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NYSERNet Helps Eastman Kodak Focus on Internet Connectivity and Training Eastman Kodak, founded by George Eastman in 1884, is one of the world's great business success stories. Selling approximately 70 percent of the 35 millimeter film in the United States today, Kodak dominates its market like few other companies. It is also a major developer and supplier of photographic paper and chemicals, imaging technology and photo CD's, among many other products and services. With 1995 sales of nearly $15 billion and more than 96,000 employees worldwide, the company has retained its standing as an industry leader by adhering to the four basic principles for success that George Eastman established a century ago: mass production at low cost; international distribution; extensive advertising, and a focus on the customer. The ability to change with the times and develop new technologies has kept Kodak ahead of its competitors for more than 100 years. A case in point, Kodak's participation in the information revolution,-dramatized by its early acceptance and utilization of the Internet-vividly demonstrates that Eastman's 19th century principles retain their relevance today. A decade ago Kodak's research laboratory in Rochester, N.Y. was already using the burgeoning power of the Internet to link with a multi-million dollar supercomputer at the National Center for Supercomputer Applications (NCSA) on the University of Illinois campus. Clark Kurtz, director of research for the Technical and Support Services division at Kodak recalled how the new technology was put to use by company scientists. "Early on we did some analyses that helped us in the design of molds for production," he said. "It required computational resources beyond our computer's capabilities. By being able to connect to the NCSA we avoided having to buy a supercomputer to do those problems." Kodak scientists also used that early Internet connection to communicate via E-mail with colleagues in universities and research facilities throughout the world. "Historically, use of the Internet started out only for researchers because you had to know UNIX commands; it was difficult to interface," Kurtz said. But in 1988to make its Internet connections more accessible to non-research personnelKodak turned to NYSERNet, the founder of the Internet in New York State. "Our connection to the outside world was through NYSERNet," said Kurtz. "We at Kodak have always been very pleased with our interaction with NYSERNet." Kodak's first Internet connection through NYSERNet was a medium-speed T1 line. But several years ago projections of much higher demand led Kodak to upgrade to NYSERNet's T3 connection. "We would have never made it if we'd stayed with a lower speed connection," Kurtz said. "It was very fortunate for us that NYSERNet was able to provide that higher speed connection at the same time that the service use was growing so rapidly here at Kodak." Today, Kodak researchers continually develop new imaging products through the T3 Internet connection provided by NYSERNet and they have expanded this vital research tool into even more areas. "We still send real high-end files to the supercomputer at NCSA and another at Cornell University. But because browsing the World Wide Web has been made easier, the ability of people to connect to the Internet has grown," Kurtz said. "In December 1994 Kodak CEO George Fisher stated that we needed a Web site to communicate readily-available information to our customers," said Neil Pitts, Kodak's manager of Strategic Infrastructure Programs, who over the past three years has overseen operations for Kodak's intranet infrastructure and Internet connection. Launched in February 1995, Kodak's Web site (www.kodak.com) on an average day attracts more than 300,000 hits. It is a busy place where customers from around the world can browse through more than 6,000 pages of product information and company statistics. Innovations such as Kodak Advantix products and the DC20 digital camera have been introduced through the Web site and Kodak executives including George Fisher have hosted live chat sessions with customers there. It is also a place where dealers and customers can, at their convenience, download the latest company sales information, specification sheets and software. Due in part to the Web site's popularity, Kodak's T3 connection to the Internet is under constantly heavy usage both by customers and employees. "When the help desk receives a call that an employee can't get to a site on the Internet we know there's typically a problem," Pitts said. "We use NYSERNet to help us track down problems. After we've done tests and come in through different ISP's across the country, we'll call their support line and say there are certain sites we're not seeing. NYSERNet is our 'point man' to tackle the problems." Phyllis Knight manages Eastman Kodak's World Wide Web Internet infrastructure and is responsible for connectivity. She acts as Kodak's liaison with NYSERNet; its her job to make sure that response time meets expectations. "NYSERNet has been responsive and stays on top of issuestheir response time to customer service calls has been good," she said. "NYSERNet helps us track bottlenecks in POPs (Points of Presence) and NAPs (Network Access Points) and works with us in resolving them." "When George Fisher announced our presence on the Internet, the chasm of knowledge between Kodak employees and Mr. Fisher became apparent," said Linda Edwards, Eastman Kodak's curriculum manager for Computer Technology Training. To remedy this, teaching Kodak employees about all the tools available through the Internet and explaining to them the importance of the Kodak home page on the World Wide Web became a high priority. "Employees