Challenge

Over time, the fleet of PCs used in Princess Auto stores had become out of date, with the old hardware prone to crashing. Because it comprised a mixed bag of makes and models and was running practically every version of Microsoft operating system software, the fleet became increasingly difficult to manage. In addition, there were no company-wide standards or centralized approach to deployment, upgrades or patch management and virus controls, which exposed the company to growing security risks. With plans to grow to 55 stores, the firm needed to get its desktop infrastructure in better order.

Solution

Compugen used 367 refurbished and re-imaged desktop PCs from its ISO-certified configuration centre to refresh all 34 Princess Auto stores across the country. The process included configuration, transportation, installation and migration of user data to the refurbished machines, as well as the decommissioning and return of old machines.

"Because of the very professional and thorough way the Compugen machines are cleaned, refurbished, tested and packaged, I found them to be every bit as good as what I see with new hardware," said Ken Kumar, Director of Information Services & Technology at Princess Auto.

Results

As a result of the refresh and by establishing a consistent corporate desktop standard, all 367 refurbished PCs in Princess Auto stores are now identical, with only a single base software image. This yields consistent usability and look and feel for all PCs and makes it dramatically easier and less expensive for the IT team to manage and maintain the desktop fleet. Compugen's help in establishing a Microsoft Enterprise Software Agreement also yielded numerous benefits, including licensing flexibility to support staff working at home and the ability to manage software costs more effectively.