“Our employees want Internet Explorer 8. It’s helping us achieve our primary goal of enabling the business to be more productive.” Pat Pitre, Senior Systems Engineer, Dell In an effort to provide employees with secure, up-to-date tools, Dell recently began upgrading its 100,000 computers to the Windows Internet Explorer 8 browser. The company didn’t need to do any extensive custom configuration, letting users customize their settings as they see fit. Dell and its users have experienced enhanced security and better performance using the browser, resulting in greater employee productivity. Business Needs Dell introduced its first PC in 1986. Since then, the company has continued to pioneer key developments in home, small business, and enterprise computing. To maintain its tradition of innovation, Dell makes it priority to equip its employees with the latest tools so that they can deliver inventive computing solutions that meet its customers’ needs. In its efforts to provide employees with the right capabilities, Dell strives to adopt new products and technologies quickly, which is no small task for a company that maintains more than 100,000 computers. One of the areas in which Dell likes to stay current is its browser technology. “We always want to capitalize on the advancements that come with new browser versions, particularly those having to do with security,” says Pat Pitre, Senior Systems Engineer for Dell. “However, that presents some challenges, because we use hundreds of web-based applications throughout the company—some from external vendors, and some that are internally hosted—and we need to test them all for compatibility when making the switch to a new browser.“ Until recently, Dell used a combination of Windows Internet Explorer 6 and Windows Internet Explorer 7, with Firefox also available as an on-demand installation. “We support other browsers to give our employees maximum flexibility, but we promote Internet Explorer as part of our standard image,” says Pitre. The company considers the browser critical to its business. “We depend on the web and intranet, so we always want to move to a more secure browser when one becomes available,” continues Pitre. Solution In August 2009, Dell set out to upgrade its computers from the Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems to the Windows 7 operating system. As part of that upgrade, the company also began to move to Windows Internet Explorer 8. “We felt that the new browser could help minimize the amount of malware that we have to deal with, and that it also offered a range of productivity features that our users would benefit from,” says Pitre. After approximately 1,000 early adopters were using the browser, the company made it available to all employees. Dell then used the Internet Explorer Administration Kit for minor modifications, such as making the installation hands-free for IT staff, customizing the title bar, and disabling the welcome screen. “We like the high level of customization available in Internet Explorer 8. Employees can change the settings to suit the way that they work,” says Pitre. “We manage and enforce some key settings in the browser but rely heavily on default settings as a baseline standard configuration. This well- established standard gives us leverage to Customer: Dell Website: www.dell.com Customer Size: 100,000 employees Country or Region: United States Industry: IT Services Customer Profile Dell is one of the world’s leading computer manufacturers. Based in Round Rock, Texas, Dell employs more than 100,000 team members globally. Software and Services Windows 7 Enterprise Technologies − Windows Internet Explorer 8 For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit: www.microsoft.com/casestudies Microsoft Customer Solution Customer Solution Case Study Dell Helps Safeguard Employee Computers with Companywide Browser Upgrade