Medical Researchers Collaborate in the Cloud and Save $50,000
Annually
Microsoft Office 365
Customer Solution Case Study
Medical Researchers Collaborate in the Cloud and Save $50,000
Annually
Overview
Country or Region: Denmark
Industry: Healthcare
Customer Profile
SKARF networks with researchers across the globe to discover,
share, and advance knowledge around effective cardiovascular
medicine and treatments.
Business Situation
SKARF needed to find a reliable way for its researchers to
collaborate more efficiently on medical research projects.
Solution
SKARF turned to Office 365 for its collaboration and
conferencing features, and the peace of mind that comes with a
99.9% uptime guarantee.
Benefits
Reduced file management
Lowered travel costs by $50K
99.9% uptime guarantee
Online document backup
Being able to share whats on our desktops and talk about it in
real time expands our horizons. We can cut travel time in half and
save the company $50,000 annuallythats a significant savings.
Kristian Wachtell, Cardiologist, SKARF
Advancing knowledge around cardiovascular health is the driving
mission of SKARF, a medical research and treatment center in
Denmark. This work requires aggregating information and expertise
from resources located around the globe, which is why the
organization strives to find the most effective ways for its
researchers to collaborate.
The organization wanted to make it easier for its dispersed
network of contributors to work together and complete projects
faster. The company opted to try Microsoft Office 365, which proved
to not only help researchers collaborate better and complete
projects 25% faster, but also enable the organization to reduce
annual travel costs by $50,000.
Situation
In order for research to be accurate and thorough, its important
that a lot of stakeholders contribute to it, explains Kristian
Wachtell, Cardiologist at SKARF. We need easy, fast ways to share
knowledge and ideas across borders so we can improve
productivity.
While researchers had been able to exchange drafts and comments
via email, it could quickly become cumbersome to manage and
consolidate this information. As Wachtell notes We might have 15
people collaborating on a project, which means we could have 15
files with different sets of comments. Its time-consuming to create
a new document and copy and paste all of that feedback into it.
Business meetings were also challenging for SKARFs leaders, who
frequently travel to universities or other research centers to
brief teams on the latest research. Its not unusual for me to
travel 100 days out of the year. That adds upin time and costs,
Wachtell notes.
Wachtell also wanted to explore better ways to keep his work
protectedparticularly when traveling: He comments, When Im out of
the office, I dont want to spend time logging into our server and
backing up work. I needed a way to automate our backup and disaster
recovery processes.
Based on a recommendation from its IT support firm, ProActive,
SKARF opted to try Microsoft Office 365, a cloud-based solution
that gives users simple, cost-effective ways to manage and
collaborate on documents in real time, get in touch using instant
messaging and video conferencing tools, and keep work protected
with enterprise-grade reliability and disaster recovery
capabilities.
Solution
Wachtell turned to Office 365 specifically for its collaboration
features, such as Microsoft SharePoint Online, which gives
employees a fast and easy way to work together on important and
complex files. Rather than emailing documents back and forth for
feedback, users can use the co-authoring feature in Microsoft Word
2010 (hosted by SharePoint Online) to make edits simultaneously.
SharePoint Online is exactly what we need to quickly and easily
share data and files, says Wachtell. Were definitely more
productive. Were probably cutting down document creation time by
25%.
The audio/video calling and web conferencing capabilities of
Microsoft Lync Online have also made it possible for the
organization to cut down significantly on travel expenses. As
Wachtell puts it, Being able to share whats on our desktops and
talk about it in real time expands our horizons. We can cut travel
time in half and save the company $50,000 annuallythats a
significant savings.
With the 99.9% uptime guarantee and enterprise-grade backup
capabilities of Office 365, our researchers can rely on document
integrity wherever they are, says Wachtell. About a year ago,
Wachtell also lost data while working remotely. Having a backup
system in the cloud is an added benefit of Office 365, one thats
instrumental in significantly reducing our risk of data loss, he
explains.
As an added benefit, Office 365 provides users with regular
updates so everyone is assured that they are using the most current
version of all applications. We no longer need to allocate funds to
obtaining new licenses or upgrades. Thats a massive cost savingsand
helps drive consistency across the organization, says Wachtell.
Benefits
The capabilities of Office 365, including SharePoint Online,
Lync Online, and continuous online backup, are enabling SKARF
researchers to improve the way they work. Now that we can work
better together and complete projects faster, were able to take on
new work, Wachtell says.
Advanced Collaboration
Being able to work simultaneously on documents using
co-authoring has helped SKARF researchers to work more efficiently
than ever before. This kind of collaboration is vital to us. Office
365 helps us perform better, work more productively, and increase
our workload capacity, Wachtell remarks.
Cut $50,000 in Travel Costs
Wachtell explains that Lync Online has brought employees
together in new waysand cut travel expenses: We tried another
conferencing solution in the past, but it just didnt work well for
groups. With Lync Online were able to invite users by simply
sending out a link, and we can share whats on a users computer
screensomething we couldnt do before. This alone dramatically
reduces the need for us to meet physically, and lowers the
associated costs.
More Reliability, More Freedom
The continuous online backup has given Wachtell and his
colleagues more confidence in cloud-based solutions. Office 365 is
our initiation into the cloud, and I cant imagine a better first
impression, says Wachtell. With Office 365, you simply dont need to
worry about backup, and your data is always there when you need
it.
Wachtell also highlights the additional cost-savings and
consistency gained through Office 365: Having continuous updates
included with Office 365 keeps everyone on the same pageand
eliminates the financial burden of regularly purchasing new
licenses, he says. In short, we get the bang without the buck,
Wachtell adds with a smile.
(Software and ServicesMicrosoft Office 365Microsoft Lync
OnlineMicrosoft SharePoint OnlinePartnerProActive) (This case study
is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published December
2011) (For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft
products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center
at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information
Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada
who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone
(TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States
and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To
access information using the World Wide Web, go
to:www.microsoft.comFor more information about ProActive products
and services, call or visit the website at: www.proactive.dkFor
more information about SKARF products and services, call or visit
the website at: www.regionh.dk/)Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft Office 365 brings together cloud versions of our most
trusted communications and collaboration productsMicrosoft
SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, and Lync Onlinewith the latest
version of our Office desktop suite and companion web applications
for businesses of all sizes.
Office 365 helps save time and money, and it frees up valued
resources. Simple to use and easy to administer, it is financially
backed by a service level agreement guaranteeing 99 percent
reliability. Office 365 features robust security, IT-level phone
support, geo-redundancy, disaster recovery, and the business-class
privacy controls and standards that you expect from a world-class
service provider.
For more information about Microsoft Office 365, go to:
www.office365.com