SAM FLAX Stores
SAM FLAX Stores sought to upgrade its IT environment, so it deployed a virtual infrastructure based on Hyper-V and Windows Small Business Server 2011 running on a Dell PowerEdge server.
Date
:
7/1/2011
SAM FLAX couldn’t be successful without our customers, and we couldn’t properly service our customers without Windows® Small Business Server 2011 running on Dell hardware. It’s that straightforward.
— Jack Fitzgerald, Chief Operating Officer, SAM FLAX Stores, United States
Challenge
High-end art and office supply retailer SAM FLAX Stores was handicapped in its customer service by sluggish IT systems. Due to old age and capacity limitations, the combination of legacy hardware and software was resulting in a slow customer checkout process, delays in delivery of custom orders and a lack of agility in the company’s decisions about pricing and product mix.Solution
SAM FLAX worked with Dell and Microsoft® partner WorkITsafe™ to build a virtual infrastructure based on Hyper-V™ and Windows® Small Business Server 2011. The environment runs on a Dell PowerEdge™ server supported by a Dell PowerVault™ storage array.Benefits
• Twofold faster customer checkout lines• Tenfold faster delivery of some custom orders
• More than threefold faster backups (3 hours versus 10–13 hours)
• Elimination of downtime during business hours
• 90 percent less time to deploy new server
• Improved cash flow management
• 25 percent increase in cash discounts taken with vendors
• 75 percent reduction in physical server hardware
• 20–30 percent reduction in power and cooling costs
• Automatic application of software patches and updates to all client computers
• Data security improved through granular permission settings
