Group Policy. “We are using Windows Vista in combination with the other Microsoft software, including Forefront client security, to increase our level of protection against malware and spam. We also have Windows Vista configured to get automatic updates.

“That, in my mind, also makes users more productive,” Rhoda adds. “With Windows Vista on their PCs, users don’t have to spend time thinking about and protecting their PCs from Internet-based threats. It is simply done for them.”

Improved IT Foundation for the FutureThomas College now has a solid foundation in place for taking advantage of rich applications and faster-performing hardware as they become available. “We are very interested in moving the school to 64-bit computing for the performance gains, and Windows Vista is helping us prepare for that,” Rhoda says, referencing the built-in support for 64-bit hardware and software.

“Right now, we are waiting for more applications to be available for 64-bit, and hard disks that truly take advantage of that architecture. I have been running my desktop PC on 64-bit Windows Vista Enterprise since last

“We are very interested in moving the school to 64-bit computing for the performance gains, and Windows Vista is helping us prepare for that.”Christopher Rhoda, Vice President for

Information Systems, Thomas College

year, and I know it delivers a lot of performance benefits for all applications, especially ones that require graphics.”

The school also plans to take advantage of the desktop virtualization capabilities available in Windows Vista. Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop provides unique licensing to run Windows in virtual machines on server computers. The school’s users will be able to access these virtual machines on either PCs or thin clients using existing network workstations located around campus. “It’s great to know that I can virtualize our desktop environment,” Rhoda says. “It will save us time when we are deploying new PCs.”

Windows VistaWindows Vista can help your organization use information technology to gain a competitive advantage in today’s new world of work. Your people will be able to find and use information more effectively. You will be able to support your mobile work force with better access to shared data and collaboration tools. And your IT staff will have better tools and technologies to enhance corporate IT security, data protection, and more efficient deployment and management.

For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: www.microsoft.com

For more information about Thomas College, call (207) 859-1111 or visit the Web site at: www.thomas.edu

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published May 2008

Software and Services Windows Vista Enterprise Microsoft Server Product Portfolio

− Windows Server 2008 Enterprise− Microsoft Exchange Server 2007− Microsoft Forefront Security for

Exchange Server 2007 Microsoft Office

− Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

Services − Microsoft Exchange Hosted

Services

Hardware Dell Latitude D630 portable

computers Dell OptiPlex 755 managed desktop

computers

For more information about Windows Vista, go to:www.microsoft.com/windowsvista