Nikon Corporation is known worldwide for cameras and digital imaging products. To remain competitive in the fast-paced optics market, Nikon employees must communicate and collaborate easily with one another. Nikon had deployed an ad hoc solution that relied on different platforms for messaging, conferencing, and telephony. Although the company provided presence and instant messaging capabilities, employees primarily used the phone and email to communicate. Nikon believed a more comprehensive solution would increase employee responsiveness to customers, expedite business-critical decisions, and encourage collaboration between its member companies. To achieve these goals, Nikon is deploying Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide a centralized communications solution to help employees maintain their focus on “Trustworthiness and Creativity,” the main tenets of the company’s core philosophy.

1. Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Customer Solution Case Study
Nikon Uses Communications Solution to
Expedite Critical Business Decisions
Overview “In some areas, we have seen a 30 percent increase in
Country or Region: Japan
Industry: Manufacturing—High tech and productivity. We also believe we have increased our
electronics
responsiveness to customers.”
Customer Profile Michiko Noborisaka, General Manager of Information System Planning Department,
Since it was founded in 1917, Nikon Nikon Corporation
Corporation has been a leading
manufacturer of camera and digital
imaging equipment. The company Nikon Corporation is known worldwide for cameras and digital
employs 26,000 people and reported
imaging products. To remain competitive in the fast-paced
revenue of more than U.S.$9.4 billion in
FY2009. optics market, Nikon employees must communicate and
collaborate easily with one another. Nikon had deployed an ad
Business Situation
To promote its corporate philosophy of hoc solution that relied on different platforms for messaging,
“Trustworthiness and Creativity,” Nikon
conferencing, and telephony. Although the company provided
wanted to find a way for employees to
communicate and collaborate more presence and instant messaging capabilities, employees
effectively, and to increase their
primarily used the phone and email to communicate. Nikon
responsiveness to customers.
believed a more comprehensive solution would increase
Solution
employee responsiveness to customers, expedite business-
Nikon is planning to deploy Microsoft
Lync Server 2010 to provide integrated, critical decisions, and encourage collaboration between its
real-time communications and
member companies. To achieve these goals, Nikon is deploying
collaboration tools to help change the
way employees work together and boost Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide a centralized
overall productivity.
communications solution to help employees maintain their focus
Benefits on “Trustworthiness and Creativity,” the main tenets of the
 Provides tools to help reach
company’s core philosophy.
quick decisions
 Reduces costs

2. “With Lync, Situation they often experienced overloaded email
Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Nikon inboxes, which meant that people could be
communication is much Corporation has been a leading slow to return calls and messages. Nikon
manufacturer of optical equipment since wanted to provide more options for
more efficient because 1917. Known worldwide for its range of employees to communicate in real time.
people do not have to cameras and digital imaging products, “We want to move away from relying on a
Nikon also manufactures industrial and specific communication tool like email,”
switch programs to scientific products. Its products include explains Michiko Noborisaka, General
cameras, binoculars, microscopes, and the Manager of Information System Planning
make a call or join a IC steppers and scanners. With sales of Department at Nikon Corporation. “We
meeting.” approximately U.S.$9.4 billion, the Nikon need capabilities that free people from the
Group encompasses dozens of companies constraints of time and place. Our
Michiko Noborisaka, General Manager of around the world and employs more than employees should be able to choose the
Information System Planning 26,000 people. best communications tools for each
Department,
Nikon Corporation scenario they face.”
Nikon strives to create reliable products
based on high-level technology, and With production facilities and sales offices
research and development are core around the world, Nikon wanted to deploy
strengths for the company. To put the a communications solution to encourage
company’s core philosophy, employees to work together to make
“Trustworthiness and Creativity,” into critical business decisions quickly. “We want
action, employees must be able to to strengthen and reinforce collaboration
communicate and collaborate with one between the member companies of the
another to develop new products. However, Nikon Group so that management can
different divisions at Nikon had adapt quickly to change and make
implemented communication solutions that decisions more quickly,” says Noborisaka. It
were not integrated—and not really wanted to provide instant messaging and
conducive to collaboration across the presence for real-time communications as
groups. Employees mainly relied on the well as conferencing and enterprise voice
telephone and email. To provide voice, for a completely integrated
Nikon used a private-branch exchange communications experience for employees.
(PBX) telephony system. The company had
deployed Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Solution
solution for messaging, and it also To provide a more robust, complete
provided employees with access to hosted communications solution for its employees,
audio conferencing and a web Nikon investigated many options, but it
conferencing service. To facilitate more determined that Microsoft Lync 2010
real-time communication through instant offered a more complete solution with a
messaging and presence, the company had proven record. Based on the same
also deployed Microsoft Office technology in Office Communications
Communications Server 2007 to 1,000 Server, Lync Server provides enhanced
people in its development and design communications capabilities such as
divisions. presence, instant messaging, ad hoc
collaboration and online meetings, and
Even with more instant capabilities in place, internal audio calls. Lync Server also works
employees continued to rely heavily on with the Exchange Server and Microsoft
email and the phone to communicate, so Office SharePoint Server 2007 solutions

