Microsoft Office SystemCustomer Solution Case Study

Steam Whistle says cheers to better staff productivity with Microsoft Online Services

OverviewCountry or Region: Canada Industry: Manufacturing

Customer ProfileToronto-based Steam Whistle is one of the premier independent microbreweries in Canada.

Business SituationIn order to further boost staff productivity the company wanted to update its online intranet, email and instant messaging services.

SolutionSteam Whistle is now using the Microsoft Business Productivity Suite, a complete technology solution that’s more secure, reliable and easy to use and manage than the previous IT environment.

Benefits Foundation for future growth Enhanced Productivity Stronger collaboration

“Paying for hosted services means we can more accurately budget for new projects and quickly equip staff the tools they need to work productively. This helps us focus on what we do best – great beer and a great customer experience.”Toronto-based Steam Whistle has quickly grown to be one of the premier independent microbreweries in Canada. It got that way by creating a “customer-first” company culture that is a smooth as its trademark Pilsner beer. In order to further boost staff productivity the company wanted to update its online intranet, email and instant messaging services. Steam Whistle is now using the Microsoft Business Productivity Suite, a complete technology solution that’s more secure, reliable and easy to use and manage than the previous IT environment. Staff are now more productive and have easier access to the tools they need to share information.

SituationFor Steam Whistle Brewing, it’s more than just about the beer. With its distinctive green bottles, retro-styled delivery vans and entertaining brewery tours hosted at its historic John St. Roundhouse facility in Toronto, the Steam Whistle name has become synonymous with a unique cultural experience.

Founded in 1998, the independent microbrewery with 126 employees produces a premium Pilsner enjoyed by loyal customers in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

Steam Whistle’s slogan “Do one thing really, really well”, reflects their commitment to making only one quality beer. And when it comes to creating brand awareness, the company has focused on grassroots marketing initiatives. A loyal customer following has made Steam Whistle successful, and the company has been experiencing rapid growth and needed to ensure that its technology environment could handle the pace.

“Collaboration is so important to what we do, particularly considering that the number of customer inquiries and sales orders have grown exponentially,” says Co-founder Greg Taylor. “Our operations now run 24 hours a day and with sales staff across three provinces and time zones, we needed to ensure the level of communication was always up to snuff.”

Since its inception, Steam Whistle embraced a commitment to superior collaboration and communication, whether between staff members or customers. The previous IT environment included a third-party hosted email solution that served past needs but no longer supported the company’s business model. Staff, for example, were experiencing significant time lag between sending an email and somebody sitting at the next desk receiving it. This not only affected internal communication, it affected how quickly staff could respond to customers.

“We also had a challenge in that we have been experiencing double digit growth steadily for 10 years. We needed a new hosted solution to support our strong growth,” says Taylor.

SolutionAs the company grew in size and popularity, it also wanted to maintain its lean approach to technology. So when Kevin David, Steam Whistle’s IT manager, heard about the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite, he was interested in the possibility to reduce IT hosting costs, boost reliability and provide better communication and collaboration tools for staff.

“Technology plays a pretty important role at Steam Whistle in terms of keeping everyone in the company informed and connected,” says David. “We initially looked at bringing an email server in-house, but after

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factoring in hardware, maintenance and consulting, the overall cost was quite steep. The Microsoft offering simply made more sense for us as a small company.”

Part of Microsoft Online Services, the Business Productivity Online Suite consists of Microsoft Office SharePoint Online, Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Microsoft Office Communications Online. This suite offers interoperable, pay-as-you-go services that include desktop and mobile e-mail, calendaring and contacts, instant messaging and presence, shared workspaces, and a live Web-conferencing application.

Steam Whistle made the transition to Business Productivity Online Standard Suite over the course of a month. After familiarizing himself with the new service, David set up the company accounts and mailboxes. E-mail migration involved configuring accounts for the new service in the Outlook® messaging software that employees already used, in addition to duplicating mail folders from the old service to the new one.

Training users on the new system was a hassle-free undertaking because employees were already used to the Microsoft Office system. When rolled out, employees will find the company’s intranet site built on SharePoint Online equally straightforward as employees are already familiar with using a Web

browser to navigate to sites, folders, and files.

BenefitsSince relying on the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite as the primary IT infrastructure, Steam Whistle is realizing significant benefits in reduced costs, advanced security and greater productivity.

Foundation for future growthAlthough still new to Microsoft Online Services, Steam Whistle is already looking forward to future enhancements and is currently developing its intranet site on SharePoint Online. Today, the company enjoys the benefit of paying only for the services it consumes.

“Paying for hosted services per user and per month means we can more accurately budget for new projects and quickly equip staff with the tools they need to work productively. This helps us focus on doing what we do best – great beer and a great customer experience,” says Taylor.

Enhanced ProductivityToday, staff are working more efficiently with the Business Productivity Online Services suite. The hosted, integrated communication and collaboration platform is helping the company realize the value of a unified email platform for real-time employee communications and stronger presence and IM capabilities.

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“We have found that the email time is significantly faster than before. If we send out a group email, within seconds everybody else in the company is getting it –whether you're in Calgary, Vancouver or two feet beside me in the office. We’re able to share information so much faster,” says Taylor.

Stronger collaborationToday, with hosted Exchange, Steam Whistle can make this wealth of knowledge easily available to the entire organization using Office Communications Online. Armed with instant messaging, Web-based audio and video conferencing and presence capabilities, employees can work together anytime, anywhere.

“The sales team uses email and Office Communicator constantly to keep in touch with the office, whether it's updating orders or finding a team member to discuss orders. The new online environment helps to encourage knowledge-sharing and real time collaboration – it's a vital way to connect people and information,” says Taylor.

Microsoft Office SystemThe Microsoft Office system is the business world’s chosen environment for information work, providing the programs, servers, and services that help you succeed by transforming information into impact.

For more information about the Microsoft Office system, go to: www.microsoft.com/office

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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 Steam Whistle Brewing products and services, visit the website at: www.steamwhistle.ca

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

Software and Services Business Productivity Online Suite

(BPOS)