Microsoft Office 365Customer Solution Case Study

Cloud-based Solution Helps Greek Pharmaceutical Company Boost Productivity by 20%

OverviewCountry or Region: GreeceIndustry: Life Sciences

Customer ProfileLavipharm, Greece’s largest pharmaceuticals company, develops, manufactures, and distributes medicinal, cosmetic, veterinary, and consumer health products in Greece, France, Cyprus, and the U.S. Business SituationLavipharm sought an IT solution that would boost productivity and enhance collaboration at its branches in Greece, France, Cyprus, and the United States. For its mobile workforce, it also required an easy and secure way to share ideas and information from anywhere.

SolutionLavipharm found the collaboration tools it had been seeking in Microsoft Office 365. Microsoft Lync Online, an easy-to-use audio and videoconferencing application, helps cut back on business travel—and eases pressure on IT professionals who no longer need to set up and monitor online conferences.

Benefits Improves collaboration by 55% Lowers travel costs by 25%

“We’ve given employees new capabilities with Office 365, which makes us more productive and competitive. Office 365 makes the world smaller—and will help make this business bigger.” Thanos Kanatas, IT Operations Manager, Lavipharm

Lavipharm sought an easy way to collaborate among its dispersed branches and conduct online conferences without relying on its IT staff to set up a complicated program, as well as enabling mobile users to share files and storing company data securely off-site. Office 365 provided tools to help Lavipharm employees work better together while increasing productivity and reducing costs associated with travel and on-site maintenance.

Situation Lavipharm, an integrated pharmaceuticals company based in Greece, sought an IT solution that would boost productivity and enhance collaboration at its branches in Greece, France, and the United States. For its mobile workforce, it also required an easy and secure way to share ideas and information from anywhere.

Employees at Lavipharm wanted more efficient ways to collaborate across departments. While it sought to bring employees together, it also wanted to reduce the costs associated with traveling to meetings as well as the complexity of setting up conferencing tools. And because workers had no way to share calendars or determine when colleagues were available, it was difficult to communicate as quickly as they would like. “We need a faster way to communicate, so people can work more efficiently,” says Thanos Kanatas, IT Operations Manager for Lavipharm.

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Lavipharm employees also needed a reliable method of accessing and sharing large files, particularly mobile users who rely on smart phones to stay connected. “Many of our employees are on the go most of the year. It’s difficult to bring them together at the same time to collaborate on projects,” adds Mr. Kanatas.

A top priority for Lavipharm was providing enough storage for all of its vital documentation—and ensuring this information remained protected. “We need more storage space to accomplish all of our tasks—and it must be secure,” says Mr. Kanatas. “Buying more servers and adding more memory would solve this problem to the tune of €20,000 annually, and significantly increase the workload for our IT staff.”

SolutionLavipharm found the collaboration tools it had been seeking in Microsoft Office 365. Microsoft Lync Online, an easy-to-use audio and videoconferencing application, helps cut back on business travel—and eases pressure on IT professionals who no longer need to set up and monitor online conferences. “Lync provides opportunities to do things differently and work more productively—no matter where we are,” notes Mr. Kanatas. “With Lync, we can avoid some business trips, including going abroad. We should save about 25 percent on travel expenses,” adds Mr. Kanatas.

Plus, the company’s 50 mobile employees can now access and share documents from almost anywhere. Microsoft SharePoint Online enables users to exchange files in the cloud and work simultaneously on documents for faster completion,

while Microsoft Exchange Online provides 25GB of mailbox storage and the ability to send emails up to 25MB in size—even on mobile devices. “With new mobile capabilities, our employees can work more efficiently and get feedback faster than ever—without worrying about filling up their inboxes or having to stop what they’re doing and open up a laptop to view files that don’t always load well on smart phones,” says Mr. Kanatas. “We’ll see productivity improve by 20 percent with these capabilities alone.” And with Microsoft Web Apps, medical advisers can view, edit, and collaborate on documents that Lavipharm employees created—without requiring an on-site visit.

Office 365 provides round-the-clock security features and a 99.9 percent uptime guarantee. As a result, Lavipharm can migrate its documents to the cloud without resorting to on-site infrastructure and purchasing separate security and backup tools. “Storing our documents in the cloud—and knowing they will be protected—will save us about €20,000 a year because we will no longer need to host servers and an archiving system,” observes Mr. Kanatas.

BenefitsOffice 365 provides Lavipharm’s multiple branches with fast, easy, and cost-effective ways to work better together. The company can increase productivity and reduce expenses by holding meetings and sharing information through the cloud. In addition, employees can feel confident that the enterprise-class security features provided by Microsoft keep their data protected.

Cutting Costs Through Better CommunicationLync Online has not only impressed employees, but also relieved the burden on Lavipharm’s IT staff. “Our

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“Our users love Lync Online because it’s so

easy to use. And our IT staff can focus on

other projects.”

Thanos Kanatas, IT Operations Manager, Lavipharm

users love Lync Online because it’s so easy to use. And our IT staff can focus on other projects,” says Mr. Kanatas. Lavipharm expects to reduce its travel budget by 25 percent, including costs associated with sending employees overseas. “We can also save about 10 percent on IT support, redirecting that time to more important tasks,” adds Mr. Kanatas.Improved Collaboration―from AnywhereSharePoint Online enables employees to share and access documents from almost anywhere. With the co-authoring feature, employees can work on Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel documents simultaneously, leading to greater efficiency as they complete projects in less time. Web Apps also promotes collaboration by enabling advisers to work with employees on documents wherever they’re located. “Employees who work at home can easily contribute to collaboration efforts,” notes Mr. Kanatas. “And mobile users don’t have to worry about access when traveling abroad.”

More Secure StorageAmple storage topped Lavipharm’s list of needs, and Office 365 offered the superior security features the company sought as it decided to move its data to the cloud.“In the past, we have lost data and that cannot happen again. Now, we’re confident our documents will be secure in the cloud,” says Mr. Kanatas. “We’ve given employees new capabilities with Office 365, which makes us more productive and competitive. Office 365 makes the

world smaller—and will help make this business bigger,” he adds.

Microsoft Office 365Microsoft Office 365 brings together cloud versions of our most trusted communications and collaboration products—Microsoft SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, and Lync Online—with the latest version of our Office desktop suite and companion web applications for businesses of all sizes.

Office 365 helps save time and money, and it frees up valued resources. Simple to use and easy to administer, it is financially backed by a service level agreement that guarantee 99 percent reliability. Office 365 features robust security, IT-level phone support, geo-redundancy, disaster recovery, and the business-class privacy controls and standards that you expect from a world-class service provider.

For more information about Microsoft Office 365, go to:www.office365.com

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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 in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. 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 Lavipharm products and services, visit the website at: www.lavipharm.gr.

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published June 2011

Software and ServicesMicrosoft Office 365

Microsoft Exchange Online

Microsoft Lync Online Microsoft Office Web

Apps Microsoft SharePoint

Online