3. “We believe we can Nikon employees were already using. It capabilities that were available to them in
plans to complete deployment of the Office Communications Server 2007, but
reduce our expenses for solution to existing Office Communications they now can also take advantage of
Server users by the end of April 2011. additional capabilities for instant
hosted solutions more communication and collaboration. Using
than 50 percent by Nikon deployed Lync Server in a virtual the new capabilities in the Lync desktop
environment using Hyper-V virtualization client, employees can view enhanced
moving conferences technology, a feature of the Windows presence information for colleagues. Using
Server 2008 operating system. Each the Activity Feed, they can provide a brief
from our current configuration consists of two front-end description of what they are working on
solutions onto Lync.” servers and a two-node Microsoft SQL each day. They can also escalate an instant
Server 2008 cluster for the backend, as well messaging session to an online conference
Naoya Ogasawara, Manager of System as a Monitoring Server. with the single click of a mouse. For
Planning, Information System Planning collaboration, people in the design and
Department
Nikon Corporation To support its plan to deploy enterprise development departments can use the
voice in the future, Nikon is evaluating a whiteboard and desktop sharing
NET survivable branch appliance (SBA). The capabilities to create designs and review
SBA is based on cost-effective media technical documents.
gateways hosting the Microsoft Survivable
Branch Appliance software package. The Benefits
SBA provides a network connection and a By deploying Lync Server 2010, Nikon has
backup public-switched telephone network provided a more comprehensive
(PSTN) connection in the event of wide- communications solution for employees,
area network failure. It could use these at which will help them collaborate and share
branch offices to provide a redundant voice information more easily. The company will
connection in the case of a network outage. reduce conferencing and travel costs, and
employees will experience a boost in
For its employees, Nikon has evaluated productivity.
voice hardware designed specifically for use
with Lync Server, including the Polycom Provides Tools to Help Reach
CX600 IP desk phone, which provides Quick Decisions
directory search and presence information, Nikon believes that the capabilities in Lync
and the Plantronics Voyager PRO headset will help streamline operations and improve
they can use to place and manage calls and productivity. “With Lync, communication is
conferences through the Lync 2010 client much more efficient because people do not
on the desktop. have to switch programs to make a call or
join a meeting,” says Noborisaka.
To make communications widely available, Employees also find the user interface to be
Nikon set up Lync Server to work with intuitive. Because they can view presence
Exchange Server and Office SharePoint information, they can easily and quickly
Server. Employees have the same user send instant messages or click to call and
experience across all the products: they can hold an impromptu meeting with available
view their colleagues’ presence information, contacts to gather information and make
and with one click they can easily start a decisions more quickly—they no longer
chat session or audio conversation. have to wait for responses to email or voice
Employees will continue to rely on the mail messages. .
presence and instant messaging

4. Enhanced presence information also makes
it easier for employees to respond more
quickly to colleagues and customers,
because they can see who is working on
specific projects. Naoya Ogasawara,
Manager of System Planning, Information
System Planning Department at Nikon
Corporation explains, “Features like the
Activity Feed make people more productive
because they can see status, but they can
also see real information about what
people are working on.”
“In some areas, we have seen a 30 percent
increase in productivity,” says Noborisaka.
“We also believe we have increased our
responsiveness to customers.”
Reduces Costs
With the ad hoc collaboration and online
meeting capabilities on Lync, Nikon can
phase out its current audio and web
conferencing solutions, helping it to reduce
costs. “We believe we can reduce our
expenses for hosted solutions more than 50
percent by moving conferences from our
current solutions to Lync,” says Ogasawara.
Because employees can so easily set up
online meetings, Nikon expects that people
will travel less. “We expect to see a
reduction in overseas travel in particular,”
says Ogasawara, “which will also result in
savings in travel costs.”

5. For More Information Microsoft Lync Server 2010
For more information about Microsoft Microsoft Lync Server 2010 ushers in a new
products and services, call the Microsoft connected user experience that transforms
Sales Information Center at (800) 426- every communication into an interaction
9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft that is more collaborative and engaging
Canada Information Centre at (877) 568- and that is accessible from anywhere. For
2495. Customers in the United States and IT, the benefits are equally powerful, with a
Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing highly secure and reliable communications
can reach Microsoft text telephone solution that works with existing tools and
(TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. systems for easier management, lower cost
Outside the 50 United States and of ownership, smoother deployment and
Canada, please contact your local migration, and greater choice and
Microsoft subsidiary. To access flexibility.
information using the World Wide Web,
go to: For more information about Microsoft Lync
www.microsoft.com Server 2010, go to:
www.microsoft.com/lync
For more information about Nikon
Corporation products and services, call
(81) 3-3214-5311 or visit the website at:
www.nikon.com
For more information about Nihon
Unisys products and services, call (03)
5546-4111 or visit the website at:
www.unisys.co.jp
For more information about NET
products and services, call
(800) 234-4638 or visit the website at:
www.net.com
For more information about Plantronics
products and services, call
(800) Plantronics or visit the website at:
www.plantronics.com
Software and Services Hardware
 Microsoft Office  NET Survivable Branch Appliance
For more information about Polycom − Microsoft Lync 2010  Plantronics Voyager PRO Headsets
products and services, call (800) Polycom  Microsoft Server Product Portfolio  Polycom CX Series IP Phones
or visit the website at: − Microsoft Lync Server 2010
www.polycom.com
This case study is for informational purposes only.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published November 2010