“We offer multiple computing resources to maximize employee productivity in developing and supporting our technological leadership. Windows 8 and Windows RT devices are key to that strategy.”

Paul S. Lee, IT Geo-Manager, Americas, NVIDIA

NVIDIA is a global company that provides a variety of visual computing products. To boost mobility and productivity, NVIDIA offered its employees Windows 8 upgrades and new Windows RT devices. Deployment went quickly and smoothly. Windows 8 adoption was higher than expected. Engineering, IT, and administrative employees are using Windows RT devices to simplify mobile access to email.

Business NeedsSince its beginnings as a pioneer in PC graphics, NVIDIA has expanded the field of visual computing into diverse areas—from mobile to cloud computing—by harnessing the powerful parallel computing capabilities of the graphics processing unit (GPU).

The company’s mobile processors are used in smartphones, tablets, and in-vehicle infotainment systems. PC gamers rely on GPUs to enjoy spectacularly immersive worlds. Professionals use them to create amazing visual effects in movies and to design everything from golf clubs to jumbo jets. And researchers use GPUs to advance scientific discovery with high-performance computers.“As a leader in visual computing, NVIDIA has a natural interest in new operating systems and platforms that take advantage of intensive graphics capabilities,” says Paul S. Lee, IT Geo-Manager, Americas, at NVIDIA. “When we heard about the Windows 8 operating system and its potential for enhanced graphical processing, we wanted early, firsthand experience with it. This was especially true with Windows RT devices. These devices come with the NVIDIA Tegra processor installed, which leverages the power of our Tegra technology.”

NVIDIA was also interested in Windows RT devices because it wanted to enhance mobile computing and increase the

available technology options for employees. Employees can use a variety of mobile devices and operating systems as long as the devices comply with the company’s security policies. “We are always looking for cost-effective, productivity-enhancing alternatives to carrying a full-size laptop,” says Lee.

SolutionNVIDIA is offering the Windows 8 Enterprise operating system as an upgrade option for employees and making Windows RT devices available to employees as needed. “We looked at a variety of mobile devices, but we decided not to use them as default devices because we saw limited value as enterprise mobility devices,” says Lee.

“We liked that the Windows RT devices offer Microsoft Office applications and the Internet Explorer 10 browser built in,” says Josh Mascote, Systems Administrator at NVIDIA. “Many of our tools and much of our infrastructure are designed to be compatible with Internet Explorer specifically, so this is a great advantage.”

By August 2012, NVIDIA had deployed more than 210 ASUS VivoTab RT and Surface RT tablets. Windows RT devices were deployed to employees across a wide variety of disciplines and job roles. NVIDIA is using Exchange ActiveSync software to manage the devices in compliance with its

Customer: NVIDIAWebsite: www.nvidia.comCustomer Size: 8,000 employeesCountry or Region: United States Industry: IT services

Customer ProfileBased in Santa Clara, California, NVIDIA products span the spectrum of visual computing—from fundamental inventions, to processors incorporating GPUs, to system components, to fully integrated systems.

Software and Services Windows 8 Enterprise Windows RT Microsoft Office 2013− Microsoft PowerPoint 2013− Microsoft Word 2013

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 Technologies− Exchange ActiveSync− Internet Explorer 10

Hardware Asus VivoTab RT Surface RT

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Windows 8 EnterpriseCustomer Solution Case Study

Visual Computing Company Boosts Staff Mobility by Adopting New Operating System

security policies, which preclude the use of cloud-based mobile device management.

“We are happy that Microsoft is going to make the APIs [application programming interfaces] available for third-party mobile device management solutions in Windows RT,” says Lee.

In addition to its mobile users, NVIDIA has upgraded more than 5,500 systems to Windows 8 Enterprise.

For the initial deployment of Windows 8, NVIDIA worked with its Microsoft technical account manager to access technical resources as needed. The IT staff used Windows Server Update Services and built a separate deployment environment for Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012, a solution accelerator for operating system and application deployment. “It didn’t take long to build the MDT 2012 deployment environment,” says Mascote. “We also use Windows Deployment Services. It took only a couple of hours to get a user up and running on Windows 8.”

BenefitsNVIDIA employees are happy to have another computing option to enhance their mobility and boost productivity in and out of the office.

“We offer multiple computing resources to maximize engineers’ productivity in developing and supporting our technology leadership,” says Lee. “Windows 8 and Windows RT devices are key to that strategy.”

NVIDIA is already enjoying several benefits from Windows 8 and Windows RT, including:

Improved mobility and productivity. NVIDIA employees are using their Windows RT devices at meetings, taking notes with Microsoft Word, and doing presentations with Microsoft PowerPoint.

“The Windows RT devices improve employees’ flexibility in accessing work email at home or at meetings, and the battery life is fantastic,” says Mascote.

Also, NVIDIA sees employee productivity increasing with the release of Windows 8.1. “With the next version of Windows RT, we’ll get a full Microsoft Outlook client,” says Lee. “Because of this feature, these devices will have great potential for the enterprise space.”

Higher-than-expected voluntary uptake with few upgrade issues. There had been widespread satisfaction with the Windows 7 operating system at NVIDIA. “We were encouraged that more employees than expected requested the upgrade to Windows 8,” says Lee. “Most people opted for the desktop mode and found that our legacy Windows-based applications performed a little faster.”

Approximately 95 percent of line-of-business applications at NVIDIA ran without a problem on Windows 8. “Our Windows 8 Enterprise users are happy with the new operating system,” says Lee. “I’m using it every day and it’s very stable.”

Potential to create Windows Store apps. NVIDIA is already working on an internal app for employees to schedule conference rooms. “We see a lot of potential for developing and deploying Windows Store apps tailored for internal use, and we look forward to exploring this capacity in the future,” says Lee.

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Document published December 2013