What does it take to run an auto dealership today? For a resolutely brick-and-mortar industry, success requires a great deal of technology. When your dealership is lacking in a key IT area, the company may be at risk of suffering serious consequences.
The following are the most important areas of IT for dealerships today, along with the reasons why each one matters. When you request a comprehensive IT assessment, these are the concepts that will receive attention.
Servers
Your company's server configuration plays a large role in determining how quick – and safe – data access is for your employees. Whether you've begun hosting applications and information in the cloud or are still relying on premise-based computing, it's worth taking a close look at your servers.
When professionals assess the performance of your servers, they'll determine whether the configuration is optimal for both speed and security. Furthermore, it's worth reviewing who has administrator access to the servers – outdated credentials may be a security risk factor.
Carriers
A dealership thrives on its connections. Strong phone, internet and dealer management software performance are essential for smooth day-to-day operations. You may have signed the contracts for these services a long time ago and not looked at them since – that raises the risk that you're not getting ideal terms.
A comprehensive IT assessment includes reviewing all the agreements between the dealership and its service partners. If better rates are available, this close look will let you know.
Security
While dealerships may not seem like prime targets for digital attacks compared to online-focused retailers that deal in larger quantities of data, the risk of a breach is very real. As Digital Dealer pointed out, information such as driver's license numbers and payment records can be a tempting target for attackers. Since dealerships handle financial data, they have a legal requirement to keep their content safe.
An IT assessment dealing with security is very through, by necessity. The policies behind security decisions will receive a once-over, as will all current data protection methods. Firewalls, network settings, data connections and more are subject to careful checks.
Network
The computers dealership personnel use every day may end up becoming a weakness for the company. If PC hardware or the connections between workstations are weakening with age or poor configuration, your operations may slow to a crawl.
Evaluating computer networks means ensuring the assets in use are worthy of enterprise use in 2018. Furthermore, the switches connecting each part of the infrastructure are subject to inspection.
Wireless
Today's dealership staff members can call up more data than ever before, and use this information to serve customer needs. But there's a catch. If your wireless infrastructure is weak, you may not be able to deliver this kind of service. The National Automobile Dealers Association profiled service personnel who are able to call up information on each case immediately. This kind of immediate assistance is very helpful, provided it works.
Assessing wireless coverage is straightforward but essential, checking to make sure each part of the business has working coverage, and that there is nothing keeping the connection from being strong and steady.
For these reasons and more, it's worth checking on every element of your IT preparedness.
