news In a move aimed to “streamline its information ecosystem”, Cash Converters has rolled out Windows 10 to 350 stores around the world, including Australia.
The firm deployed Windows 10 because it offered a standard user interface across PC, notebook, tablet and phone devices, according to Cash Converter CIO Glen Fee.
“Moving forward, Microsoft ensures that the platform is up to date, so we can focus on servicing our stores and customers,” he added.
Preparatory work for the integration was carried out by Perth-based Microsoft partner Ignia, and the migration to Windows 10 for Cash Converter’s Australian corporate stores took “around five weeks”, according to Microsoft’s website.
Josh Boys, Director at partner Ignia, commented: “Ignia worked with Cash Converters during their national rollout of Windows 10 to retail stores … Cash Converters found the in-place upgrade simple and easy to implement and are now utilising the new security and functional features available within Windows 10 Cloud OS.”
“Now that we have a solid IT foundation and the capability for consistent mobile access we can truly build for growth,” said Fee.
In other news from the firm, Cash Converter’s point of sales (POS) system is now online in stores in Australia, the UK and the UAE, Microsoft said.
Following the adoption of Office 365 in 2012, Cash Converters moved its POS systems to Microsoft Azure in 2013.
Previously, when Cash Converters acquired a new store, the process for implementing the POS was “time consuming and costly”, requiring a network to be set up, followed by the deployment of the POS application.
“We originally commenced rolling out the POS on the individual store servers but we calculated that at the rate we were going it was going to take many years,” Fee said. “However, once we explored Azure we worked out that we were going to be able to deploy across all Australian corporate stores in a matter of months, with the UK corporate stores over a similar timeframe”.
“Instead of having multiple people working to address issues locally, we have been able to manage the application from a central location,” he explained. “It’s allowed our local staff to add value at a store level in better ways.”
Image credit: Microsoft