AVANADE
®CASE STUDY
Avanade Develops Innovative Technologies for TASER
TASER Boosts Internal and External Communication and Allows for Online Background Checks
TASER International designs and manufactures stun guns used by
law enforcement agencies, the military, companies, and private
citizens. The devices offer an alternative to weapons that are lethal or
more destructive. As a result, the products are growing in popularity
around the world. Over the last two years, TASER has tripled its work
force. In addition, the company’s revenue grew 42 percent between
2005 and 2006, reaching U.S. $68 million.
In 2006, TASER sought to improve communication between
employees and the media. The company also wanted to provide
online background checks to its customers. Using Microsoft
®technologies, Avanade helped TASER deploy a new intranet and
Web site, as well as TASER CheckLock™—a revolutionary
background check technology. These solutions have expanded the
company’s retail base, accelerated communication with the media,
improved data access and employee collaboration, streamlined IT
operations, and created a scalable system that allows for future
development.
OVERVIEW
Industry
High-tech and electronics manufacturing
Geography
United States
Solution Summary
Avanade led the effort to design and implement an intranet and Web site at TASER. Consultants also
developed a mission-critical, product-activation capability.
Technology
Microsoft® ASP.NET
The Microsoft .NET Framework version 3.0
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007
Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server
2007
Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 Enterprise Edition
Windows Server® 2003 R2
Benefits
Expanded the company’s retail base
Accelerated communication with the media
Improved data access and employee collaboration Streamlined IT operations Created a scalable system that allows for future development
Customer Background
TASER International
Founded in 1993, TASER International provides advanced Electronic Control Devices (ECDs) to consumers in 44 countries. Law enforcement agencies and the military are some of the company’s biggest customers. For example, more than 10,000 of the 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States use weapons from TASER. Other customers include companies, such as hospitals, security agencies, and consumers. Designed to incapacitate dangerous, combative, or high-risk subjects, ECDs save lives by offering an alternative to other uses of force like billy clubs, rubber bullets, or standard guns.
The company’s corporate headquarters, in Scottsdale, Arizona, includes a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. In 2006, TASER generated U.S.$68 million in revenue—an increase of 42 percent over the previous year. In addition, TASER has tripled its work force over the last two years, growing from 95 employees in 2005 to more than 300 employees in 2007.
Business Challenge
Manufacturer seeks to boost collaboration and communication
Because the Internet is the favored medium for rapidly disseminating information, TASER has always relied on its Web site to educate the media and the public about its products. Proactive communication is more critical for a company like TASER because weapons are often the source of controversy, and ECDs are often misunderstood. When TASER was a smaller company, the processes for updating its Web site were effective, and executives could publish information in a timely manner. However, rapid growth changed this. IT personnel, responsible for making changes to Web site content, had to focus on higher priority tasks. As a result, making any change to the Web site—including adding or deleting content—could take days or weeks. Not only did this hinder communication with the world but the Web site often contained outdated or inaccurate information occasionally resulting in negative press coverage.
TASER was also experiencing issues with its internal communication processes. Documents resided on restricted departmental server computers or on employee workstations. Employees spent valuable time pinpointing the latest version of a document. When traveling, employees could not easily access the information they needed. E-mail became the dominant driver behind workflow, but the sheer volume of messages made responsiveness challenging. In addition, there was no
employee portal, making it difficult to collaborate when working on projects. While the company was struggling with its communication issues, engineers at TASER were debating how to implement a unique background check technology
known as TASER CheckLock™ for the TASER C2, a new consumer product
scheduled for release in the summer of 2007. Because the TASER C2 is designed for citizens, TASER wanted to make the background check process more
convenient by allowing customers to perform it online. As a result, TASER could facilitate wider distribution of the C2 device by removing the requirement for retailers to manage the background check process.
Unlike other ECDs that ship in an active state, the C2 would ship in an inactive state from the factory, requiring an activation code to function. To obtain this activation code, a consumer would initiate an online background check process
“We have a very fast-moving
environment, and the solution
Avanade implemented is
dynamic enough and
extensible enough to meet our
business challenges and help
us streamline our business
processes.”
Ray Rivera
Chief Information Officer TASER International
using a secure Web site or a toll-free 800 number. Once the background check was complete, the system would issue a unique activation code that would only work on one device, identified by its serial number. Only after entering the activation code could the device be used.
With the company’s IT department already struggling to meet deadlines, TASER decided to engage a third party for help. Beginning in May 2006, TASER evaluated five vendors. In June 2006, TASER selected Avanade because of its deep
expertise and experience on the Microsoft platform. Avanade presented a solution based on a soon-to-be-released version of Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server
2007. Capitalizing on the new 2007 version allowed Avanade to minimize the amount of customization required, making it more cost-effective to meet the business needs of TASER. “Avanade showed us the workflow capacity of Office SharePoint Server 2007 and how those workflows could be tailored to our business processes, which was very compelling,” says Ray Rivera, Chief Information Officer at TASER. “We chose Avanade because its people had the experience, resources,
and skill sets that we needed, and they had the ability to bring those resources to our project on a very timely basis.”