were saying: 'I should know what the Internet is.' So we began working with our internal Internet development group to define objectives for training and course content. "We wanted employees to understand the history of the Internetthe terminology and acronymsand the difference between the generic Internet and the World Wide Web. Our goal was to teach employees how the Internet could be used in business to find information and reach the customer and to spread the latest technology among all Kodak employees," Edwards said. "In 1995 we solicited proposals for Internet awareness courses from several companies. We selected NYSERNet not only because of the quality of their proposal but also because they are our Internet provider," she said. "I think that what NYSERNet brought to the table was a tremendous ability to develop the course content that we needed through a multimedia lecture presentation with sound and video that engaged the students. Second was the enthusiasm that their instructors bring to the classroom; it comes out in every evaluation that we get. We constantly receive excellent responses from our employees like 'This is the best course I've ever taken' and 'This is the one course that will really help me meet my employee development plan for this year,'" Edwards added. "Other Internet courses are available in the community and through local vendors, but we feel our courses are better because they were developed for Kodak and address Kodak Internet policies and practices." NYSERNet training for Eastman Kodak employees is done onsite, making it convenient for students. More important, it allows the classes to explore the company's intranet, which is not accessible from outside because it is protected by firewall security. In addition to the introductory Internet course, Kodakwith NYSERNet's helpcreated an intermediate level course on search tools and strategies. This class is targeted for business researchers, chemical researchers, librarians and other employees looking for new sources of information. "Companies can't always know today what Internet tools an employee is going to need three months from nowbut if employees are empowered through training, they can make the match on their own," Edwards said. Kodak's employee Internet instruction program has been both popular and effective but the learning process goes onfor the teachers as well as the students. "NYSERNet helped develop our courses, and our interaction continues," Edwards said. "In a survey we asked thousands of employees if they knew why we're on the Internet and how to access it. Based on the results of that survey we'll be modifying the course to make sure that it includes things Kodak people say that they need to know. Many internal Kodak organizations are developing their own Web sites, so we have to continually educate Kodak people as to what's on the intranet sites as well as how to communicate between departments." Developing Internet training courses specifically tailored to Eastman Kodak's needs was the responsibility of Stephen Kankus, NYSERNet director of Training Services, and Jeff Renk, network information specialist. "Our mission was to determine Kodak's requirements and design a course that met those needs. We wanted to get employees thinking about how they could use the Internet in their daily work at Kodak," said Renk. "It was really important for Kodak that we develop tailored training courses and use our own instructors instead of supplying packaged training and outsourcing instruction." After the original courses were offered last summer, it became obvious to Kodak through evaluations that employees needed hands-on tools training on how to use the Internet as well as Netscape, the leading Web-browsing software. A half-day tools class was combined with the original half-day lecture to create what is now a day long session. "In the hands-on training on Netscape, we show employees how to go forward and backward on the World Wide Web, how to make a bookmark and other techniques," Kankus said. "During the lecture portion we review the history of the Internet and where it's going. We also cover Kodak company policy on how to be professional on the Net. "So far, we've trained roughly 2,000 Kodak employees, including administrative assistants, research and development technicians, engineers, marketing employees and worldwide training people," Kankus explained. "All employees receive copies of the slides from the lecture class as reference materials." "There are two reasons that Eastman Kodak chose NYSERNet for Internet connectivity and Internet training," stated Jim Luckett, vice president of NYSERNet. "The first is historical because we brought this very new Internet technology to their backyard and invited them to join us in building a statewide infrastructure that would really support the kind of day to day research they were doing with researchers from all over the country.," Luckett said. "In the late 1980s, at a time when private sector companies would not connect to the Internet because of security concerns, Kodak was a visionary-they championed the Internet and said let's see what it can do. "The second and more compelling reason they're now using NYSERNet is because of our array of custom services. We offered a T3 point of access to the Internet at a time when no other provider offered that capability." NYSERNet helped design and build the Internet in New York State and more than 10 years ago introduced many of its clients including Eastman Kodak and General Electric to its enormous potential. NYSERNet offers Internet connectivity through its multiple T3 (90Mbps) dedicated network that provides the clearest and fastest transmission of Internet data. NYSERNet also offers Web-hosting services and customized Internet and intranet training. |