IT Provider Expands Business, Helps SMB Customers Modernize with Cloud-Server Combo

OverviewCountry or Region: AustriaIndustry: Professional services—IT services

Partner ProfileeHouse Informationstechnologie GmbH is a technology solutions provider that supports small and midsize businesses in the Vienna, Austria, area.

Business SituationMany eHouse customers ran older server technology or had no server at all. Others wanted to move to the cloud but didn’t know how.

SolutionFor many customers, eHouse recommends Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials running on an HP ProLiant MicroServer coupled with a subscription to Microsoft Office 365.

Benefits Increase customer trust and revenues

by offering flexible solutions Help small and midsize business

customers refresh old software and save money

Enhance data security for customers

“Our customers look to us to tell them what the next big thing is, and right now, that big thing is Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials and Office 365.”

Paul Scholda, Managing Director, eHouse Informationstechnologie GmbH

eHouse Informationstechnologie GmbH is an IT solutions provider—and often the outsourced IT department—for dozens of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) in Vienna, Austria. These companies look to eHouse to recommend technology that will give them enterprise-caliber capabilities at affordable prices. eHouse often recommends migrating productivity and communications to the cloud using Microsoft Office 365, and replacing outdated software with Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials running on an HP ProLiant MicroServer. With this setup, eHouse can give SMB customers the flexibility and low costs of cloud computing while creating a powerful, highly secure on-premises server for running line-of-business applications. By offering the full spectrum of Microsoft cloud services and SMB software, eHouse can meet a range of customer needs while generating more revenue.

SituationVienna, Austria–based eHouse Informationstechnologie GmbH is a small IT solutions provider—just five employees—that supports more than 80 small and midsize (SMB) business customers. eHouse specializes in infrastructure solutions, network integration, mobility, customer relationship management, and Microsoft SharePoint services for SMB firms. eHouse is a member of the Microsoft Partner Network.

Many eHouse customers had older servers that ran Windows Small Business Server 2003 and Windows Small Business Server 2008, integrated software products that include operating system, email, collaboration, remote access, file and print, and other capabilities. However, the software and underlying hardware were outdated. eHouse customers who owned these older systems sometimes had reliability problems and could not run the latest software programs. Also, as their employees became more mobile, they became increasingly frustrated with the amount of work involved to connect to the office server through a virtual private network (VPN).

Other eHouse customers were so small that they did not even own a server, though eHouse knew that they could benefit from having one. Introducing a server into their businesses would enable these small companies to better protect their data, share and control data centrally, and improve remote access to data. However, it was difficult to find a hardware-software combination that fit their small budgets.

Additionally, many eHouse customers were intrigued by cloud computing—running applications that are hosted by software vendors and third-party hosting service providers and delivered over the Internet. However, they needed guidance on how to decide which applications to run from the cloud, which cloud service to choose, and

how to connect cloud-based applications to on-premises applications.

SolutioneHouse had already guided many customers to Microsoft Office 365, an online suite of productivity applications, email, conferencing, and document-sharing capabilities that run from Microsoft datacenters and are accessed over the Internet. Many Office 365 subscriptions also include the ability to download and run the latest Office applications on local PCs. These customers were so happy with the benefits that they’d received from running productivity services in the cloud that many asked eHouse to help them make their on-premises business applications run as smoothly and trouble-free.

When Microsoft announced the Windows Server 2012 R2 operating system, eHouse was an early adopter. It was particularly interested in Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, the successor to the Windows Small Business Server products.

SMB-Focused FeatureseHouse deployed Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials in its own environment, using Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter to create four virtual machines on a single HP ProLiant ML350 G6 server. One virtual machine runs Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials and acts as a domain controller, one runs Microsoft SQL Server 2012 R2 data management software, the third is an application server that runs Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics CRM (accounting and customer relationship management applications), and the fourth runs Windows Remote Desktop Services.

eHouse wanted to put the new software to work in its own business but primarily wanted to become familiar with it as a potential solution for customers. “Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials in combination with Office 365 gives SMBs a way to cost-effectively and easily run on-premises

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“Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials in combination with Office 365 gives SMBs a way to cost-effectively and easily run on-premises applications while putting productivity and communications applications in the cloud.”Paul Scholda, Managing Director, eHouse

Informationstechnologie GmbH

applications while putting productivity and communications applications in the cloud,” says Paul Scholda, Managing Director at eHouse Informationstechnologie.

