Energizer is one of Microsoft’s first clients of desktop services; Microsoft Managed Services which was the precursor of Online Services … this has brought Microsoft reat insight as to what’s needed to provide these services and it has also brought Energizer some great benefits …
One might think that as a CIO, it would be tough to have someone else running all of your desktops and many of your servers.
Not so, says Randy Benz, CIO of Energizer. For more than three years, Energizer has handed off much of those duties to Microsoft. And he’d be fine with Microsoft running just about everything, save perhaps for the company’s iconic battery-powered bunny.
"If I never run another server in there for the rest of my life, I’m as happy as can be," Benz said over lunch last week following the launch of Microsoft Online, essentially the company’s effort to turn the Energizer experiment into a business.
Initially, Microsoft is offering to host only a few of its server products–Exchange and SharePoint, although over time businesses will gain the option to run most of Microsoft server products as a service running from inside the software maker’s data centers.
So, one might reasonably ask what Benz and his team are doing if they aren’t running all the servers and managing desktops?
For one thing, his group now offers a much broader range of computer training for Energizer workers. Beyond just teaching how to use specific products, Benz said Energizer now has classes for different types of workers focused on their particular role. One recent creation is a specific program just for road warriors.
"It cuts across products," Benz said.
Read on : cNet.com