The Solution
Avanade and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
Over the next five months, Avanade worked with TASER on three projects: A corporate intranet portal built on Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft ASP.NET
A new Web site and content management system built on Office SharePoint Server 2007
The CheckLock solution created using the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 In June 2006, Avanade began developing the intranet portal using Microsoft ASP.NET, and Office SharePoint Server 2007. “We spent the first few weeks
talking to various business owners and employees across the organization to identify and prioritize TASER’s core business pains,” explains Elmer Morales, Architect and Project Manager at Avanade. “We used the Avanade Connected Methods methodology and intranet best practices to deliver a solution that took advantage of the full capabilities of Office SharePoint Server 2007, including search, blogs, Really Simple Syndication (RSS), and content management.” To support the new environment, Avanade set up a Dell PowerEdge server cluster running the Windows Server® 2003 R2 operating system, Office SharePoint Server 2007, and Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 Enterprise Edition database software. Next, Avanade used the .NET Framework to pump up the functionality of the corporate intranet with several custom features. For example, Avanade consultants implemented blogs and key performance indicators (KPIs) that link different data sources to report on project status. A knowledge base area links employees directly to e-learning content provided by third parties. An employee directory, built using the Active Directory® service, contains employee information that includes photos
and contact details. The intranet was completed and deployed in November 2006. In January 2007, TASER IT deployed Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 to further enhance employee collaboration. “By deploying Office Professional Plus 2007, users can see and access all of their tasks, e-mail, and files whether they’re in Office SharePoint Server 2007 or in another program in the 2007 Microsoft Office
“We chose Avanade because
its people had the experience,
resources, and skill sets that
we needed, and they had the
ability to bring those
resources to our project on a
very timely basis.”
Ray Rivera
Chief Information Officer TASER International
AVANADE CONNECTED METHODS
The Avanade Connected Methods is a powerful methodology that
provides a common set of repeatable methods, processes, and tools that guide and even accelerate the delivery of solutions.
release,” explains Sunny Chowdhury, IT Project Manager at TASER International.
Web site and content management system
In December 2006, consultants from Avanade began working on a content
management system and a new Web site using Office SharePoint Server 2007 and the Avanade Connected Methods methodology.
Avanade consultants developed a video publishing system that renders videos directly in a user’s browser through the Adobe® Flash technology. With this
capability, TASER is able to promote its products through short videos that demonstrate the features and benefits of TASER devices.
In addition, consultants created an event management capability that the training department at TASER can use to easily publish training events directly from Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003 messaging and collaboration client. Other
capabilities Avanade added to the Web site include access to interactive maps through Microsoft Virtual Earth™ mapping technology, a powerful search engine, a customizable RSS engine, and a new training catalog. In addition, developers provided for integration with external data sources for press releases.
Avanade also redesigned the Web site’s information architecture to improve the overall user experience. The Web site was completed and launched in April 2007.
The CheckLock Solution
In November 2006, two Avanade consultants began working with TASER engineers on CheckLock to support the activation of C2 devices. First, the team designed a secure and scalable architecture based on the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 using the Avanade Connected Methods methodology. Next, Avanade consultants developed services for CheckLock and a Windows® application that would allow the production department to deactivate devices prior to shipping. The team also developed a Web-based interface between the CheckLock services and the new TASER.com Web site running on Office SharePoint Server 2007. When a
background check is complete, the results are sent directly through the interface to
the company’s Microsoft Dynamics™ AX enterprise resource planning (ERP)
system.
Finally, consultants developed a process that would automatically send a device’s activation code from the ERP system to the consumer by e-mail. The team completed CheckLock in April 2007.
Avanade Value
Avanade delivered the expertise and resources required
“I was really impressed with the knowledge base of our Avanade consultants,” says Rivera. “Every consultant really knew what they were doing. One consultant was an Office SharePoint Server 2007 expert. Another was an architecture expert. He was able to rapidly implement a lot of complex models and applications.” Rivera continues, “Avanade has been an outstanding partner in helping us solve business challenges and deliver a great experience to our intranet and Web site users. The Avanade team helped us address a wide range of business challenges and improve project collaboration and communication throughout the company. One of the biggest benefits Avanade brought was the development and integration of CheckLock and the TASER.com Web site.”
“Since we’ve developed the
CheckLock technology, we’ve
had a significant increase in
retailer awareness and
acceptance of our C2
product.”
