Services & Support

Gate Gourmet Case Study

Introduction

GATE GOURMET London was founded in July 1992 through a merger of the Swissair Company ICS (International Catering Services) and the catering operations of Swissair.

"The problem arose when the company upgraded its operations software package. The company provides onboard consumables such as meals, films, blankets to airline flights and needs a method of communicating last minute changes to flight requirements right up to a few minutes before departure. This information arrives from the airlines in real time to a central control and some of it has to be forwarded to various people on the network, for this reason a simple instant messaging system was required."

The Search for a Solution

Francis Hibbert:
"We evaluated a number of instant messaging software (programs) available on the market after having established that the WinPopup facility provided by MS was not adequate for the purpose.

We needed a product that was:

• Specifically intended for network usage using an IP network (NT servers and NT/Win95 workstations).

• Had two distinct types of installations, a version for sending messages on a few machines, and a version for only receiving messages for the other machines.

• (Has) the ability to use an address book (better still if it were possible to browse the network to detect logged on users).

• (Has) the ability to restrict user options to prevent tampering with the settings. In particular instant popup on receipt of messages, and disabling the turning off of the program."

Finding the Solution through VyPRESS Research

Gate Gourmet opted for the VyPRESS solution because of VyPRESS' two distinct installation types (Vypress Messenger and Vypress Auvis). They were briefly tempted to settle for NetPopup, because it could detect users' machines on the network, but decided against it because there is only one configurable installation mode available for all users.

Vypress Auvis met all the needs of Gate Gourmet to a tee. They found that VyPRESS software uses very little of a computer's system resources and allows for license streaming and concurrent usages that lower total cost.

Graceful, Easy Deployment

It was necessary to install the registry configurations of the Auvis program to meet Gate Gourmet's installation requirements. Specifically, the Gate Gourmet staff wanted to install Auvis remotely, without the need for manual intervention on each individual PC in the network. The software installation itself was done through a modification of the company's login script, although they could also have done it using the system configurations.

Login script modifications

The initial software setup was made using minor modifications of the login script, which automatically checks for existing Auvis applications on the machine and begins the installation process if no previous versions are found. Here are the modifications:

System policy template

System administrators can use system policies to control user and computer configurations from a single location on a network. System policies propagate registry settings to a large number of machines without requiring the administrator to have detailed knowledge of the registry.

Since the company already used the policy configurations to install at each login a series of registry parameters that restrict or enable various security configurations, it was a logical maneuver to install the Vypress Auvis registry settings using the same method. These settings can be configured differently for various user groups, so a set of settings could be created for normal users, licensed users, and LAN administrators. Once we obtained the Auvis .ADM template, it was easy to test it on the registry of one machine and then update the policy configuration file (config.pol) on the export replication share of the primary domain controller. This file update was then replicated to all the PDC's replication partners, which are the BDCs used for logon. The only other modification requirement involved creating an NT global group of licensed Auvis users, then defining those users that were the most important recipients of the messages. This group is then used in the policy configuration file to enable license settings for those users.

How Did Gate Gourmet Feel About the Deployment Process?

		"This process worked surprisingly well. The testing of this installation revealed some necessary corrections to the company's network. In particular, we found that on a number of machines the registry configurations were not being installed correctly. The solution was found in that on the WIN95 machines it is necessary to install group policies on each individual machine to make sure that it goes to search for the config.pol file on login. This is automatic for NT workstations. We also found that it was necessary to update the MSNET32.DLL windows file to correct a fault in Win95 installation that prevents the logon script from working every time when logging onto an NT network." Francis W.G.Hibbert, Consultant to Gate Gourmet London Ltd

For More Information

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

VyPRESS, Vypress Messenger and Vypress Auvis are either registered trademarks or trademarks of VyPRESS Research in the Russian Federation and/or other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

VyPRESS Products Used

• Vypress Messenger
• Vypress Auvis

This case study is for informational purposes only. VYPRESS MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. The information contained in this document represents the current view of VyPRESS on the issues discussed as of the date of publication.