Town and Country BMW Auto Dealership

Before they chose Net Integrator, the Town and Country BMW auto dealership had used a variety of different products for their information technology infrastructure. The resulting problems included frequent virus attacks, incompatible and disparate systems, and unfiltered Internet access.

As one of Canada's leading BMW dealerships, they have 80 internal users, each requiring file, print, backup, e-mail and web services. Some need remote access while on the road, and the general manager requires a full-time virtual private network connection to his home office.

The dealership approached (Net Integration Technologies' Approved Partner) Bentor: Your Computing Partner for help. The experts at Bentor studied the problem and understood the unique difficulties involved.

Auto dealerships such as this have very complex information technology architectures due to their wide variety of internal systems. Some systems are mandated by the parent company, in this case a full-time connection to the internal BMW network.

A second system is often the Reynolds and Reynolds management solution, which maintains the specific business needs of the auto dealership, such as parts, inventory and service databases, and communications to manufacturers and other suppliers.

A third system handles the accounting and other internal operations of the dealership. Each of these systems has its own peculiarities, which makes it difficult to integrate them into an IT infrastructure.

At first the dealership was uncertain about using Net Integrator for their back office IT infrastructure -- they needed proof that Net Integrator could coexist with their existing systems.

When on-site studies and tests by the specialists at their reseller, Bentor: Your Computing Partner, demonstrated that Net Integrator could work seamlessly with their other systems, Town and Country decided to incorporate Net Integrator into their business.

The decision coincided with the relocation of their entire operation into a new, state-of-the-art facility, which they thought would complicate matters. Not so.

"The new system set up perfectly in the new location. Now we're true believers," says Arthur Magerian (right), general manager of Town and Country BMW, located in Markham, Ontario.

"The server is rock-solid and after a year and a half it has never crashed."

Town and Country BMW has many technological concerns and requirements shared amongst auto dealerships: reliable Internet access for such uses as vehicle location, credit authorization, booking service appointments and communicating securely with manufacturers and other web-enabled, third-party suppliers.

Above all, they need their systems to be secure internally and externally through virus protection and a strong firewall, all of which were designed and deployed by the reseller's skilled technicians.

Before installing Net Integrator, Mr. Madjarian's organization was operating in a "vacuum of communications," with several separate pieces of hardware and software spread across various internal systems.

"We were disconnected in terms of our internal IT infrastructure, and in dire need of integrated services. Net Integrator gave us exactly what we needed," he says.

"Bentor tailored the high performance system to our specific requirements and ensured Net Integrator's compatibility with our existing systems. Our internal team communications have never been better, and our online relationships with customers, manufacturers, suppliers and business partners are excellent."

(Photo: Arthur Magerian, and John Grey of Bentor: Your Computing Partner)