Delta Hotels go Google
The company wants all its 8,000 employees to use Google, at a savings of $150 per employee per year
By Hailey Eisen
September 7, 2011
September 7, 2011
Delta Hotels and Resorts is a big company with big communication requirements. It operates 44 hotels across Canada and employs approximately 8,000 people. Prior to 2009 the company was relying on a Microsoft Exchange platform that was hosted on site and accommodated 2,200-plus mailboxes. Users accessed the system using either Outlook or Outlook Web Access.
“We were confined by legacy platforms, private networks and cumbersome security restrictions,” said Michael Rodger, Delta’s director of digital innovation. “We wanted a solution that would offer cost savings, improved storage and capabilities extending beyond basic e-mail.”
It found that in Google Apps, Rodger said. “We were impressed with how well Google Apps fit within our operating model. We also recognized the benefits of Google’s IM, video chat, collaborative site development and document management applications.” The company also considered Microsoft’s On-premise Exchange 2007 and Hosted Exchange 2007, but decided the Google option was cheaper and offered better functionality.
Delta formed a pilot group in 2009, comprised of 20 somewhat tech-savvy employees. The response was positive but four technical problems did arise.
Issues tackled, lessons learned
The first issue was the Global Address List (GAL). Unlike with Microsoft, a corporate directory including title, location and contact information for each user was unavailable through Gmail. An offline corporate PDF list worked as a stopgap until the issue was resolved when Google launched a full GAL within six months.
The second and more challenging issue was limitations on shared mailboxes. With Microsoft there was no limit on how many employees could share access to a common mailbox for services like concierge and reservation inquiries. Google capped those mailboxes at 10 users. In this case, it was Delta that accommodated Google. “We were forced to pare down the number of employees accessing each mailbox, ensuring we identified the 10 most critical users for each,” Rodger said. Delta’s IT team also built a management utility that allowed HR representatives to manage access, activate and deactivate e-mail accounts, and manage distribution lists.
The third issue involved distribution lists. “Because our employees can sign themselves up for a Google account, there wasn’t an easy way to ensure all addresses would automatically be included in All-Hotel or All-Employee distribution lists.” Through the same administrative utility, these lists are now managed and updated by HR.
Finally, the most disruptive issue: mobile device synchronization and, specifically, linking BlackBerry users to Google mail and calendar applications. This was primarily an issue of early adoption, as Google had not yet fleshed out its integration with the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). Since then, Google has launched five versions of its software, and BlackBerry users now enjoy a seamless e-mail experience.
Cost Savings
Dollars form perhaps the biggest part of Delta’s Google story. “Because we chose to host our e-mail in the cloud we no longer faced the burdensome storage costs associated with the old system,” Rodger said. With Google Apps, Delta pays $50 per user per year. “Based on our calculations, the old Exchange 2007 solution was costing us approximately $200 per user per year.” On top of that, Google’s fixed per-user cost makes budgetary forecasting easier and more precise.
To accompany the rollout, Delta deployed Apple iMac computers to employee social spaces, allowing more than 3,000 employees who wouldn’t normally access computers, such as banquet servers and housekeepers, to sign up for a corporate Google account. As a result, Delta more than doubled the number of employees using e-mail. “Our goal is to have every person in the company connected to an e-mail address, and we’re well on our way to achieving this,” Rodger said.
Finally, Delta used Google Sites to redevelop its Intranet, the Delta Employee Network, as a social networking space. “Each employee creates a profile including his or her position within the hotel along with preferences and interests,” Rodger said. “Employees in similar positions across the country are now using the intranet to collaborate and solve problems in an efficient way.”
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“We were confined by legacy platforms, private networks and cumbersome security restrictions,” said Michael Rodger, Delta’s director of digital innovation. “We wanted a solution that would offer cost savings, improved storage and capabilities extending beyond basic e-mail.”
It found that in Google Apps, Rodger said. “We were impressed with how well Google Apps fit within our operating model. We also recognized the benefits of Google’s IM, video chat, collaborative site development and document management applications.” The company also considered Microsoft’s On-premise Exchange 2007 and Hosted Exchange 2007, but decided the Google option was cheaper and offered better functionality.
Delta formed a pilot group in 2009, comprised of 20 somewhat tech-savvy employees. The response was positive but four technical problems did arise.
Issues tackled, lessons learned
The first issue was the Global Address List (GAL). Unlike with Microsoft, a corporate directory including title, location and contact information for each user was unavailable through Gmail. An offline corporate PDF list worked as a stopgap until the issue was resolved when Google launched a full GAL within six months.
The second and more challenging issue was limitations on shared mailboxes. With Microsoft there was no limit on how many employees could share access to a common mailbox for services like concierge and reservation inquiries. Google capped those mailboxes at 10 users. In this case, it was Delta that accommodated Google. “We were forced to pare down the number of employees accessing each mailbox, ensuring we identified the 10 most critical users for each,” Rodger said. Delta’s IT team also built a management utility that allowed HR representatives to manage access, activate and deactivate e-mail accounts, and manage distribution lists.
The third issue involved distribution lists. “Because our employees can sign themselves up for a Google account, there wasn’t an easy way to ensure all addresses would automatically be included in All-Hotel or All-Employee distribution lists.” Through the same administrative utility, these lists are now managed and updated by HR.
Finally, the most disruptive issue: mobile device synchronization and, specifically, linking BlackBerry users to Google mail and calendar applications. This was primarily an issue of early adoption, as Google had not yet fleshed out its integration with the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). Since then, Google has launched five versions of its software, and BlackBerry users now enjoy a seamless e-mail experience.
Cost Savings
Dollars form perhaps the biggest part of Delta’s Google story. “Because we chose to host our e-mail in the cloud we no longer faced the burdensome storage costs associated with the old system,” Rodger said. With Google Apps, Delta pays $50 per user per year. “Based on our calculations, the old Exchange 2007 solution was costing us approximately $200 per user per year.” On top of that, Google’s fixed per-user cost makes budgetary forecasting easier and more precise.
To accompany the rollout, Delta deployed Apple iMac computers to employee social spaces, allowing more than 3,000 employees who wouldn’t normally access computers, such as banquet servers and housekeepers, to sign up for a corporate Google account. As a result, Delta more than doubled the number of employees using e-mail. “Our goal is to have every person in the company connected to an e-mail address, and we’re well on our way to achieving this,” Rodger said.
Finally, Delta used Google Sites to redevelop its Intranet, the Delta Employee Network, as a social networking space. “Each employee creates a profile including his or her position within the hotel along with preferences and interests,” Rodger said. “Employees in similar positions across the country are now using the intranet to collaborate and solve problems in an efficient way.”
Visit
Cloud Computing Portal
