Aston Martin sports cars (of James Bond fame) are world-renowned for their luxury, heritage and craftsmanship. They’re a quintessential icon of European design for us Americans. So how does the carmaker that’s the synonymous with high performance and perfection operate from the inside? This week at TechEd Europe 2013, Aston Martin shared a glimpse of how they use Microsoft cloud technologies and services like Windows Intune to create an IT infrastructure that’s on par with their brand.
Aston Martin head of IT Simon Callow says “Aston Martin is about power, beauty and soul” and from an IT perspective this meant moving from IT being a support function to one that offered advice, strategy and innovation. But the IT infrastructure at Aston Martin wasn’t always this pretty.
According to a post on the Server & Cloud Blog, a key challenge for the IT team was managing and securing global staffs’ laptops, mobile devices and smart phones, as these employees rarely set foot into the company’s offices. It was hard to tell if their devices were running outdated virus signatures and software, and the IT team had no way to remotely wipe a device if it was stolen. And employees often faced days of downtime if their laptops required servicing.
By subscribing to Windows Intune to secure and manage their devices, Aston Martin is now able to help global employees stay productive no matter where they are or what device they are using. And that’s just one of the benefits they’ve achieved with Microsoft-based cloud solutions.
Take a look at the video above to learn more. Then delve a little deeper in this case study, and in today’s post on the Server & Cloud Blog.
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Deborah Pisano
Microsoft News Center Staff