MUMBAI, India, April 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort
to offer its customers Web-based applications with high performance
and scalability while maintaining low infrastructure and management
costs, multinational conglomerate Essar Group has implemented
Windows Azure, Microsoft's cloud services platform, to deliver some
of its applications.
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A leader in various business sectors, including steel, energy,
power, communications, shipping ports, logistics and construction,
and with operations in more than 25 countries across five
continents and revenues at $17
billion (U.S.), Essar remains competitive in an aggressive
marketplace through a focused effort on superior customer service.
With its enterprise customers in mind, the company sought to
enhance its offerings with a cloud version of some of its
applications.
Microsoft Services approached Essar with a cost-effective
solution in Windows Azure that allowed the company to obtain the
benefits of both public and private cloud computing while also
reducing the level of IT maintenance required to manage the
applications on-premises. Because it is hosted in Microsoft
datacenters, Windows Azure is able to provide developers with
on-demand computing and storage, as well as the ability to scale
and manage Web applications.
Essar expects that the delivery of its applications through
Windows Azure will enable the company to increase profitability and
reduce costs by as much as 65 percent. Because IT staff members are
also no longer allocating time to infrastructure management, they
can devote more time to mission-critical operations.
"With Windows Azure, we don't have to spend money on hardware
and software, and we don't have to spend time on administrative
tasks related to infrastructure," said Jayantha Prabhu, chief technology officer, Essar
Group. "A scalable, well-defined platform gives us much fewer
problems to solve and more time to focus on the overall experience
of the application."
In coordination with MindTree, a Microsoft Gold Certified
Partner that delivers a broad range of IT services and software
product engineering, Essar seamlessly transitioned four of its
applications — HSECAR (Corrective Action Report (CAR)
system), AVID (A Voyage into Insatiable Discovery), Saksham and
Visitor Management System & Gate Pass System — to the
Windows Azure platform in August
2011.
Since implementation, Essar has already experienced the multiple
benefits of Microsoft's cloud technology. "We quickly knew that we
had made the best choice in selecting Windows Azure," Prabhu
said.
In addition to cutting costs, Windows Azure has given Essar the
flexibility to scale compute and storage resources up and down as
needed. "In fact, we can maintain the high level of scalability
needed at a lower total cost of ownership compared with an
on-premises solution," Prabhu said.
More information on the Essar Group's move to Windows Azure is
available in the Microsoft case study and Microsoft Customer Spotlight newsroom.
More information on the services offered by MindTree is
available at the company's website.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide
leader in software, services and solutions that help people and
businesses realize their full potential.
SOURCE Microsoft