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Marico Uses Microsoft OCS|
- By Priyanka Akhouri, Nov 28, 2007 2031 hrs IST
- Tags : Marico Uses Microsoft OCS for Better Interaction
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Marico is a consumer goods company that operates in the hair care, health care, and skin care segments of the beauty and wellness consumer goods market in India and abroad. As of today, the company operates in consumer products, aesthetic services, and global ayurvedic business.
At present, the main corporate office at Rangsharda in Mumbai is connected with 4 factories in Jalgaon, Kanjikode, Pondicherry, Goa, and Dehradun. Its regional offices are located at Andheri (Mumbai), Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Delhi.
Need for a Solution
Since 1994 the company had been using traditional ways of communication -- e-mail, Internet Messenger (IMs), etc. It has been using MS Exchange as a mailing platform for past 10 years. Since mail remains the backbone for communication within the organization, users have always felt the need for a face-to-face and voice communication.
The company needed a cost effective form of communication with a traditional look and feel. It needed a solution with features like chat, audio, and video conferencing tools to provide flexibility to the employees.
Elucidating on this, Girish Rao, head (IT Solutions) of Marico, said, "We required a cost-effective, reliable with in-built security features solution. It should also reduce the inter-office travel/visits through use of video conference and live content sharing."
Solution
The company had evaluated vendors like Webex, Skype, Google Talk, and Yahoo messenger before picking up Microsoft's Office Communication Server (OCS) 2007.
OCS comprises the potential features the company was scouting for -- cost-effective licensing and bandwidth. According to Rao, OCS enables presence-based contextual communication across the applications, networks, and devices. It delivers software-powered Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), Web conferencing, and enterprise instant messaging -- while maintaining the required operational control required.
The solution provides scalability. It's a secured way of communication and collaboration within the organization.
Benefits
Microsoft's solution has enabled Marico to meet all the industry standards be it training of staff, travel costs, installing new hardware, etc., at a reduced cost.
"Unified Communications (UC) gives more control to the employee on the mode and time of communication, which in turn helps in increasing employee productivity. It has helped us reduce the time taken to communicate across locations, geographies, and departments," added Rao.
Post-deployment, the company has implemented the chat and email applications for business discussions with its counterparts in other countries, and video conference calls with its US subsidiary. Engineers and IT personnel can instantly be reached if the company needs some help, thereby reducing the travel cost.
About the deal
The company decided to deploy OCS 2007 RDP in April 2007 and the roll out began in July 2007. It purchased a standard server and 100 client access licenses of OCS 2007.
"We took approximately 2 months to scale up IT infrastructure and started using the full features of OCS by July. Our priority is to enable at least 100 users from the present 40 people using UC solutions in another 5-6 months," said Rao. It intends to extend UC to all the sales depots across the country.
Furthermore, the company also received post-deployment support from Microsoft, primarily through Microsoft consulting from Microsoft Rapid Deployment Program (RDP) support.
As the company continues to grow and expand its reach in the country and overseas, it believes that the Microsoft solution will certainly prove to be useful in increasing employee productivity and reducing costs.
SNAPSHOT
Marico is a consumer goods company that operates companies in the hair care, health care, and skin care segments of the beauty and wellness consumer goods market in India and abroad. The group has crossed the milestone of Rs.1, 500 crore (U.S. $ 375 million) in sales revenues and Rs.100 crore (U.S. $ 25 million) in profits. As of today, the company operates in consumer products, aesthetic services, and global ayurvedic business.
At present, the main corporate office at Rangsharda in Mumbai is connected with 4 factories in Jalgaon, Kanjikode, Pondicherry, Goa, and Dehradun. Its regional offices are located at Andheri (Mumbai), Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Delhi.
Challenges
* It needed a cost effective form of communication with a traditional look and feel.
* Required a solution that would deliver interactivity.
* Needed a solution to reduce the inter-office travel/visits through the use of video conference and live content sharing.
Solution
Microsoft Office Communication Server (OCS) 2007.
Benefits
* Reduces overall costs -- training of staff, travel costs, installing new hardware, etc.
* Is secure and reliable, thereby meeting industry standards.
* UC provides control to the employee on the mode and time of communication, which in turn helps in increasing employee productivity.
* Reduces the time taken to communicate across locations, geographies and departments.
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