New Ford enterprise IP network enhances dealer services: service providers help upgrade existing data infrastructure

America's Network, Dec 1, 2004 by Al Senia

When Ford Motor Co. executives realized that a satellite-based data communications system used to link its national network of 4,500 Lincoln-Mercury deaers was finally becoming dated, it turned to service providers armed with the latest network and connectivity services to meet Ford's rapidly evolving data requirements.

Ford is migrating its dealer management system (DMS) from a satellite network to a high-speed IP-based network. The company has turned to service provider Reynolds and Reynolds Co. to integrate the virtual private network at dealer locations. Reynolds uses MCI to provide the network backbone. The legacy satellite network, more than a decade old, is being used to exchange warranty information, vehicle order information, credit applications and other customer data. Ford hopes to move these services to the IP network and to reserve the satellite network for much more limited video applications. The IP network is an option for dealers wishing to enhance their business and data communications, reduce expenses and streamline customer support.

The IP network was tested this summer. Broadband installation already has occured at approximately 150 dealer sites; Ford hopes to have most of its dealers on the new IP network by 2007. Dealers say the new high-speed network provides greater reliability, convenience and security, as well as lower costs. (Ford absorbs the cost to dealers of integrating into the IP network.)

FASTER PROCESSING

"The new communications system is easy to use," says John Vitullo, IT director for Scheehy Automotive, a multiple-location Ford dealership in Virginia and Maryland that deployed the network at five sites in October. "We can use it to more quickly process customer warranty claims on the network. And our network costs are probably half of what we were paying before."

Vitullo notes that the new IP-based network is much faster and accessible than the previous satellite-based system. "The satellite system was slow to give you a response," he recalls. "The new system gives you the ability to do more without having to wait for reports and claims to come from the company. For example, when we submit warranty claims on the network, we can get a report back on the dollar credit amount immediately." That greatly speeds up the customer-service operation, he notes.

Another improvement is in guaranteed access. With the old satellite system, too many users accessing the system at one time would create a backlog and the dealers (and their customers) could be inconvenienced by the resultant wait. The new system completely eliminates that bottleneck.

Mark Weir, technical product manager for Reynolds and Reynolds, says the IP-based system is much less expensive for the dealers because under the arrangement between MCI and Reynolds and Reynolds, the integrator negotiates a discount price to access MCI's circuitry and backbone and passes that price on directly to the dealer network. With the old satellite system, Reynolds acted as a reseller in the arrangement and marked up the cost of network access. "That represents a significant savings for the dealers," Weir explains. Dealers have the option of accessing the network either through the Reynolds-MCI arrangement or through any other Internet Service Provider they choose.

LEGACY TECHNOLOGY

Working with Ford, Reynolds and Reynolds integrated the DMS that runs over the MCI VPN and links the auto manufacturer directly to the dealers, as well as to Reynolds and Reynolds' secure data center in Virginia. Reynolds and Reynolds provides the DMS installation and support. MCI provides the private IP backbone. Officials say the new network replaces the old satellite system that saw most dealers use 56-Kpbs tie-lines and dial-up access to link to the Ford network.

The new high-speed IP connection allows the dealers to utilize new applications and services offered by Ford and Reynolds and Reynolds. "The car companies are able to deliver applications to their dealers more quickly," says Jim Aten, vice president for network services at Reynolds. "The dealers use the broadband network to communicate with the car companies and on behalf of their customers."

For example, with the new system, Ford retailers can choose Reynolds Secure Internet Access as the platform for the secure, high-speed Internet connection. Another service, the Reynolds Private Managed Network, allows them to connect multiple store locations to the Web, which cuts costs. The dealers can then tap into a variety of tailored services such as e-mail with spam filtering, managed firewall services, network consulting and wireless WAN/LAN technology. The retailers also are positioned with the broadband connection to migrate their entire dealer-management systems to an outside application service provider, an outsourcing move that could cut their costs even more. The previous system did not allow for this sort of dealer flexibility.

Vitullo says a strong attraction to the new service is that Reynolds and Reynolds provides total support for the implementation.