Download 1 Controlled, Distributed, Cost Effective, and Centrally Managed

Infront Consulting Group
1
[email protected]
416-503-8350
www.infrontconsulting.com
CANADA UNITED STATES BELGIUM
UNITED KINGDOM SINGAPORE
Controlled, Distributed, Cost Effective, and Centrally Managed
Point of Sale Image Deployment at Cineplex
“Infront Consulting Group
played a critical role In
allowing Cineplex to quickly
implement a solid SCCM
foundation and demonstrate
Cineplex Inc. (“Cineplex”) is one of Canada’s leading entertainment companies and
operates one of the most modern and fully digitized motion picture theatre circuits in
the world. A top-tier Canadian brand, Cineplex operates numerous businesses
including theatrical exhibition, food services, gaming, alternative programming (Front
Row Centre Events), Cineplex Media, Cineplex Digital Solutions and the online sale of
home entertainment content through CineplexStore.com and on apps embedded in
various electronic devices. Cineplex is also a joint venture partner in SCENE – Canada’s
largest entertainment loyalty program.
the value of the many
features in SCCM for a
distributed retail environment.
We appreciate the
partnership with Infront
Consulting Group and the
expertise that they bring to
our team. With Infront's help
we were able to implement
the solution faster and get it
done correctly the first time."
Scott Hughes,
V.P. , IT Infrastructure & POS
at Cineplex
Cineplex is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and operates 136 theatres with 1,455
screens from British Columbia to Quebec, serving approximately 71 million guests
annually through the following theatre brands: Cineplex Odeon, Galaxy, SilverCity,
Famous Players, Colossus, Coliseum, Cineplex VIP, Cinema City, Cineplex Cinemas, and
Scotiabank Theatres. Cineplex trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol
"CGX".
With more than 71 million guests annually, Cineplex has implemented a number of
initiatives to help keep guest line-ups to a minimum at their theatres and further
improve guest satisfaction. Cineplex has accomplished this by allowing customers to
purchase tickets online at Cineplex.com, via mobile devices, at automated ticketing
kiosks or box office. The introduction of automated payment systems (PoS and online)
has allowed Cineplex to redeploy staff and reduce guest wait times.
Without in theatre technical support, Theatre Managers engage Cineplex’s Call
Monitoring Center (CMC) to ask for remote assistance with problematic systems. If a
resolution couldn’t be provided remotely the CMC would advance courier a newly
built PoS terminal to the theatre and the existing, problematic unit would be returned in
the same box using an enclosed waybill. Courier costs with this model were expensive.
Once the new system arrived at the Theatre and was connected to the Cineplex
network by the Manager another call to the CMC to finish the remaining system
configuration often required another 30-60 minutes of remote support. Cineplex was
looking to reduce this time and make the process more efficient, saving multiple
people time and effort and improving the overall bottom line.
Ciniplex looked to Microsoft Canada’s Private Cloud Partner of the Year in 2012, Infront
Consulting Group, to help them implement a solution that allowed the desktop support
team to centrally manage, and reimage PoS systems, eliminating the requirement to
courier the systems back to the central depot. Infront Consulting Group worked with
the Cineplex team to collect Cineplex’ requirements and design a System Center 2012
Configuration Manager architecture that allows Cineplex to accomplish the following
benefits:
Infront Consulting Group
[email protected]
416-503-8350
www.infrontconsulting.com
CANADA UNITED STATES BELGIUM
UNITED KINGDOM SINGAPORE
 The ability to deploy a PoS operating system image of Windows 7 Ready or Windows
XP Embedded from their central head office and remotely rebuild the broken system
at the store. This allowed Cineplex to eliminate couriering of PoS systems back to their
central depot and lead to an immediate and ongoing Return on Investment.
 Central deployment of applications, Windows and application updates to the
distributed point of sale systems.
“As a Microsoft Partner,
Infront provides a level of
technical expertise that is
second to none in our
industry. We are able to
accelerate the deployment
and configuration of
Microsoft System Center
technologies faster and more
efficiently thanks to our
technical depth and
experience.”
Rory McCaw,
Managing Principal
Consultant at Infront
Consulting Group
 Centrally collect hardware and software inventory to allow for quick reporting of
configurations. This will be beneficial to Cineplex as they plan for PoS hardware
upgrades by allowing them to quickly report on current inventory of specific or all
hardware models.
 The ability to monitor for PoS ‘system drift’ and remediate deviations from Cineplex’
standard PoS build. System Center 2012 Configuration Manager includes a feature
known as Desired Configuration Management (DCM) which allowed Infront to
demonstrate to Cineplex how changes to the system’s configuration could be
monitored, alerted on and when detected, automated actions taken to revert the
change. DCM helps organizations to maintain standardization and consistency on
their systems once they are leased to production. Supporting standardized systems is
much easier and less time consuming which improves IT efficiency.
 Deploy Microsoft System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection for enterprise wide antivirus
protection allowing Cineplex to reduce annual antivirus software costs as Endpoint
Protection was included in their System Center license investment.
Cineplex continues to leverage System Center 2012 Configuration Manager (SCCM),
System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) and is now looking at the implementation
of System Center 2012 Orchestrator to further improve consistent IT delivery through
automation.
“Infront Consulting Group played a critical role in allowing Cineplex to quickly
implement a solid SCCM foundation and demonstrate the value of the many features in
SCCM for a distributed retail environment. We appreciate our partnership with Infront
Consulting Group and the expertise that they bring to our team. With Infront’s help we
were able to implement the solution faster and get it done correctly the first time,” says
Scott Hughes, VP, IT Infrastructure & POS at Cineplex.
Infront Consulting Group is a global systems integration consulting company that
focuses exclusively on the implementation of Microsoft System Center technologies.
Infront has offices in Canada, the United States, the United States, the United Kingdom,
Belgium and Singapore and is a Managed, Microsoft Gold Partner. Infront also boasts
having the most Microsoft Valued Professionals (MVPs) per employee than any other
company globally. “As a Microsoft Partner, Infront provides a level of technical expertise
that is second to none in our industry. We are able to accelerate the deployment and
configuration of Microsoft System Center technologies faster and more efficiently thanks
to our technical depth and experience,” says Rory McCaw, Managing Principal
Consultant at Infront Consulting Group.