Meteor deploys Microsoft Office 2007 to over 800 users

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Ireland’s third largest mobile communications provider, Meteor Mobile Communications has deployed Microsoft Office 2007 to over 800 people across the entire company. Meteor has standardised on the Microsoft Office 2007 system to optimise productivity and to enable both local and remote users to collaborate more effectively.

According to Paul Kirwan, IT Infrastructure Manager at Meteor: “We need systems that maximise the ability of our people to find the right information, use the right processes and work together wherever they are, resulting in greater productivity. We have moved from Office 2000 to 2007 and achieved these objectives in a very short space of time. The combination of our own planning and efforts, with the Microsoft conversion tools and the quality of the Office 2007 applications enabled us to complete the migration quickly and painlessly and we’re already seeing the benefits.”

Meteor & Microsoft contract signing, at Meteor Citywest. Meteor and Microsoft Contract signing at Citywest.

Pictured from left: Paul Kirwan, IT infrastructure manager, Meteor Mobile Communications and Richard Moore, business manager, Information Worker Microsoft Ireland

Microsoft Office 2007 provides productivity and information management software designed to help you save time and stay organised. The tools in Office 2007 make it easier to quickly accomplish routine tasks, effectively manage sales and marketing activities, produce professional-quality communications, and organise your customer and business information.

Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007 enables Meteor employees to communicate more efficiently and effectively inside and outside the office, reducing costs and increasing productivity while providing a secure environment.

Paul Kirwan continues, “As a communications company it’s imperative that we are able to connect easily with colleagues and partners both in the office and on the go. Effective and productive communication is a key part of Meteor’s framework. With Microsoft Office 2007 and Sharepoint we were able to realise a better service injust eight weeks with no negative feedback from users.”

The Microsoft Office 2007 software and supporting applications are easy to install with minimum interruption to normal daily workloads. The system has a more intuitive user interface which requires minimal training and as part of the upgrade package with Microsoft, Meteor benefited from free consultancy support and end user training and staff were provided with useful aids such as a downloadable Help Bar and video aids such as the “New to Microsoft Office Guide.”

“Microsoft Office 2007 is the result of in-depth research into how we can help office and home workers to become more productive whether they are working alone or in a team,” commented Richard Moore, Business Manager, Information Worker for Microsoft Ireland. “The applications solve many of the oldest productivity killers such as finding the right information, or not being able to use the more advanced function of an application. It’s fantastic when you see a company like Meteor gaining the full benefits of this technology.”

“The other major trend is collaboration. With people increasingly working on the move or from home, the ability to have integrated online workspaces where you can share calendars, documents, lists etc. is very important. SharePoint makes the entire collaboration process simpler and more efficient. When you have a team where all participants work with the same data set, you eliminate the possibility of errors which arise from working with multiple copies of the same document and you can get projects done more quickly,” added Moore.

With Office 2007, commonly used functions are no longer buried in sub menus and applications are better integrated across the entire 2007 Office system. This enables users to take advantage of functions which previously went unused. The result is proving to be dramatic in realisation of greater productivity and collaboration across the board.

It is easier to share information with colleagues via applications such as Word by directly accessing the document from SharePoint, thus eliminating repeated storage of the same data in different areas with the risks of various revisions being used by different users which could lead to unnecessary mistakes and errors.

Meteor’s upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007 using Microsoft Systems Manager Server and SharePoint 2007, illustrate that the upgrade can be easily and successfully achieved without significant education and training of non-technical users. The right attitude combined with the right tools can achieve painless upgrades and significant business improvements.