Windows 7Customer Solution Case Study

TV Network Optimizes IT Environment with Upgraded Operating System

OverviewCountry or Region: JapanIndustry: Media and entertainment—broadcasting

Customer ProfileHeadquartered in Tokyo, Japan, TV Asahi Corporation operates 24 television broadcasting stations throughout Japan. With 1,228 employees, TV Asahi produces and broadcasts a wide range of programming.

Business SituationTo improve productivity and information security, TV Asahi wanted to upgrade its IT environment while minimizing the challenges associated with significant changes to an IT environment.

SolutionSince 2009, TV Asahi has been steadily migrating approximately 4,000 company PCs from Windows XP to Windows 7 Enterprise.

Benefits Smooth deployment Optimized systems Enhanced security

“Windows 7 Enterprise is the next generation of Windows. By migrating at this time, we will be able to offer greater advantages to users.”

Koji Sakata, Supervisor, System Integration and Management Department, TV Asahi Corporation

TV Asahi Corporation wanted to improve efficiency, maximize return on its IT investment, and support other business advantages by continually evolving its information systems. At the same time, the company wanted to reduce the complexity and uncertainty of upgrading from one operating environment to another. Since 2009, TV Asahi has been carefully and steadily upgrading approximately 4,000 company PCs from the Windows XP operating system to the Windows 7 Enterprise operating system. The company is also optimizing its PC environment with Microsoft Application Virtualization and Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization, and updating its network environment with Windows Server 2008 R2 and other Microsoft server solutions. As a result, TV Asahi has enhanced efficiency and information security, and helped ensure the long-term utility of its information systems.

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SituationTV Asahi Corporation is a television network headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company produces and broadcasts a wide range of news, discussion, current events, and variety programming. Although TV Asahi manages 24 broadcasting stations throughout Japan, the primary TV Asahi station targets the greater Kanto region. For more than 50 years, TV Asahi has strived to provide new and exciting programs that make a positive contribution to the development of Japanese society.

TV Asahi has managed its IT infrastructure using Microsoft solutions: the company operated a mixed server environment with the Windows 2000 Server and the Windows Server 2003 operating systems, and it ran the Windows XP operating system and Microsoft Office 2003 productivity software on approximately 4,000 employee computers. Because TV Asahi did not upgrade to Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007, the company had been using the same operating system and productivity software for seven years.

TV Asahi recognized that in order to improve efficiency and support other business advantages across the enterprise, its information systems must continue to evolve. At the same time, managers at TV Asahi also had to consider the challenges of upgrading from one operating system to another, such as how changes in the user interface might affect employee efficiency or whether the company’s current line of business applications would be able to function properly in a new environment. “The hurdles to migrating to a new environment are never low,” says Hirokazu

Inoue, Manager of the System Integration and Management Department at TV Asahi.

But according to Inoue, TV Asahi recognized that implementing the latest technology solutions was the best way to guarantee long-term system utility and provide the highest return on investment. Put simply, TV Asahi wanted to maximize its IT potential by actively deploying the latest technology while minimizing the challenges associated with a wide-scale upgrade.

SolutionIn the spring of 2009, TV Asahi began evaluating the Release Candidate of the Windows 7 operating system. Between September and November 2009, the company established an upgrade schedule, and upon the official release of Windows 7 in November 2009, TV Asahi publicly announced its early adoption of Windows 7 Enterprise. Since then, TV Asahi has been steadily preparing to upgrade its approximately 4,000 company PCs from Windows XP to Windows 7 Enterprise.

“Windows 7 Enterprise is the next generation of Windows,” says Koji Sakata, Supervisor in the System Integration and Management Department at TV Asahi. “By migrating at this time, we will be able to offer greater advantages to users.”

To address the challenges associated with a significant change in IT environment, TV Asahi elected to deploy Windows 7 Enterprise gradually, in three major phases, over a period of approximately two years.

In 2010, the company initiated a pilot phase of the upgrade, deploying Windows 7

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“Nearly all our applications that run on Windows XP also run on Windows 7 Enterprise as is. However, if any major issues should arise, we can handle them using MED-V and App-V, so we are confident that we can perform the migration.”

Hirokazu Inoue, Manager, System Integration and Management

Department, TV Asahi Corporation

Enterprise and Microsoft Office 2010 to approximately 50 PCs to validate ease of use and application compatibility. TV Asahi initially deployed the 32-bit version of Windows 7 Enterprise, but changed to the 64-bit version during the validation phase because the 64-bit version provided greater advantage over the long term. During the pilot, the company also confirmed the compatibility of Windows 7 Enterprise with most of the applications used at TV Asahi, and discovered very few application-related problems.

TV Asahi also upgraded from the Windows Internet Explorer 6 Internet browser to Windows Internet Explorer 8. While TV Asahi was running several web applications with Internet Explorer 6, the migration of these applications went smoothly with few problems. According to Sakata, many web applications no longer operated when TV Asahi migrated from Internet Explorer 5 to Internet Explorer 6, but the company experienced very few issues during the pilot migration from Internet Explorer 6 to Internet Explorer 8. Some of the company’s web applications had display issues with the updated browser, but employees can still operate those applications using the compatibility mode in Internet Explorer 8.

To solve the few issues with application operations it did uncover in the pilot, TV Asahi will begin the second, application-modification phase of the deployment in 2011. To deal with any future application compatibility issues that cannot be easily resolved, TV Asahi also implemented Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) and Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V), both components of

the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance.