Scholda especially liked the automatic backup and quick-connect VPN features of Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials. Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials can perform complete system backups and bare-metal restores of the server itself in addition to the client computers connected to the network. This feature helps protect eHouse and customer data.

VPN connection has been enhanced with a wizard-driven process that requires just a few mouse-clicks. “We are at customer sites a lot, and the auto-dial VPN feature of the Essentials Connector lets us connect very rapidly to our office,” Scholda says. “I can quickly get into Microsoft Dynamics CRM or to other files that I need.”

Happy Customers eHouse has deployed Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials for several customers, to rave reviews. One is bgm Partners, a financial services firm in Vienna that provides mergers and acquisitions guidance and corporate finance services. After a management buyout, the company kept 8 employees but still had the IT infrastructure for a 25-person company—five servers that were an ongoing maintenance expense.

eHouse advised bgm Partners to migrate email messaging and collaboration services to Office 365, which eliminated the need for the email and Microsoft SharePoint collaboration servers. To run its line-of-business applications more efficiently on-premises, eHouse deployed an HP ProLiant MicroServer running Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard. With Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard, eHouse created one virtual machine that runs Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials as a domain controller, file server and VPN server (managing the quick-connect VPN capability). On the company’s old HP ProLiant ML 350 G5 server, bgm

Partners installed Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard and activated Hyper-V Replica, a replication solution included in the operating system. The virtual machine running Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials is replicated every five minutes to the Hyper-V Replica server, thus protecting bgm Partners data and giving life and purpose to the company’s old server.

“We recommend the HP MicroServer for all of our Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials deployments because it’s much more energy-efficient than comparable servers,” Scholda says. “The MicroServer is small and quiet and perfect in every way for small businesses.”

eHouse also upgraded bgm Partners client computers to the Windows 8.1 Enterprise operating system and activated BitLocker Drive Encryption, a Windows feature that encrypts the computer hard disk drive.

Another customer, Hy-Power, which makes rail lubrication systems, had an old server running Windows Server 2008 R2 and had used Hyper-V technology to virtualize a handful of servers. However, the server was slow and needed to be replaced. Also, Hy-Power employees are mobile and wanted to connect to the server more easily. eHouse migrated Hy-Power, too, to Office 365 and deployed an HP MicroServer running Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials. Employees love the quick-connect VPN and automatic backup capabilities. “Finally, with the quick-connect VPN feature, I can literally work everywhere!” says Manuel Gunacker, Shareholder of Hy-Power.

A third eHouse customer is a small Austrian farm, Agrar Fraubaum. With neighboring farms, Agrar Fraubaum created a cooperative that purchases and shares large pieces of farm machinery that each farm uses just once or twice a year. To manage the machinery exchange, Agrar Fraubaum uses a web-based application that lists equipment and books rental

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“Finally, with the quick-connect VPN feature, I can literally work everywhere!”

Manuel Gunacker, Shareholder, Hy-Power

reservations. However, Agrar Fraubaum’s process for picking up and returning the equipment relied on neighbor honesty and, unfortunately, some of the equipment came back damaged.

So Agrar Fraubaum set up video cameras around its barn to monitor machinery returns. This generated huge volumes of video surveillance data. Agrar Fraubaum worked with eHouse to install an HP MicroServer running Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials. The server stores the video data and machinery manuals, and it is also a web server that runs a part of the reservation application. “Trust is good, but control is better,” says Gerhard Fraubaum of Agrar Fraubaum. “Nowadays, machines are more complex and time-consuming and expensive to repair. Our new technology gives us the ability to cost-effectively monitor what happens to the machinery.”

BenefitsBy selling Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials in combination with the HP MicroServer and Office 365 subscriptions, eHouse has a flexible technology solution that is ideal for SMB needs and budgets and helps drive eHouse growth and revenues. Customers get enterprise-caliber IT services and data security at more affordable prices.

