The quantum leap in business benefits that can be delivered by Microsoft`s Windows 2000 network operating system are within easy reach of South African corporations - thanks to the global resources and local expertise of Getronics, a leading world-wide provider of information and communications technology solutions and services.
Managing director of Getronics in South Africa, Charles Proudfoot, has announced the immediate local availability of a full suite of Windows 2000 migration services.
Proudfoot points out that Getronics, a Microsoft Joint Development Partner, was the first company in the world outside of Microsoft itself to perform a comprehensive, large-scale upgrade of a production domain to Windows 2000.
"The in-place upgrade of the Getronics corporation`s own system involved more than 14 000 users across four continents and was performed by the Getronics Global IT team without downtime or outages. The transfer of all 34 000 Getronics employees to Windows 2000 will be complete before the end of this year," says Proudfoot.
Mark Hill, Managing Director of Microsoft Southern Africa, says the skills and capacity represented by Getronics in this country, with the backing of the corporation`s global resources, offers a fast-track solution for corporations that may otherwise face an extensive testing and planning cycle before they can derive the benefits of Windows 2000.
"Getronics, with several years of experience in working with Microsoft, has the pedigree that customers need when they select a service partner," he says.
Proudfoot says Getronics in South Africa, which provides extensive outsourced help-desk and support services to Microsoft at its Sunninghill headquarters in Johannesburg, has been closely involved in the Windows 2000 beta programme in this country.
"Plans are at an advanced stage to migrate thousands of users in several major customers to the full commercial release of Windows 2000 over the next few months.
"The deployment of a systematic, step-by-step methodology for assessing client needs and tailoring Windows 2000-based solutions accordingly, forms the basis of our globally consistent approach in helping enterprise clients implement a new, cost-effective networking and communications infrastructure," he says.
Proudfoot adds that the Getronics infrastructure in South Africa, which includes one of the largest, most professionally-qualified and certified Microsoft technology teams in the country, is geared to meet the strategic information and communications needs of customers.
"With over 500 employees strategically located throughout the country and backed by the expertise and experience of the Business Connection subsidiary that operates as our Microsoft practice, Getronics puts the benefits of Windows 2000 within easy and immediate reach of South African enterprises," he says.
Over the past year Business Connection has been intimately involved in honing its Windows 2000 skills in preparation for the full commercial release.
"We have successfully implemented Windows 2000 internally by applying Microsoft`s Solutions Framework (MSF) project management methodology and by leveraging our own local skills and the resources available to us through the Getronics IT global team," says Benjamin Mophatlane, managing director of BusinessConnection. "We have also successfully planned and implemented Windows 2000 at Cyber Connection using Windows 2000 Server, Active Directory and client technologies. This implementation provides a stable, web-enabled IT infrastructure for an educational organisation that supports almost 200 000 mail accounts and a country-wide network with 70 locations distributed across the country. This implementation is the first of its kind in South Africa
Getronics worldwide use a five-phase Windows 2000 migration methodology that commences with an assessment of the readiness of an existing infrastructure to support the upgrade.
The next step is the design of a client-specific Windows 2000 architecture, including the process of deploying, securing and scaling the implementation for optimal performance.
The third step involves application testing, scheduling and pilot programmes leading to a complete rollout schedule.
The deployment phase, the next step in the Getronics methodology, is often accomplished with little or no workflow interruption.
The final step, the management and maintenance phase, sees Getronics design or provide a common support environment (CSE) that will keep the client`s new infrastructure operating at Internet speed and peak efficiency.
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