In the event an application has a major compatibility issue with Windows 7 Enterprise, IT administrators at TV Asahi can use MED-V to provide a virtual image of Windows XP on which the application can be run. Alternatively, TV Asahi can use App-V to virtualize the application and deliver it as a network service rather than installing it on a PC running Windows 7 Enterprise. “Nearly all our applications that run on Windows XP also run on Windows 7 Enterprise as is,” says Inoue. “However, if any major issues should arise, we can handle them using MED-V and App-V, so we are confident that we can perform the migration.”

During the upgrade to Windows 7 Enterprise, TV Asahi has also upgraded its server and network environment. In March 2010, TV Asahi began migrating its network environment from Microsoft Systems Management Server to Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2, completing the migration in December 2010. The company had been managing its network domains with both Windows 2000 Server Active Directory directory services and Windows Server 2003 Active Directory. In September 2010, the company consolidated its network on Windows Server 2003 Active Directory services. In 2011, TV Asahi will deploy Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system in its network environment, and migrate the entire system to Windows Server 2008 R2 Active Directory.

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“Windows 7 Enterprise has numerous features that we anticipate using well into the future.”

Hirokazu Inoue, Manager, Systems Integration and Management

Department, TV Asahi Corporation

In September 2010, the company began upgrading its messaging environment from Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. TV Asahi expects the upgrade to be complete by March 2011. Employees at TV Asahi had been using a public folder in Exchange 2000 Server to share documents and other information. In 2010, the company deployed Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 to enable sharing of form documents and user searches.

Many TV Asahi employees work in a mobile environment, and the company anticipates being able to enhance information security by deploying the BitLocker and BitLocker To Go drive encryption features in Windows 7. With BitLocker, TV Asahi can automatically encrypt information on computer hard drives, and it can use BitLocker To Go to encrypt information on portable hard drives and USB devices, helping to safeguard company information in the event that a computer or portable device is lost or stolen.

The final phase of the Windows 7 deployment will be a companywide implementation to all 4,000 PCs, expected to be completed by the 2012, at a pace of approximately 1,000 PCs every six months. Although TV Asahi will install Microsoft Office 2010 at the same time as Windows 7 Enterprise, the company may deploy Office 2010 to some PCs not yet migrated to Windows 7 Enterprise.

BenefitsBy upgrading its IT environment to Windows 7 Enterprise, Microsoft Office 2010, Windows Internet Explorer 8,

technologies in the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, and other Microsoft solutions, TV Asahi has optimized its computer environment, enhanced information security, and helped ensure the long-term utility of its information systems now and in the future.

Smooth DeploymentThe well-planned deployment schedule developed by TV Asahi helped to mitigate the complexity associated with significant changes to an IT environment. By carefully preparing and implementing its upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 Enterprise, TV Asahi made it easy to comfortably resolve any issues encountered in the course of its deployment.

“Nearly all client applications that operate directly on Windows XP still operate as is on Windows 7 Enterprise,” says Inoue. “Even a print server that initially gave us concern operates without a problem on the 64-bit version of Windows 7.”Because Windows 7 Enterprise is highly compatible with the IT infrastructure and the line-of-business applications TV Asahi uses, upgrading to the new operating system posed a low risk for the company. By deploying MED-V and App-V to help optimize its desktop environment, TV Asahi can flexibly handle any issues that may arise with application operations.

Optimized SystemsWith App-V and MED-V with Windows 7 Enterprise, TV Asahi can optimize its desktop and portable computers and maintain an environment with a mix of systems over the long term. For instance, if a necessary business application does not

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operate in the environment, IT administrators at TV Asahi can create workarounds and alternative solutions using App-V, MED-V, or other tools in Internet Explorer 8 and Windows 7 Enterprise. “Windows 7 Enterprise has numerous features that we anticipate using well into the future,” says Inoue.

By taking advantage of management features in System Center Configuration Manager, the IT staff will have more latitude for updating the IT environment without having to replace computer hardware, which will help to reduce deployment costs. TV Asahi can also distribute applications more efficiently using System Center Configuration Manager and App-V to stream virtualized applications to employee PCs. In fact, some company applications may have compatibility issues with Office 2010, and TV Asahi may use App-V to deliver a virtualized version of Office 2003 to employee workstations that have Office 2010 installed locally.

Enhanced SecurityWith security features such as BitLocker, TV Asahi will have better control of corporate information at lower cost. The company

was using a third-party drive encryption tool, but because BitLocker comes standard with Windows 7 Enterprise, TV Asahi can help safeguard data without incurring additional costs for the same function.

“While the need to provide information security is increasing, efforts to cut costs are more intense than ever before,” says Inoue. By implementing the latest technology, TV Asahi is providing better security and efficiency while cutting costs. Windows 7Works the way you want: Windows 7 will help your organization use information technology to gain a competitive advantage in today’s new world of work. Your people will be able to be more productive anywhere. You will be able to support your mobile workforce with better access to shared data and collaboration tools. And your IT staff will have better tools and technologies for enhanced corporate IT security and data protection, and more efficient deployment and management.

For more information about Windows 7, go to:www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7

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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 TV Asahi Corporation products and services, visit the website at: www.tv-asahi.co.jp

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 Windows 7 Enterprise Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack− Microsoft Application Virtualization− Microsoft Enterprise Desktop

Virtualization Microsoft Office− Microsoft Office 2010− Microsoft Office SharePoint Server

2007

Microsoft Server Product Portfolio− Windows Server 2008 R2− Microsoft Exchange Server 2007− Microsoft System Center

Configuration Manager 2007 R2 Technologies− Active Directory− Windows Internet Explorer 8