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“Windows Azure Service Bus was key to building a distributed hybrid solution that ties critical data from various parties to field computers in a lightweight fashion. It serves as a conduit to sites where connectivity is difficult or might be intermittent.” Rick G. Garibay, General Manager Connected Systems Practice, Neudesic Xerox provides services to HELP, Inc., a not-for-profit partnership that works to increase the safety and efficiency of commercial vehicles on public highways. Xerox used Windows Azure to develop 360SmartView, a distributed screening system that enables rapid electronic assessment of trucks at inspection stations. Because the system incorporates Windows Azure Service Bus, even remote stations with limited connectivity can operate effectively. HELP benefits from rapid scalability, reduced costs, and competitive advantages. Business Needs In 2010, Xerox—a leader in business process and information technology outsourcing—began working on a new initiative for HELP, Inc. HELP is a not-for- profit public-private partnership that works to increase safety and efficiency of commercial vehicles on freeways across the United States by delivering advanced transportation technologies to customers in the public and private sector. The Xerox Americas Commercial & State Government Transportation Group manages HELP operations, including marketing, sales, product development, field operations, and customer service. The HELP flagship product is PrePass, a service that prescreens transponder- equipped commercial vehicles for compliance with state requirements. More than 400 million commercial vehicles travel through PrePass-equipped sites annually. To date, PrePass has saved 198 million gallons of fuel and US$24 billion in trucking-related costs, such as workforce costs and wear and tear on vehicles. “With PrePass, state enforcement officials can electronically review about 30 percent of traffic at inspection sites,” says Rick Clasby, President and CEO of HELP. “Our board and the enforcement community wanted technology that would enable site personnel to better identify trucks that need inspection.” HELP sought to build a screening system that would provide enforcement officials with information on all trucks and help them make data-driven inspection decisions. It needed to mitigate congestion at high-volume sites and provide tools for remote sites with a solution that would be cost-effective, simple to use, and easy to implement. Solution In August 2010, Xerox began working with Neudesic, a member of the Microsoft Partner Network, to design a distributed screening system as a hybrid cloud service on Windows Azure, the Microsoft cloud services development, hosting, and management environment. They set out to deliver a software-as-a-service solution that would use Windows Azure to host, scale, and manage compute power on the Internet through Microsoft data centers. “We knew that we could use Windows Azure technologies to build a turnkey Customer: Xerox Corporation Website: www.xerox.com Customer Size: 140,000 employees Country or Region: United States Industry: Transportation and logistics Partner: Neudesic Customer Profile As one of the world’s foremost enterprises for business process management, Xerox operates in 160 countries and applies its expertise and services to help customers operate more effectively. Software and Services Windows Azure Windows Azure Service Bus Windows Workflow Foundation 4 For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit: www.microsoft.com/casestudies Windows Azure Customer Solution Case Study Transportation Solution Provider Screens Commercial Vehicles with Cloud Service

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Page 1: download.microsoft.comdownload.microsoft.com/.../Xerox_WindowsAzureServi… · Web viewAs one of the world’s foremost enterprises for business process management, ... Windows Azure

“Windows Azure Service Bus was key to building a distributed hybrid solution that ties critical data from various parties to field computers in a lightweight fashion. It serves as a conduit to sites where connectivity is difficult or might be intermittent.”

Rick G. Garibay, General Manager Connected Systems Practice, Neudesic

Xerox provides services to HELP, Inc., a not-for-profit partnership that works to increase the safety and efficiency of commercial vehicles on public highways. Xerox used Windows Azure to develop 360SmartView, a distributed screening system that enables rapid electronic assessment of trucks at inspection stations. Because the system incorporates Windows Azure Service Bus, even remote stations with limited connectivity can operate effectively. HELP benefits from rapid scalability, reduced costs, and competitive advantages.

Business NeedsIn 2010, Xerox—a leader in business process and information technology outsourcing—began working on a new initiative for HELP, Inc. HELP is a not-for-profit public-private partnership that works to increase safety and efficiency of commercial vehicles on freeways across the United States by delivering advanced transportation technologies to customers in the public and private sector. The Xerox Americas Commercial & State Government Transportation Group manages HELP operations, including marketing, sales, product development, field operations, and customer service.

The HELP flagship product is PrePass, a service that prescreens transponder-equipped commercial vehicles for compliance with state requirements. More than 400 million commercial vehicles travel through PrePass-equipped sites annually. To date, PrePass has saved 198 million gallons of fuel and US$24 billion in trucking-related costs, such as workforce costs and wear and tear on vehicles.