Steve Ward
Vice President of Marketing and International Sales
Results
Expanded retail marketplace
Before TASER deployed its new Web site, retailers had to manage consumer background checks. By removing the burden of background checks from the retailer, the C2 activation Web site is helping to expand TASER’s retail channel. “Since we’ve developed the CheckLock technology, we’ve had a significant increase in retailer awareness and acceptance of our C2 product,” says Steve Ward, Vice President of Marketing and International Sales for Taser. “We’ve heard from big box retailers, mom and pop shops, and sporting goods stores—companies that we couldn’t appeal to before because of the requirements for background checks.”
Accelerated communication with media
TASER.com offers the fastest medium for disseminating product information. However, the company’s old Web site was too difficult to update rapidly to respond to the media. “Quite frankly, I just quit making routine changes to the site over the last year because the process was too cumbersome,” notes Steve Tuttle, Vice President of Communications at TASER.
Today, designated individuals can make the changes—and they do not need to know HTML or have technical expertise to do so. “With our new Web site, we can publish information within minutes, not weeks, giving us the ability to respond to the media in near real time,” says Tuttle. “Not only do TASER employees find it easier to post information, customers also get the information they need faster than before. And the RSS feeds are a huge benefit for us because people can subscribe to it so that they get information when they want it, how they want it.”
Improved data access and employee collaboration
Employees no longer have to spend time tracking down documents or verifying whether they have the latest release. The technologies supporting the intranet— Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Office Professional 2007—have transformed how employees manage day-to-day tasks.
“We now share documents within Office SharePoint Server 2007 rather than sending them as e-mail attachments,” explains Chowdhury. “Our users have a single point of entry into the document library, regardless of where they’re at. They can access everything from Office SharePoint Server 2007. If they are working in e-mail, they can look at the library or tasks from there. The new workflow capabilities allow for much greater levels of collaboration.”
With the help of Avanade consultants and the new technologies, TASER launched the Taser C2 product in 8 months. This time frame is 200 percent faster than the previous product release cycle, which used to take 24 months.
Streamlined IT operations
Transferring the responsibility of Web site content to individual departments has given TASER IT more time to focus on other tasks. “One significant improvement we’ve seen is moving a lot of day-to-day tasks out of the IT area,” says Rivera. “This has allowed us to focus more on the reliability and scalability of our systems.” As a result, TASER estimates that its IT department can support twice as many business users as it could previously—simply because employees have more time to dedicate to IT tasks.
In addition, by building the intranet and Web site on Office SharePoint Server 2007,
“We now share documents
within Office SharePoint
Server 2007 rather than
sending them as e-mail
attachments. Our users have
a single point of entry into the
document library, regardless
of where they’re at.”
Sunny Chowdhury
IT Project Manager TASER International
TASER does not require additional resources or expertise in maintaining multiple products. “Bringing these technologies under one platform makes them easier to support and manage, which is a big benefit,” Rivera explains. For example, the company’s previous Web site required a team of three full-time employees to maintain. The new TASER.com requires only two full-time employees—resulting in an annual savings of more than $75,000.
Built a scalable system that allows for future development
Before it deployed its new portal and Web site, the IT technologies at TASER often hindered workflow. Today, TASER employees have the tools they need to boost productivity. “We have a very fast-moving environment, and the solution Avanade implemented is dynamic enough and extensible enough to meet our business challenges and help us streamline our business processes,” says Rivera.
TASER IT is now working on connecting the ERP system to Web Parts available in the business intelligence models in Office SharePoint Server 2007. In addition, TASER is implementing the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module within Microsoft Dynamics AX. Over the next few months, TASER IT will also be migrating the messaging environment to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. This will serve as the foundation for a future unified messaging solution.
“Avanade brings the skill set we need to the table, not just in technologies we used, but in technologies we’ll be using in the future,” Rivera concludes. “It’s nice to know that we have a partner we can work with and call upon. And we know that they can get subject matter experts here quickly—regardless of the application or
requirement.”
About Avanade
Avanade, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, is a global IT consultancy dedicated to using the Microsoft platform to help enterprises achieve profitable growth. Through proven solutions that extend Microsoft technologies, Avanade helps enterprises increase revenue, reduce costs, and reinvest in innovation to gain competitive advantage. Avanade consultants deliver value according to each customer’s requirements, timeline, and budget by combining insight, innovation, and the talent of our global work force. Founded in 2000 by Accenture and Microsoft, Avanade has more than 6,500 professionals serving customers in 22 countries worldwide.
Additional information can be found at www.avanade.com.
“With our new Web site, we
can publish information within
minutes, not weeks, giving us
the ability to respond to the
media in near real time. . . .
The RSS feeds are a huge
benefit for us because people
can subscribe to it so that
they get information when
they want it, how they want it.”
Steve Tuttle
Vice President of Communications TASER International