Increase Customer Trust and Revenues by Offering Flexible SolutionsBecause it offers a broad range of on-premises and cloud-based applications, eHouse has a solution to fit every customer need; and with every successful recommendation, it earns more customer trust, which potentially generates new business. “We’ve moved a lot of customers to the cloud so we understand it well, but we also understand the traditional on-premises world,” Scholda says. “We know what works in each environment. We can help customers decide what to run in the cloud and what to keep on-premises, and Microsoft has offerings for the whole

spectrum of needs. Our customers look to us to tell them what the next big thing is, and right now, that big thing is Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials and Office 365.”

bgm Partners is a great example of how eHouse’s recommendations can translate into new business. After bgm Partners successfully migrated to Office 365, it asked eHouse to help it reconfigure its on-premises technology. “Customers can use the savings that they achieve with our guidance to buy other things that their business needs—or to buy more services with us,” Scholda says.

Scholda also sees new business arising from “first-server” opportunities—selling HP MicroServers and Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials to small companies that have never before owned a server. eHouse estimates that it could grow its business by 10 to 20 percent over the next two years from these opportunities alone.

Help SMB Customers Refresh Old Software and Save MoneyeHouse customers benefit from upgrading to modern technology. Small businesses such as Agrar Fraubaum are able to realize the benefits of server-based computing: higher computer reliability, enhanced data security, greater control over data, and easier access to data. Plus, they are able to use Microsoft virtualization technology to create multiple virtual servers inside a single physical server and dramatically decrease hardware acquisition and maintenance costs. With Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, they also get robust backup capability, which would otherwise be another piece of expensive software that they needed to purchase.

“Keeping our old IT infrastructure would have been twice as expensive compared to switching to Office 365,” says Mag. Bernhard A. Fichtenthal, Associate Director, bgm Partners.

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“Keeping our old IT infrastructure would have been twice as expensive compared with switching to Office 365.”

Mag. Bernhard A. Fichtenthal, Associate Director, bgm Partners

eHouse customer Hy-Power now has a cloud-based SharePoint solution, more reliable email, and overall higher quality computer solution for a very affordable price. “Hy-Power employees have remote access to email, which they didn’t have before, and it’s less work to keep their server running,” Scholda says. “The owner previously spent half of his time maintaining the company’s IT setup. Now he spends about 10 percent of his time on IT, leaving him more time to run his business.”

Enhance Data Security for CustomersWith backup features in Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials and Windows BitLocker in Windows 8.1, eHouse can help customers keep their data safe. For bgm Partners, which deals with confidential financial data, eHouse vastly enhanced data security by activating Windows BitLocker on company notebooks running Windows 8.1 Enterprise. Even if an employee’s notebook is lost or stolen, customer data is highly secure.

In late 2013, this technology was put to the test when several of bgm Partners’ notebooks were stolen. eHouse simply delivered new notebooks, performed client restores using Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, and bgm Partner employees began working on new computers, fully loaded with the same data, in about an hour. “Needless to say, our customer was very impressed!” Scholda says. “This is the response that every technology provider wants and the response that we can deliver with Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials.”

Fichtenthal says, “eHouse saved us! When we arrived to the office on Monday and there were no notebooks, we were horrified. But since we've switched to Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials and Windows 8.1, we were able to roll out the image on old spare notebooks within an hour, and keep on with our business. After we received new, fast HP notebooks, the image installation proceeded again in no time. Every penny invested in eHouse has paid off. Thank you!”

Transform the datacenterThe hybrid cloud from Microsoft transforms the datacenter by extending existing investments in skills and technology with public cloud services and a common set of management tools. With an on-premises infrastructure connected to the Windows Azure platform, you can deliver services faster and scale up or down quickly to meet changing needs.

For more information about transforming the datacenter, go to:www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/cloud-os/modern-data-center.aspx

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

Document published February 2014

Software and Services Microsoft Server Product Portfolio− Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials− Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard

Microsoft Office 365 Windows 8.1 Enterprise Technologies− BitLocker− Hyper-V

Hardware HP ProLiant ML350 G6 server HP ProLiant MicroServer

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 eHouse Informationstechnologie GmbH products and services, visit the website at:www.ehouse.at