Windows® 7 Professional is All About Monetizing Productivity Gains for IT firm and Clients - Case Study

1. Windows 7
Customer Solution Case Study
New OS is All About Monetizing Productivity
Gains for IT Firm and Clients
Overview “We try to put cost-improvement-per-user price tags
Country or Region: Canada
Industry: IT Consulting,
on Windows 7 software features. Faster searching or
Professional Services better access to files are all productivity gains that
Customer Profile
have a dollar value.”
Located in Alberta, Canada, with two Philip Elder, President and CEO, MPECS, Inc.
employees and three contractors, MPECS
Inc. services the IT needs of many small
and medium businesses in the accounting,
law, and non-profit sectors.
Putting a price tag on new IT features and capabilities is standard
Business Situation
selling practice for Alberta, Canada IT provider, MPECS Inc., a
The main business challenge is to find
ways to monetize and demonstrate an ROI Microsoft Small Business Specialist Partner. The firm understands
for the solutions the IT consultant its small and medium size clients often want to know the potential
recommends to its customers.
impact new technology on its bottom line. The same ROI-selling
Solution strategy is being employed as MPECS begins to demo pre-launch
MPECS Inc. is finding features and
functionality in Windows 7 that is helping versions Windows 7 Professional to customers. Features that speed
itself and its customers to be more deployment, employ deeper search techniques, and accelerate
productive while extending the value of the
IT investment. navigation are proving to be valuable productivity enhancements
for MPECS internal operations and hold promise for similar client
Benefits
 Deployment Speeds up 2X benefits.
 OS Runs 40 Percent Faster Examples
Below
 Faster Resume and Stingy Power
Management Adds One Hour Per Day
 Advanced Backup & Restore Helps
Thwart Crashes
 Accelerated Navigation

2. Situation improvement in navigation alone can go a
MPECS Inc., an Alberta, Canada-based IT long way to paying for new IT solutions.
provider specializes in small and medium
sized businesses—five to 35 PCs—since Specific features in Windows 7 are also
2003. Many of the firm’s clients are in the helping to make MPECS Inc a lot more
accounting and professional services sectors productive and get more value for its IT
with a growing number of non-profit investment.
organizations. What makes MPECS Inc. rather
unusual is its passion for embracing the Snap, Shake, Peek
latest technology. From the beginning, the These features make it easier to navigate
company armed itself with the latest in among multiple open documents such as
hardware and software in order to offer the side-by-side document positioning, quickly
most leading-edge solutions to its customers. eliminating all but the foremost open
“Our philosophy from the start was to know document or getting a peek at a desktop
and use the latest technology for the benefit calendar behind several desktop files.
of our business and our clients’,” said Philip
Elder, president and CEO, MPECS Inc. Network Connection Wizard
Network Connection Wizard provides easier
However, line-of-business software demands desktop connection to wireless, VPN and LAN
have been a barrier for new OS sales like networks. For MPECS, it means engineers
Windows Vista, something MPECS Inc. can more quickly identify all network
expects will change as Windows 7 rolls out connection options within a single window.
according to Elder. “My customers run a lot of
line-of-business software, particularly Problem Step Recorder
accounting packages that kept them from Problem Step Recorder allows MPECS user to
migrating to Window Vista. As time passed precisely capture and communicate a
the software OEMs have upgraded their computer problem. It also enables MPECS to
products so customers can take advantage of document fixes, create tutorials or
the power of Windows 7. We anticipate a knowledge-based reference materials.
much higher demand for this new OS.”
Power Management
Whether it’s a new operating system, server The Power Management feature in Windows
or application, MPECS’ approach to selling 7 carefully controls laptop power usage to
takes a purely customer point-of-view. In the maximize battery life extending the work that
end, it’s all about productivity and return on can be done on a single charge.
investment. The approach has made MPECS
Inc. a highly trusted resource for its clients. Federated Search
This functionality enables users on the
network to find information on local
Solution computers as well local network, Homegroup
“We sell by monetizing features and improved and Internet. Deep searches can extend to
capabilities,” said Elder. For example, just SharePoint sites, control panel content and
saving five to 10 minutes a day through more command level structures.
efficient navigation translates into a half hour
per week. With 10 users, the savings could IE 8 Smart Screen
be $500 to $800. Over a year, savings could Internet Explorer 8 helps protect you against
approach $10,000. Just a slight productivity inadvertent installation of malware, or

