“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 NeedsDell 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.

SolutionIn 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: DellWebsite: www.dell.comCustomer Size: 100,000 employeesCountry or Region: United StatesIndustry: IT Services

Customer ProfileDell 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 SolutionCustomer Solution Case Study

Dell Helps Safeguard Employee Computers with Companywide Browser Upgrade

be firm with the configuration while still providing some flexibility for the high number of applications in our environment.”

As of August 2010, Dell has approximately 40,000 computers running Internet Explorer 8. Of those, 30,000 run Windows 7 and 10,000 are independent installations. The company aims to have the majority of its computers upgraded to Internet Explorer 8 by April 2011.

BenefitsBy using Windows Internet Explorer 8, Dell is helping protect its computers from harmful websites and making it easier for employees to accomplish their work. “Our employees want Internet Explorer 8. It’s helping us achieve our primary goal of enabling the business to be more productive,” says Pitre. For Dell, the benefits of Internet Explorer 8 include:

Enhanced security. Dell takes advantage of new security features, such as the SmartScreen Filter for phishing and fraud protection, and the Cross Site Scripting (XSS) Filter to reduce the number of XSS threats. “The security improvements in Internet Explorer 8 really help us a lot with malware and other security concerns,” says Pitre. “If you multiply the number of threats out there by the number of users we have, that’s a lot of risk. We’re able to better guard against that risk using Internet Explorer 8.”

Improved performance. The company has noted faster performance in general with Internet Explorer 8 than with previous browser versions. ”Users also have ways to help themselves work more quickly, using accelerators, search suggestions, and web slices,” says Pitre.

Intuitive use. Dell felt no need to train employees on the new browser’s features because it is so easy for them to use. “We did train our help-desk staffers on Internet Explorer 8 features and likely questions from users, but we didn’t get the big increase in browser-related support calls that we expected,” says Pitre. “Instead, employees have been self-sufficient in using online resources to learn about new browser elements and to resolve any issues.”

Greater productivity. Dell employees are able to be more efficient using Internet Explorer 8. “We’re busy at Dell, so user features such as tabbed browsing and isolated tabs keep employees productive, both during normal work and when a browser crashes from one of our resource-intensive applications,” says Pitre.

Support from Microsoft. Dell appreciates the long-term support that is available for Internet Explorer 8. “Because we have so many web-based applications, there are times when certain computers require older browsers to run them,” explains Pitre. “By offering extended support Microsoft will give us the flexibility to use Internet Explorer 8 until key applications are updated.”

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Document published August 2010