“With PrePass, state enforcement officials can electronically review about 30 percent of traffic at inspection sites,” says Rick

Clasby, President and CEO of HELP. “Our board and the enforcement community wanted technology that would enable site personnel to better identify trucks that need inspection.”

HELP sought to build a screening system that would provide enforcement officials with information on all trucks and help them make data-driven inspection decisions. It needed to mitigate congestion at high-volume sites and provide tools for remote sites with a solution that would be cost-effective, simple to use, and easy to implement.

SolutionIn August 2010, Xerox began working with Neudesic, a member of the Microsoft Partner Network, to design a distributed screening system as a hybrid cloud service on Windows Azure, the Microsoft cloud services development, hosting, and management environment. They set out to deliver a software-as-a-service solution that would use Windows Azure to host, scale, and manage compute power on the Internet through Microsoft data centers.

“We knew that we could use Windows Azure technologies to build a turnkey

Customer: Xerox CorporationWebsite: www.xerox.comCustomer Size: 140,000 employeesCountry or Region: United StatesIndustry: Transportation and logisticsPartner: Neudesic

Customer ProfileAs one of the world’s foremost enterprises for business process management, Xerox operates in 160 countries and applies its expertise and services to help customers operate more effectively.

Software and Services Windows Azure− Windows Azure Service Bus

Windows Workflow Foundation 4

For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit: www.microsoft.com/casestudies

Windows AzureCustomer Solution Case Study

Transportation Solution Provider Screens Commercial Vehicles with Cloud Service

Page 2: download.microsoft.comdownload.microsoft.com/.../Xerox_WindowsAzureServi… · Web viewAs one of the world’s foremost enterprises for business process management, ... Windows Azure

solution that would efficiently provide screening information to a variety of endpoints,” says Brendon Birdoes, Practice Director of Connected Systems at Neudesic. “With cloud services, we could store and analyze data in a highly secure fashion and relay information to almost any device.” Xerox joined the Technology Adoption Program for Windows Azure Service Bus, accessing prerelease technology that was crucial to development. Team members used Service Bus to build a widely available infrastructure with relayed and brokered messaging capabilities for large-scale service distribution. “Windows Azure Service Bus was key to building a distributed hybrid solution that ties critical data from various parties to field computers in a lightweight fashion,” says Rick G. Garibay, General Manager of Connected Systems Practice at Neudesic. “It serves as a conduit to sites where connectivity is difficult or might be intermittent.”

In August 2011, after eight months of development, the team deployed a pilot program of the solution, called 360SmartView, at a site in Montana. With 360SmartView, sites are equipped with Kapsch TrafficCom cameras and software that automatically scan license plates and US Department of Transportation numbers without relying on radio frequency technology. The solution uses Windows Workflow Foundation 4 to compose public and private endpoints, assess the information against data from more than 90 government sources, and return screening results within seconds.

In early 2012, the team deployed 360SmartView at two more sites in Florida and Indiana. “One site officer said that having 360SmartView was like having x-ray vision,” says Cathi Chinn, Program Management Office and Technology Director at Xerox. “You can view a vehicle’s information in real time and make better decisions by augmenting an enforcement officer’s visual information with data.”

BenefitsBy using Windows Azure, Xerox built a distributed screening system for HELP that scales on demand and supports states’ needs for enhanced vehicle screening at a low cost. “With 360SmartView available as software-as-a-service hosted in the cloud,

inspection officers can quickly uncover violations and encourage compliance,” says Chinn. “It levels the playing field for the carrier industry—and good drivers can pass through sites undeterred.”

Increased ScalabilityWith Windows Azure, HELP can affordably extend 360SmartView to sites around the country. “Because of the agility of cloud services, we can quickly scale to process large amounts of requests from many sites,” says Birdoes. “In the meantime, we can limit scale and contain costs.”

Reduced CostsInspection stations that adopt 360SmartView get a cost-effective solution that can interoperate with their on-site technologies. Xerox estimates that states across the country can avoid billions annually in workforce costs because the solution eliminates manual processes. “Even remote facilities can access vehicle information efficiently,” says Chinn. “Each state site can realize at least $1 million in savings because data is available on demand.”

Provided a Competitive AdvantageBy adopting Microsoft technologies, Xerox developed a turnkey solution for HELP that can be deployed in virtually any field environment in a matter of days. “Thanks to the reliability and flexibility of Windows Azure, we can offer our customers a low cost of entry,” says Clasby. “We can count on fast time-to-market, high performance, and easy interoperability—and we have the competitive advantage of being thought of as leaders in the Intelligent Transportation Systems space for commercial vehicle solutions.”

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published June 2012