Customer Success Stories

4.1

Netscape Communications Corporation, AOL, the Sun/Netscape Alliance, and iPlanet (Sun ONE)

GSS advised Netscape Communications Corporation on its messaging technology strategy starting in 1995 and in 1997, when Netscape won its first major messaging customer, Bell Canada, Netscape Worldwide Professional Services (WWPS) called on GSS for assistance. In addition to bringing the discipline of the GSS Messaging Project Methodology and extensive e-mail integration and migration experience to the project, GSS consultants played a number of key roles in the Bell Canada project. At Bell Canada, GSS consultants participated in messaging system design, development of a simulation test methodology for capacity planning and server sizing; client software customization and automated distribution, configuration management, server configuration and infrastructure deployment; integration testing with the existing Bell Canada messaging environment, and design of a metadirectory solution.

As Netscape's standards-based solution evolved into the iPlanet brand under the Sun/Netscape Alliance (NASDAQ: SUNW),  AOL (NASDAQ: AOL) called on GSS to assist them with Motorola, a global 150,000-user messaging and directory services infrastructure solution, and with NTT Communications/Verio (NYSE: NTT) where GSS was directly responsible for the migration of 40 regional ISPs, including messaging, directory services, authentication, and DNS, services, to a single infrastructure and data center. GSS was responsible for the Verio solution architecture supporting scalability to several million users and all aspects of migration including software tools, methodology, and project management .

Today the Sun ONE product line is recognized worldwide as the premier UNIX-based technology platform for the internet and e-commerce. Sun ONE accounts for a significant share of the ISP, telecom, and global enterprise market for messaging,  directory services, and metadirectories.

GE Capital

GE Capital, the Fortune 1 company (NYSE: GE), has a total of approximately 35,000 e-mail users across its business units and GE Capital Technology Management Services (TMS) sets technology standards for approximately 100,000 GE employees worldwide. In the mid 1990's GE Capital had a variety of systems including mainframe and LAN-based software and client/server systems. Since 1995 Global System Services has provided messaging and groupware-related consulting services to key GE Capital business units including GE Capital Technology Management Services (TMS), and GE Capital Commercial Processing Services (CPS), and GE Capital Mortgage.

GSS services for GE Capital have included system architecture, design and deployment, migration of mainframe and LAN-based e-mail systems, compatibility and integration testing, software configuration development and automated distribution, intranet and Internet messaging topologies and connectivity for both Lotus Notes and Domino and Microsoft Exchange, development of custom e-mail management software, network analysis and design review, and technical support services.

Working with GSS, GE Capital standardized on Microsoft Exchange because they felt that migration from Lotus cc:Mail to Exchange was no more difficult than the transition from cc:Mail to Lotus Notes and Domino, and because they did not have a global requirement for integrated groupware functionality. It was determined that for GE Capital the cost of a messaging-only solution running on Intel-based servers was lower. GSS also assisted GE Capital with their file server and client/server technology strategies including overhaul of their NetWare server and physical LAN/WAN infrastructure and adoption of Windows NT/2000 as an application server platform.

Netscape Communications is the leading provider of open software that links people and information over the Internet and intranets through its line of clients, servers, development tools, and commercial applications. When Netscape Communications launched its Mail Server product in 1995, Netscape called on Global System Services to perform laboratory benchmark testing.

Harcourt, Inc.

Harcourt, Inc., a member of the Reed Elsevier Group of companies (NYSE: RUK), is the world's largest publisher of academic books and a leading media company. Harcourt had a clearly defined requirement for integrated groupware, specifically in the sales force automation area, as well as a need to integrate their messaging groupware and legacy systems. Harcourt had a long-term intranet technology strategy and Lotus Domino offered an appropriate balance of technological capabilities based on Harcourt's requirements. Although the direction was clear, Harcourt struggled with infrastructure issues, poor multi-platform support, product quality issues, and weak migration and coexistence tools from various vendors. Global System Services assisted Harcourt in the areas of IT strategy, compatibility and integration testing, cc:Mail,  Domino, and Microsoft Exchange coexistence, capacity planning,  scalability, and reliability, and integration of Domino as an enterprise-wide backbone for cc:Mail and Internet messaging.

See the Full Story (4.1.1)

Hearst Corp.

The Hearst Corporation is one of the world's largest diversified communications companies, with interests in newspapers, magazines, books, television and radio broadcasting, cable network programming and other media. Global System Services assisted Hearst Corporation in developing its next-generation messaging and groupware strategy. In a 3-day seminar format, GSS provided in-depth competitive, ROI/TCO, technology strategy and vendor analysis spanning messaging and groupware technologies and product offerings from IBM and Lotus, Microsoft, Novell, and Netscape Communications (iPlanet/Sun ONE). GSS provided Hearst Corporation with strategic messaging technology consulting services helping Hearst Corporation to evaluate its requirements and commitments and assisted Hearst Corp. in selecting and standardizing on Lotus Notes and Domino.

Canon U.S.A.

Canon USA is an industry leader in professional and consumer imaging equipment and information systems with 9,800 users at more than 30 facilities throughout North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Global System Services performed an e-mail audit and design review of the Canon USA e-mail system in order to resolve existing problems and to enable Canon USA to complete its upgrade from cc:Mail DB6 to DB8 for 7x24 functionality and Year 2000 compliance. GSS' recommendations allowed Canon USA to resolve several ongoing issues and to complete their e-mail system upgrade successfully.

Molex, Inc.

Molex, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOLX), one of the largest manufacturers of analog electrical components in the world, is a global company that completed an upgrade of its Lotus cc:Mail DB6 system to cc:Mail DB8/R8 in anticipation of the year 2000 and of eventual migration to Lotus Notes and Domino. Molex foresaw using cc:Mail after the turn of the century because they were committed to maintaining their global Novell NetWare file server infrastructure and were focusing on their IT resources on a global ERP deployment. Global System Services assisted Molex with an Enterprise Messaging System Audit to help them troubleshoot and stabilize their Lotus messaging infrastructure and to ensure Y2K compliance. GSS helped Molex to reducing their downtime and cost of ownership while increasing overall system performance and reliability.

©1995-2005 by Global System Services Corporation (GSS).