Ster-Kinekor, a South African movie theater chain, was struggling with managing its IT infrastructure consisting of multiple domains and aging Windows NT 4.0 servers. It worked with Microsoft partner Artec to migrate its network to a single Windows Server 2003 domain and deploy Windows XP Professional desktops. This new architecture has reduced the management burden by 50% and improved security, administration, and desktop management through features like Group Policy and Remote Administration Console. The deployment went smoothly and has provided Ster-Kinekor with an easier to manage and more secure network.

1. Ster-Kinekor Sees Happy Ending with New
Domain Architecture and Management Tools
Published: June 2003
South African theater chain Ster-Kinekor is estimating a 50 percent
reduction in the burden of managing its IT infrastructure as it migrates to
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Professional. The
company’s previous network based on Windows NT 4.0 was difficult to
manage, as was the company’s desktop environment based on Windows
95 and Windows 98.
Company Overview
Ster-Kinekor, headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, operates that country’s largest
movie theater chain. Part of media group, Primedia Holdings, Ster-Kinekor operates more than
60 cinemas. The Ster-Kinekor Pictures division distributes films to other cinema companies
throughout Southern Africa, and the Ster-Kinekor Home Entertainment division is a market leader
in distributing videotapes, DVDs, and interactive games to rental stores.
Situation
Being in the movie business, Ster-Kinekor knows that many a great picture is about the heroics of
fighting big battles -- and emerging victorious. Ster-Kinekor’s IT department has already done the
heroic battles – with an aging network operating system based on the Microsoft® Windows® NT
4.0 operating system. What the company needed was a Hollywood happy ending.
The ongoing heroics were needed to manage the company’s network which was divided into six
domains with multiple trusts. Managing user accounts and shared resources was too time
consuming. The head office in Johannesburg, hosts SQL Server databases and Web-based
services to support ticketing, movie club membership and various other systems essential to the
theaters. If the central system fails, the theatres are unable to sell tickets. So system
administration was a big concern.
The complexity of the domain structure and the inability to easily manage desktop computers
across the corporate network posed huge challenges for the small IT support team. The support
team was spending most of it's time reacting to problems in the field – rather than proactively
building for the future. Like a horror show monster, or the villain of a soap opera, the problem of
managing disparate systems on the network would arise again and again.
Windows Server 2003
Case Study
Solution Overview
Industry
Cinema operations and film
distribution.
Business Need
Ster-Kinekor needed a corporate
network that was easier to manage
than its existing multi-domain system
based on Microsoft® Windows® NT
4.0. It also needed the ability to better
manage its desktop environment.
Solution
Ster-Kinekor is deploying the Windows
Server™ 2003 operating system and,
the Windows Server 2003 Active
Directory® service. It is replacing its
desktop systems with the Windows XP
Professional operating system.
Benefits
 Easy to deploy
 Easy to manage
 Out-of-the-box security settings
 Better control of the desktop
environment.

2. The company set an objective of reducing the number of domains it had to manage and finding a
better way to manage desktops across the organization. All the theater company needed was a
hero – someone to ride to the rescue to bring on the happy ending.
Solution
Working with Artec Computer Systems (Pty) Ltd, a Microsoft Certified Partner, Ster-Kinekor is in
the process of bringing about its happy ending by deploying Windows Server™ 2003 Standard
Edition as its new operating system. Windows XP Professional is being deployed across the
desktops. The new architecture collapses all domains into a single Windows Server 2003
domain. The primary domain has already been upgraded, using in-place migration to avoid
disruption of network availability. The new architecture will also move all domain controllers in
from the field for central administration.
Benefits
Deployment went smoothly, and the consolidation of the domain architecture, and use of Group
Policy, allows Ster Kinekor to manage the network more easily.
“We were very impressed with the ease of deployment of Windows Server 2003,” says Francois
Combrink, Information Technology / Information Systems Manager, Ster-Kinekor. “With the
extensive planning from our partner Artec, we were able to perform this upgrade with very little
impact on day to day business. And we are well on our way to achieving our goal of reducing the
overall burden of management of the infrastructure by at least 50 percent.”
Combrink was especially impressed with the enhanced security of Windows Server 2003,
including the secure default settings, and the fact that plug-and-play lived up to its name.
“We really enjoy Microsoft’s new policy regarding ‘secure out the box’ which gives us the peace of
mind that no unnecessary server functionality has been switched on without our knowledge,”
Combrink says. “Yes, this requires a little more manual configuration, but this will pay dividends in
the future. We were also impressed with the plug-and-play deployment. We did not have any
driver problems across the any of the servers that we installed, which reinforces our feeling that
Windows Server 2003 is more mature and dependable than its predecessor.”
Combrink says administration of servers and the desktop has been simplified and streamlined
with features such as Remote Administration Console, which gives Ster-Kinekor’s IT team the
ability to manage all servers from a single point; Administrative Delegation, which allows his IT
team to delegate authority for performing day-to-day tasks to the departmental level without
compromising system-wide administrative security; and Remote Imaging Services, which helps
his team deploy and maintain a standardized desktop to reduce the chance of users inadvertently
changing settings or loading unauthorized programs that could cause troubleshooting or
administrative problems.
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integrated applications and Web experiences. Designed with mission-critical performance in mind, the Windows Server System provides fast time-
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protocols and standards in order to revolutionize the way computers talk to one another.
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For more information about Ster-Kinekor, visit the Web site at: http://www.sterkinekor.com/
For more information on Artec Computer Systems (Pty) Ltd. services and solutions, visit the Web site at: http://www.artec.co.za/
© 2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case study is for informational purposes only.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
“We really enjoy Microsoft’s
new policy regarding ‘secure
out the box’ which gives us the
peace of mind that no
unnecessary server functionality
has been switched on without
our knowledge. Yes, this
requires a little more manual
configuration, but this will pay
dividends in the future.”
Francois Combrink
Information Technology /
Information Systems Manager
Ster-Kinekor
Artec, a Microsoft Certified Partner,
was launched in 1992 as a small
entrepreneurial concern by its founder
Andrew Tucker. Artec is a medium
sized, highly focused company
operating in the small and medium
enterprises arena providing network
infrastructure design, implementation
and support to effectively meet its
customers’ business needs.
“Windows 2003 Server is very
obviously the result of serious
attention being paid to customer
feedback. The promise has
been kept with respect to
performance, reliability and
security.”
Andrew Yates
Technical Director
Artec Computer Systems

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The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.