3. malicious software which can compromise Enhanced Security Options
your data, privacy, and identity while also The new slider for User Account Control (UAC)
damaging your computer and valuable data, gives MPECS more choices in security levels.
with the new SmartScreen Filter. However, the IT firm trains its customers to
ALWAYS click cancel when presented with a
Cross-Site Scripting UAC pop-up while browsing the Internet or
Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of clicking on a link in an e-mail. The feature is
computer security vulnerability typically found there to protect them from a variety of
in web applications which allow code attacks that can be missed by other malware.
injection by malicious web users into the web ”I teach users not to trust even highly
pages viewed by other users. Windows 7 has prominent websites. Not long ago, a site that
built-in anti cross-site scripting capabilities. sells children’s CDs from was compromised
with malware. The UAC gives the user an
Benefits option other than terminating the Internet
More Comprehensive Search Explorer process since every single pixel on
Elder said, “We try to put cost-improvement- the malware pop up window permits the
per-user price tags on Windows 7 software malware’s installation! Even if you click on
features. Faster searching or better access to the close button, it’s going to download its
files are all productivity gains that have a evil. UAC catches stuff like this by not
dollar value. The deeper search capabilities allowing the install to proceed.”
of Federated Search means we can find
documents within our SharePoint site as well Elder also sees other security features in IE8
as search the Control Panel and command that provide additional protection for users.
level information.” “IE 8 Smart Screen and Cross-Site Scripting
combine to protect our users against
Deployment Speeds up 2X, OS Runs 40 malicious code injections and unsafe
Percent Faster websites. They add additional layers of
According to Elder, Windows 7 consolidated security when we use the Internet to do
the functionality of several management tools product research or solve technical
so IT experts can manage system and problems.”
application images throughout the OS
lifecycle using Deployment Image Servicing Faster Resume and Stingy Power
and Management (DISM). “The benefit is that Management Adds One Hour Per Day
we can now better manage Windows images The combination of the Power Management
(WIM) along with Virtual Hard Disk and fast Resume features in Windows 7
Files…powerful install and on-going extend the amount of work MPECS engineers
maintenance tools make deployment at least can get done on a customer visit without
twice as fast. recharging their laptop. They’re saving five to
10 minutes each time they move from client
“I’m running Windows 7 side-by-side with to client. “If we’re seeing five customers a
Windows Vista and I’d estimate it’s at least day, we save nearly an hour, worth about
40 percent faster similarly configured,” said $135. Month to month it amounts to a
Elder. “Windows 7 will install on a 5 year old significant savings for us and more
laptop with 512MB of RAM installed and productivity for our clients,” according to
actually run quite well for Internet browsing, Elder.
e-mail, and word processing tasks.”

4. For More Information Advanced Backup & Restore Helps Windows 7
For more information about Microsoft Thwart Crashes Faster and more reliable: Windows 7 will help
products and services, call the Microsoft Hard disk failures are often more common your organization use information technology
Sales Information Center at (800) 426- than users think. MPECS’ experience shows to gain a competitive advantage in today’s
9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft that certain laptop hard drives can have a 50 new world of work. Your people will be able to
Canada Information Centre at (877) 568- percent fail rate within 18 month according to be more productive. You will be able to
2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of- Elder. “Advanced Backup and Restore in support your mobile work force with better
hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone Windows 7 makes regular backups automatic access to shared data and collaboration
(TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in and complete system restorations a small tools. And your IT staff will have better tools
the United States or (905) 568-9641 in miracle.” and technologies to enhance corporate IT
Canada. Outside the 50 United States and security, data protection, and more efficient
Canada, please contact your local Accelerated Navigation deployment and management.
Microsoft subsidiary. To access information “I have four monitors set up running email,
using the World Wide Web, go to: spreadsheets and multiple word documents,” For more information about Windows 7, go to:
www.microsoft.com said Elder. “Tools like Flip 3D, Snap, Peek www.microsoft.com/windows/business
and Shake help me juggle all these open files
For more information about MPECS Inc. in a more efficient way. In a word, I’m more
products and services, call 780-458-2028 productive. The new Task Bar previews that
or visit the Web site at: allow for quick access to a hidden window is
www.mpecsinc.ca a huge time saver.”
Faster Tutorial Development
“I see a huge training benefit with Problem
Step Recorder,” noted Elder. “It’s so quick
and easy to put together a short tutorial on
how to connect to a network or find a printer.
We can see a future in putting together a
series of recordings for different Small
Business Server, Microsoft Office, and
Windows 7 related tasks on our customer’s
company web SharePoint site. This ability
provides extra value for our customers.”
Software and Services Hardware
 Products  Lenovo
− Microsoft Windows 7 Professional  HP
− Microsoft Windows Vista® Business  Dell
− Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
− Microsoft Office® 2007 Professional
− Microsoft Windows Server® 2008
− Microsoft Windows Server 2005 R2
− Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT
MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS
SUMMARY.
Document published July 2009