"The VPN feature integrated into Windows 2000 gives us a more efficient way to communicate with our stores and our partners by going through the Internet. It’s the future for us and will give us a competitive edge."
—Daniel Hallé, vice president of IT for Lunetterie New Look.
Company Profile
Lunetterie New Look is an optical chain with 39 stores throughout Quebec and Ontario. Founded in 1986, New Look employs close to 450 people and has annual sales of approximately $40 million (Canadian). The firm imports more than 1,000 exclusive frame designs from Europe and Asia and offers professional eye examination services. New Look is a pilot site in a strategic partnership between Compaq, Microsoft, and the consulting firm TMI. TMI has founded a Microsoft® Windows® 2000 operating system laboratory in Quebec to evaluate the new features of Windows 2000.
New Look is deploying more than 39 Windows 2000-based servers in its stores, several more servers at the head office, and about 175 workstations running Windows 2000 Professional, primarily using Compaq hardware.
Business Solution
Lunetterie New Look needed to improve how its 39 optical stores in Quebec and Ontario were communicating with its head office and with its lense vendors. The built-in Virtual Private Network features of Windows 2000 Server are not only resolving these problems but also reducing product delivery time for New Look’s customers.
New Look is staying at the forefront of the optical retail field, thanks to a vision of the future that includes taking advantage of leading edge technology. "We want to remain the leader in a highly competitive market and will do whatever we think should be done to achieve it," says Daniel Hallé, New Look’s vice president of IT.
When New Look was seeking a better way to link its 39 stores and its vendors, Windows 2000 Server was the logical choice. The clincher was the integration of Virtual Private Networks into Windows 2000 Server. "The very large number of networking functionalities in Windows 2000 Server was definitely an incentive to go with it," says Hallé. "This could provide the best integration at minimum cost."
VPN Technology Links Company to 39 Stores plus Vendors
New Look needed to link its stores more efficiently, and it also needed a streamlined, reliable, and secure platform for transactions with its lense fabrication partners and New Look Express labs. "With Windows 2000 Server, we can think about a single Virtual Corporate Network, and use the Internet instead of having 39 different networks linked with a costly communication line," says Hallé. So far New Look has partially migrated seven stores to Windows 2000 Server, with plans to migrate the remaining 32 soon. The servers will run New Look’s primary optical application, which handles crucial business functions including point-of-sale transactions, prescription forwarding to vendors, and job tracking. In addition to a server, each store has several Windows 2000 Professional desktops, which employees will find very reliable and easy to use.
Hallé anticipates many benefits from using the VPN feature. The stores will be able to instantly communicate with the head office for job tracking and inventory supply. "In the past, it was not effective and reliable because we did it manually by modem each night," says Hallé. "With Windows 2000 and VPN, we'll do it maybe 10 times a day." New Look already has easier communication with its vendors, who are also taking advantage of the Windows 2000 platform. "We’re doing and tracking 400 to 500 jobs a day with outside labs, our New Look Express labs, and our Call Center, using the Internet combined with Windows 2000 Terminal Server," Hallé notes. Hallé expects overall supply chain management to become much easier with Windows 2000.
Efficiency Gains Bring Reductions in Product Delivery Time
The ultimate advantage for New Look is improved customer service, thanks to reductions in product delivery time. With the current process, it can take up to 15 days for a customer to receive a pair of glasses. "In the future, we’ll be able to do it between one to eight days," says Hallé. "That's great for us, because it gives us a competitive advantage in an industry where we are all delivering the same lenses. Windows 2000 has enabled our business to be more efficient, and we are taking full advantage of its capabilities."
Happier customers and partners, plus a competitive edge, give New Look confidence in Windows 2000.
Software and Services
Windows 2000 Server and Professional
BackOffice® server
Office 97 and Office 2000
Terminal Server
Visual FoxPro® database development system
For More Information
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