A customer feature : Meteor Group Plc

Meteor Group Plc operates seven dealerships across the Midlands. They took the decision to outsource the group’s Autoline server and applications to ADP. Simon Miles, Company Secretary of Meteor, was instrumental in this decision and three years on, shares the reasons for his decision and the outcome.

Warning signs

“With pressure from senior management to reduce the system downtime due to its increasing detrimental impact on the business, we needed to resolve the IT issues quickly. This was further compounded when the whole company was unable to access their dealer management system (DMS), email and Internet for the best part of a week. The factors that contributed to this unstable position are not uncommon within the industry.

The Meteor Group embarked on an acquisition trail in 2000 increasing our system users from 25 to 125 over a two year period. This resulted in a complete mixture of hardware, software and network connections providing varying levels of reliability, support and maintenance.

To add to the management complexity of our IT infrastructure was the co-ordination of the associated supplier contracts across the 8 sites. The lack of ownership and ‘buck passing’ amongst 3 separate suppliers for hardware, software and communications, prolonged the time it took to fix problems at any one site.”

Drivers for change

Similar to many other dealerships, Meteor had no dedicated IT specialist to manage the group’s IT demands. In addition, the location of the group’s server was a major concern. Simon remarked, “Basically, we were running a £170m business from a computer in a stationery cupboard. The only safety measures performed were daily backup tapes which were stored off site.”

In order to overcome the resource strain, risks to the business and poor system availability, the server had to be replaced. Simon commented, “Over time, the main server required regular upgrades and additional memory as it struggled to meet the demands of the increasing number of users. The end-of-life server had exceeded its intended capacity. We were experiencing reliability, maintenance and capacity issues on a weekly, sometimes daily basis.

Furthermore, the server was unable to support the latest release of Autoline, with the new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module. This had financial implications as the module was part of a dealer standards requirement worth £150,000 in bonus payments.”

Requirements of the new IT Infrastructure

Simon planned to upgrade and re-house the DMS server, implement a disaster recovery plan and install a resilient communications network. A new secure server environment alone involved major re-cabling, a new communications cabinet, various routers or switches, fire prevention systems, air conditioning units and a possible back-up generator.

Simon had a clear vision for his IT strategy, “I wanted to run the 7 dealerships as if they were one company. This would require all the various Autoline modules to be held on a single server which would facilitate the creation of various centralised shared services for key business functions like accounting, CRM and marketing and also for specific manufacturer processes like warranty claims and vehicle administration.”

Solution

ADP’s Hardware Service Provision (HSP) proactively manages the daily administration of a business’ applications from its state-of-the-art, resilient hosting centre. The complete end-to-end management, support, maintenance and monitoring of the server and Autoline application allows dealerships to focus on their core business of selling and servicing cars. As a ‘one-stop-shop’ for all your IT requirements, ADP also designs and installs networks.

When asked why ADP’s HSP solution has benefited the Meteor Group, Simon commented:

Increased system availability

“The service level agreement states a 98.5% system availability rate. After 3 years that criteria has been met, the only ‘down time’ we’ve experienced is for scheduled maintenance and upgrades. These generally take place early on a Sunday morning so has no adverse impact on the business.”

Scalable IT solution and predictable cost structure

“Cost is based on a ‘per user’ basis, so the costing structure is very simple and can work for large and small companies alike. HSP is also flexible if your business experiences periods of rapid growth, like mine did, it removes the risk of having an issue with obsolete hardware and having to continually upgrade.”

Built in disaster recovery is ‘best practice’

“For me this has been the most impressive element, I know that it would be almost impossible for an individual company to replicate all the features incorporated in ADP’s hosting centres due to the high capital investment required.”

Proactive management

“I now have no involvement in the day-to-day running of the system, it is proactively managed and quite often I receive a call from the hosting centre before I even know there is problem.”

Single point of contact

“If there is a problem, I only have to make one call. There is never any conflict between suppliers as to whether it is a hardware, software or communications problem.”

Reduced management involvement in IT issues

“Since going live, management time has been reduced to virtually zero, in fact the time I spend on IT these days is far more enjoyable and productive.”

Cost effective

“On a straight financial comparison, HSP worked out slightly more expensive, around £125 per site, per month, this was mainly due to the required investment in the MPLS network. However, when you attach even a modest value to the disaster recovery features and all the other hidden costs such as internal management time, I think most dealers would probably reach the same conclusion as I did, that HSP represents a very attractive financial and business proposition.”

Finally, when asked if Simon would recommend HSP to other business, he stated, “Yes I would recommend the HSP solution. The service levels and professional service that we receive is exceeding all our initial expectations, within a cost effective budget.”