Cisco Cisco Nexus 5010 Switch Leaflet
Customer Case Study
1 © 2012 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
Cisco UCS solutions reduce capex and
opex and improve business agility at
Hendrick Automotive Group.
Challenge
In today’s market for new and used cars, customers are often in the driver’s seat, actively
communicating with dealers about what they need at all hours and through multiple
channels, from mobile devices, tablets, and online, as well as in person at dealerships.
For dealerships, this consumer behavior requires responding to ever-changing customer
demands or run the risk of losing out to competitors.
communicating with dealers about what they need at all hours and through multiple
channels, from mobile devices, tablets, and online, as well as in person at dealerships.
For dealerships, this consumer behavior requires responding to ever-changing customer
demands or run the risk of losing out to competitors.
“We need to have our IT systems up and ready to close a sale or book a service at any
time, or we could lose the business,” says Robert Taylor, vice president of IT at Hendrick
Automotive Group. Fortunately, Hendrick has built its success in large part on outstanding
service and business innovation. The North Carolina-based company continues to grow
its business year-over-year and is the second-largest privately owned and the sixth-
largest automotive dealership group in the United States. Hendrick’s comprehensive
services include sales of new and pre-owned vehicles with financing, warranties,
automobile parts, accessories, service, and repair, virtually everything motorists could need.
time, or we could lose the business,” says Robert Taylor, vice president of IT at Hendrick
Automotive Group. Fortunately, Hendrick has built its success in large part on outstanding
service and business innovation. The North Carolina-based company continues to grow
its business year-over-year and is the second-largest privately owned and the sixth-
largest automotive dealership group in the United States. Hendrick’s comprehensive
services include sales of new and pre-owned vehicles with financing, warranties,
automobile parts, accessories, service, and repair, virtually everything motorists could need.
Only 10 years ago, the company had fewer than 300 desktop computers. In the beginning,
things such as system maintenance or upgrades had little effect on its business. Now, with
close to 6000 systems in use across dealerships nationwide, sales staff needs reliable
access to internal and external systems to qualify buyers, marketing groups need to
conduct direct mail campaigns and orchestrate online assets, and service departments,
which now run three shifts at many locations, need immediate access to web-based
systems to order the right parts and program cars correctly. “The reality is that if our IT
systems go down, our business can’t function,” says Taylor.
things such as system maintenance or upgrades had little effect on its business. Now, with
close to 6000 systems in use across dealerships nationwide, sales staff needs reliable
access to internal and external systems to qualify buyers, marketing groups need to
conduct direct mail campaigns and orchestrate online assets, and service departments,
which now run three shifts at many locations, need immediate access to web-based
systems to order the right parts and program cars correctly. “The reality is that if our IT
systems go down, our business can’t function,” says Taylor.
Automotive Group Reduces Servers and
Boosts Performance
• Customer Name: Hendrick
Automotive Group
• Industry: Car sales and service
• Location: Headquartered in
• Location: Headquartered in
Charlotte, NC, with 85 dealerships
in the United States
• Number of Employees: 8000+
Challenge
• Providing always-on availability
and responsiveness to staff
and customers
• Delivering high-performance
resources
• Reducing infrastructure and
operating costs
Solution
• Built two virtualized, collocated data
centers with Cisco UCS, VMware,
and NetApp architecture
Results
• Accelerated new application
deployment times from weeks
to day
• Boost IT staff productivity by more
than 30 percent
• Helped transform data center from
cost center to revenue center
Executive Summary