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Group 1 Automotive

Fortune 300 Auto Retailer Outperforms Competitors with Ruckus Wi-Fi

In 2008, the global recession some called “The Great Auto Crisis” forced many car dealerships into bankruptcy. Group 1 Automotive, an auto retailer headquartered in Houston, Texas, had dealerships across the U.S. The company took swift measures to reduce costs. “Our mandate was to find ways for dealerships to operate more efficiently,” says Andrew Giancola. His primary job is Director of Information Security, but he’s also responsible for Wi-Fi networks across the organization. “Cisco was our Wi-Fi vendor, and their equipment, licensing and maintenance costs were high and kept escalating.”

Jarrod Murphy is an IT manager who works with the west coast dealerships. “Our Wi-Fi wasn’t just expensive, it was also our least reliable service. We had constant problems with coverage and channel conflicts, especially in high-density metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, California. It was difficult to diagnose—much less resolve—the issues with the Cisco APs and controllers.”

Interference was another problem that caused a lot of frustration. The parts department used small handheld scanners. “The scanners couldn’t reliably connect to the Cisco APs. Employees would have to physically move boxes to try to get a better signal. It wasted a lot of time in a department that’s constantly busy.”

Requirements
  • The existing Wi-Fi was costly, unreliable and difficult to manage
  • The constant problems limited Wi-Fi use in supporting front and back office operations
  • Without a common platform, the global retailer was unable to share best practices
Solutions
  • Over 800 indoor APs
  • Cloudpath Enrollment System
  • SmartZone Controller
Benefits
  • Ruckus Wi-Fi cut costs, improved reliability, and simplified management
  • The company is deploying Wi-Fi in showrooms, service and parts departments, and newly acquired dealerships
  • Ruckus provides the foundation for creating and sharing best practices across dealerships
  • Cloudpath securely onboards employees and devices and collects useful demographics about visitors through the guest Wi-Fi
  • More granular control enables the company to meet evolving data collection requirements from automakers
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