IT services provider Calvert Technologies works with small and midsize companies in South Australia. It wanted to meet its customers’ needs for better remote email and network access and stronger data protection. The company deployed Windows Small Business Server 2008, which includes features that give Calvert Technologies and its customers easy access to critical files from wherever they work. The solution also improves system performance and offers enhanced security.

By using Remote Web Workplace in Windows Small Business Server 2008, our customers can keep in touch with their clients and demonstrate that they can do business with anyone, anywhere in the world.    

Dean Calvert
Managing Director
Calvert Technologies

Business Needs

Calvert Technologies, headquartered in Adelaide, South Australia, specializes in IT support and consulting services for small businesses throughout South Australia. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and Microsoft Small Business Specialist, the company focuses on network infrastructure design, supply, and implementation for organizations that employ between 5 and 75 people.

Most of the company’s customers, from local medical practices to small mining companies, are looking for better remote communications capabilities because their employees are increasingly mobile—they work from home or other locations outside the office. “These days, it’s almost a requirement that workers have access to their email and important network files from wherever they are,” says Dean Calvert, Managing Director, Calvert Technologies. “As the reach of our customers’ business extends beyond our state and national borders, the need to access data as easily as possible is becoming more important.”

The company’s customers also need to better protect their data. “Unique business knowledge and processes are becoming more important as differentiators, and as such they need to be carefully protected,” says Calvert. “Data protection gives a company a better chance at survival.”

Customers are also searching for better-performing email systems and line-of-business applications. “Our customers, and our own employees, want to be able to send and receive emails and find critical files as fast as possible, so they can be more productive on the job,” Calvert says.

For these reasons, the company sought a solution that it could implement internally and for its customers.

Solution

In October 2008, Calvert Technologies deployed Windows Small Business Server 2008 Premium internally. It includes Windows Server 2008 Standard operating system technologies, the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 email system, and integrated remote access, Internet connectivity, and data backup and restore functionality. “We deployed Windows Small Business Server 2008 because we wanted to be at the leading edge of technology,” says Calvert. “Nobody else in Adelaide was implementing it at that time.”

Windows Small Business Server 2008 contains the Remote Web Workplace feature, which employees can use for highly secure access to email and files from wherever they are working. The solution also includes Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, which gives employees access to shared documents online.

By taking advantage of these features, Calvert Technologies customers can connect to their office computers or to SharePoint sites remotely to check email and work on projects. Windows Small Business Server 2008 also uses a Windows Server domain that includes enforced network updates and additional server protection features for enhanced security.

Soon after implementing the solution internally, Calvert Technologies began deploying it to customers. Since October 2008, the company has averaged one or two installations each month. It typically deploys the solution on HP ProLiant ML350 and DL360 server computers with 64-bit processors.

Benefits

With Windows Small Business Server 2008, Calvert Technologies customers have fast, simple access to emails and files from anywhere in the world. Customers can also better protect important business data.

Provides Easy Remote Access to Critical Files

Calvert Technologies customers can now easily connect to their office computers or SharePoint sites from anywhere. This gives them full access to important emails and project files. “By using Remote Web Workplace in Windows Small Business Server 2008, our customers can keep in touch with their clients and demonstrate that they can do business with anyone, anywhere in the world,” says Calvert. “For example, a doctor who is treating a patient in the hospital might need that patient’s medical history files, which are stored on the medical practice’s office computer. The doctor can simply log on to Remote Web Workplace and access those files from the hospital.”

Calvert Technologies is also able to use these features internally for simple remote access. “Most of our employees are using Windows Small Business Server 2008 features to send and receive email with our mobile phones, which helps us communicate with each other and our customers faster,” says Calvert.

Improves Performance

Powered by 64-bit technology, Windows Small Business Server 2008 is giving Calvert Technologies customers better-performing networks. “Our customers’ employees want fast response times from line-of-business applications and email systems,” says Calvert. “With Windows Small Business Server 2008, they have much improved performance, with more memory, so they can get to their emails and files quicker than before. This makes them more productive, and they can work on projects from anywhere in the world.”

Strengthens Data Protection

With the enhanced domain-based security and remote access provided by Windows Small Business Server 2008, Calvert Technologies customers can better protect their business data. “An example would be one of our mining customers, whose employees work in remote locations,” says Calvert. “The company needs to protect its information assets, and with Windows Small Business Server 2008, employees don’t have to take data offline. They can access it at any time in a highly secure environment.”

Boosts Efficiency for Calvert Technologies

Windows Small Business Server 2008 has also had a positive impact on Calvert Technologies. “Windows Small Business Server 2008 gives us high performance and an easily accessible network, which means we can accomplish our work faster and more efficiently, no matter where our staff members are located,” says Calvert

Learn more about Calvert Technologies at www.calvert.net.au.