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Ster-Kinekor - Artec Case Study 07-09-03

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Francois Combrink

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.

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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.
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. The Windows Server System™ is Microsoft’s comprehensive family of server applications for building, deploying, and managing next-generation, integrated applications and Web experiences. Designed with mission-critical performance in mind, the Windows Server System provides fast time- to-market as well as scalability, reliability, and manageability for the global, Web-enabled enterprise. Built from the ground up for interoperability using open Web standards such as XML, the Windows Server System enables a distributed computing model for the Internet, based on Internet protocols and standards in order to revolutionize the way computers talk to one another. For More Information For 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. 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
Microsoft, Active Directory, the Windows logo, Windows NT, Windows Server, and Windows Server System are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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Ster-Kinekor - Artec Case Study 07-09-03

  • 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. The Windows Server System™ is Microsoft’s comprehensive family of server applications for building, deploying, and managing next-generation, integrated applications and Web experiences. Designed with mission-critical performance in mind, the Windows Server System provides fast time- to-market as well as scalability, reliability, and manageability for the global, Web-enabled enterprise. Built from the ground up for interoperability using open Web standards such as XML, the Windows Server System enables a distributed computing model for the Internet, based on Internet protocols and standards in order to revolutionize the way computers talk to one another. For More Information For 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. 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
  • 3. Microsoft, Active Directory, the Windows logo, Windows NT, Windows Server, and Windows Server System are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.