Windows 7Customer Solution Case Study

Auto dealer achieves greater security with Windows 7 Professional upgrade

OverviewCountry or Region: India

Industry: Automotive

Customer ProfileSimran Motors is an automotive dealer that sells over 4000 cars every year. It has 350 employees across sales, marketing and service departments.

Business SituationThe company used Windows XP in all its 60 desktops and 5 laptops until November 2010. To have a better security of its information, the company sought to an upgraded operating system of Windows.

SolutionSimran Motors switched to Windows 7 Professional edition. The additional features and better capacity of this operating system meet the company's requirements better.

Benefits Enhanced data security Easy installation across 65 system Possibility of quicker adaption Compatibility with other

applications Increased productivity

“Due to its intuitive user interface, our staff found it easy to get accustomed to Windows 7.”Mr Muddassir, Head of IT, Simran Motors

Simran Motors Pvt. Ltd. is a dealer of a leading brand of cars and has their sales, service and spares showroom in Raigad, in the Western region of India. Established in 2008, the company sells about 4000 cars a year and employs about 350 people across their sales, marketing, and service teams. The auto dealer was looking to upgrade all their computers to an operating system that provided more security and functionality.

"Desktop Search in Windows 7 makes it easy to find files quickly.”Mr Muddassir | Head of IT | Simran MotorsSituationSimran Motors, one of the leading automobile dealers in the Raigad region of Maharashtra, India, was looking to upgrade their IT infrastructure comprising 60 computers and 5 laptops so they could better meet the demands of their growing business. ”We were looking for an operating system that was flexible enough to support our in-house and industry-specific application, and for a new-generation operating system that would enable greater security while being easy for users to get accustomed to,” says Mr Muddassir. All computers in the company’s local network were initially running on Windows XP in a peer-to-peer configuration, and were set up so that their line of business (LoB) application accessed data locally and from a centralized external server.

For Simran Motors, their key LoB application is DMS—their Dealer Management Software that helps manage all automotive service centre-related functions including sales, service, marketing, and customer communications. For other related business processes, they use Microsoft Office 2007—specifically Microsoft Excel and Outlook.After having analyzed the requirements and the advantages of the new operating system, Simran Motors was confident of their decision to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional.

SolutionThe company was looking for an operating system that is reliable, enables users to instantly and easily find and launch applications, offers stability while running multiple applications, and with secure and user-friendly networking.

Having used Windows XP for over 3 years, it was only natural for the company to look to a Microsoft product. The clinching factors for selecting Windows 7 Professional included enhanced security, and better features and functionality in this new operating system. The company had an installed base of HP machines with 1 GB RAM and Core 2 Duo processors. “Since we had already upgraded our hardware, moving to Windows 7 was simple, seamless, and required minimum effort. It took us under one month to move to the new environment,” says Muddassir.

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BenefitsThe customer benefited from the Windows 7 Professional upgrade in the following ways:

Enhanced SecurityTheir LoB application accessed information from a centralized server and distributes it to several diverse users in their local network, so their primary requirement in the new operating system was the ability to securely and reliably store, centralize, manage, and distribute data. The upgrade to Windows 7 Professional was able to provide the company with better security—an area that they faced challenges with previously, in terms of virus and Trojan attacks. With the new Microsoft Security Essentials bundled with Windows 7 Professional, and compounded with their existing antivirus software, “we experienced enhanced security that made sharing data across the network more easy and convenient,” claims Muddassir.

Easy ImplementationThe process of upgrading Simran Motors computers’ hardware and installing Windows 7 Professional was seamless—from start to finish it took just one month.

Simplicity and FlexibilityThe revamped and intuitive Windows 7 user interface made it easy for their users to adapt quickly to the new

operating system without much of a learning curve, and with virtually no specific training needed.

Better CompatibilityWith the ability of Windows 7 Professional to run almost all applications that are compatible with previous Windows versions, the customer was able to seamlessly continue to use their DMS application after the upgrade.

Greater ProductivityThe enhanced Desktop Search functionality in Windows 7 Professional enabled their users to obtain instant results when searching network-based file shares and local hard drives, with live results appearing in real time. This feature tangibly benefitted them in terms of real-world time savings on a daily basis. Coupled with the current hardware, the more efficient multitasking capabilities in Windows 7 Professional also made it easier for them to run multiple applications and switch between them.

Windows 7Faster and more reliable: Window 7 will help your organization use information technology to gain a competitive advantage in today’s new world of work. Your people will be able to be more productive anyway. You will be able to support your mobile work force with better access to shared data and collaboration

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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 Simran Motors Pvt. Ltd products and services, call (022) 2746-7999, fax (022) 2746-4409, or email sales@simranmotors.com.

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

Document published December 2010

Software and Services Products

− Windows 7 Professional

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 information about Windows 7, go to:www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7

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