“We’ve streamlined our PC environment and reduced costs by adopting Windows Intune, which helps us run a leaner, more competitive organization.”

David Hyre, Vice President of Technologies, eLitigation Solutions

To meet its various business requirements, eLitigation Solutions needed a stable, well-monitored, and regularly updated PC environment, but the company also wanted to simplify and reduce the cost of managing its PCs. In 2011, eLitigation began using Windows Intune to manage, monitor, and update its PCs. Now the company has standardized its PC environment, enhanced security, and reduced PC costs by 30 percent.

Business NeedsBased in Pleasanton, California, eLitigation Solutions delivers electronic discovery solutions to law firms, corporations, and government agencies involved in litigation. With six offices and 80 employees, eLitigation helps attorneys collect computer data and organize it in a usable format that is admissible in court.

“We use a variety of advanced applications to collect information from computer hard drives, process the data to make it searchable, and deliver it to attorneys for review,” says David Hyre, Vice President of Technologies at eLitigation Solutions.

When eLitigation copies information from a hard drive, it could also copy any malware (malicious software) on that drive, so the company has to keep its employees’ PCs equipped with powerful and up-to-date antimalware software. It also has to meet the high standards of data protection and access control that its customers demand and pass regular security audits.

The company needs a stable, well-monitored, and regularly updated PC environment, but its environment had become complex and expensive to manage. For instance, eLitigation had to purchase, deploy, and manage a variety of antimalware, drive encryption, and software inventory solutions.

Most eLitigation employee PCs were still running the Windows XP operating system

and the company wanted to upgrade its PCs to the Windows 7 Enterprise operating system. But at the same time, eLitigation needed to simplify and reduce the cost of managing its PC environment.

“We want to show our customers that we’re using a stable, secure, up-to-date operating environment,” says Hyre. “But as business becomes more competitive, we have to run as lean as possible, so we were very interested in managing our PCs in a unified environment.”

SolutionThe company worked with InfinIT Consulting, a member of the Microsoft Partner Network, to determine how it could use Windows Intune, a PC-management and security service from Microsoft, to monitor and update its PCs, provide endpoint protection, and standardize its operating environment. Because Windows Intune is based on cloud technology—remote computing resources delivered as services over the Internet—eLitigation could adopt the service without having to deploy or manage any new software or hardware.

In 2011, InfinIT conducted a 30-day pilot at eLitigation with 10 subscriptions to Windows Intune, and at the end of the pilot, eLitigation began managing all of its employee PCs with Windows Intune. By using Windows Intune, InfinIT can help safeguard eLitigation PCs from malware with features built on the same Microsoft

Customer: eLitigation SolutionsWebsite: www.elitinc.com Customer Size: 80 employeesCountry or Region: United StatesIndustry: LegalPartner: InfinIT Consulting

Customer ProfileCalifornia-based eLitigation Solutions collects and processes data and delivers it to attorneys for review. It has 80 employees and serves many of the largest corporations and law firms in the United States.

Software and Services Windows Intune Windows 7 Enterprise Technologies

Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption BitLocker To Go

For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit: www.microsoft.com/casestudies

Windows IntuneCustomer Solution Case Study

Electronic Discovery Firm Reduces IT Costs by 30 Percent with Cloud-Based PC Management

Malware Protection Engine used by the Microsoft Forefront Protection Suite. “By managing its PCs with Windows Intune, we can deliver a best-of-breed security solution to eLitigation so that it doesn’t wind up with malware running rampant through its network,” says Jerod Powell, CEO at InfinIT. “Plus, this allowed the company to move PC security to a monthly operational expense.”

By using the option in Windows Intune to upgrade its subscribed PCs to Windows 7 Enterprise, eLitigation can take advantage of built-in security tools, such as Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption for PCs and BitLocker To Go to encrypt portable drives and USB devices. By managing the eLitigation PC environment from a central Windows Intune Administration console, InfinIT has been able to streamline the distribution of security and other software updates. And with enhanced software distribution, license management, and read-only access features in the latest version of Windows Intune, InfinIT will be able to manage eLitigation PCs even more effectively and efficiently.

BenefitsWhen eLitigation began managing its PC environment with Windows Intune, the company standardized its operating environment, enhanced security for itself and its customers, and reduced its costs by streamlining PC management and eliminating some third-party software.

Standardized EnvironmentBy upgrading its PCs to Windows 7 Enterprise, eLitigation standardized its environment with an operating system that is faster, easier to use, and easier to manage. Since the upgrade, eLitigation employees experience less PC downtime, and InfinIT technicians receive 25 percent fewer service requests.

“By delivering a more stable operating environment with fewer problems, we don’t have to spend as much time troubleshooting PC issues,” says Powell. “Now we can spend more time helping eLitigation meet its strategic IT objectives.”

Enhanced SecurityThe company has safeguarded its PC environment with a top-tier endpoint protection engine, and it uses Windows

Intune to successfully block computer viruses from penetrating its network. With enhanced security features in Windows 7 Enterprise and simple security-update distribution through Windows Intune, eLitigation can meet its customers’ strict security requirements.

“By using Windows Intune to stay up-to-date with our endpoint protection, and with the drive encryption features in Windows 7, it is much easier to pass security audits for our customers,” says Hyre.

Simple, Less Expensive PC ManagementBy subscribing to Windows Intune and receiving rights to the Windows 7 upgrade, eLitigation eliminated the need for several third-party solutions and reduced the overall cost of its PC environment by 30 percent. According to Powell, InfinIT technicians save six hours a week by managing eLitigation PCs from a single console, instead of having to log on to four different solutions.

“We’ve streamlined our PC environment and reduced costs by adopting Windows Intune,” says Hyre, “which helps us run a leaner, more competitive organization.”

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published January 2012