Case Study#2: NHC Insurance Services

Client: NHC Insurance Services Inc., San Pedro, CA

Problem #1:
NHC Insurance Services, Inc. purchased a competitors insurance company and needed to fold that business’s technology infrastructure into their existing business as seamlessly as possible while maintaining there existing business and technology infrastructure for day to day operations.

Solution #1:
After analyzing all technologies and procedures, T.Rowe Consulting Group determined that the best course of action would be to utilize the incoming businesses Windows 2000 Small Business Server as the primary server. It was decided to migrate the existing Novell Server data over to the Windows 2000 server and setup all new and existing workstations to access that data on one server. NHC’s existing Novell server was then re-formatted and setup as another Windows 2000 server. This server was then setup for redundancy to the existing server and was also setup as the Corporate Anti-Virus server. One more important use for this additional server was to provide remote access for employees and management to access corporate data from home. This was setup by T.Rowe using Windows 2000’s built in Terminal Services.

Result #1:
By migrating all data to one server, information could be retrieved in an expeditious manner, therefore maximizing efficiency. Management and setup of users and data was simplified, saving money for NHC in consulting fees. Also, the second server was then free to be setup as a redundant backup server to the primary server allowing for maximum uptime, peace of mind and immediate disaster recovery in case of emergency. Also, by now having a server based, network wide, automated virus protection system, users and management could be comfortable opening much needed e-mails with attachments without fear from viruses. The newly setup anti-virus server is updating the entire network with the newest protection on a nightly automated basis.

Problem #2:
NHC needed to standardize their electronic messaging / e-mail systems. NHC was using basic POP e-mail with Outlook Express before the purchase of the second insurance firm.

Solution #2:
The computer systems that came along with the purchase of the second insurance business included a Windows 2000 Small Business Server as mention in solution #1 above. Using the Exchange Server built into this system, all NHC users were migrated by T.Rowe from Outlook Express to full Outlook on the Exchange Server. Public calendar and contact folders were also setup to allow for office-wide collaboration and organization of out of office schedules, etc.

Result #2:
This integrated system allowed for the existing and the new acquired employees to communicate more efficiently on the same system. They also were able to utilize the collaboration features to more effectively communicate schedules and information, helping to build a team unity in the office amongst both newly acquired and existing employees.