For dealers in today’s automotive industry, embracing digital transformation is no longer a choice, but an absolute necessity. Customers’ behaviour and needs are the leading factors driving this transformation. And once in the showroom, they expect the same, digitally inspired experience. Pon Dealer Group, official dealer for the brands Audi, Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Seat and Skoda, is keying in to that with a range of innovative applications allied with Eurofiber’s future-proof, open fiber-optic network.
Rapidly shifting market dynamics
Pon Dealer Group was quick to pick up on the rapidly shifting dynamics in the market. The company recognised at an early stage that the internet was displacing the showroom as a source of information. “The extensive digitalisation needed to meet customers’ expectations, as well as our own operational needs, makes flexible data storage and a reliable, fast and secure network with sufficient bandwidth now and in the future essential”, says Op den Winkel. Added to that, Pon Dealer Group is exploring partially migrating to the Cloud, underlining the increased importance of a reliable network.
Redundant fiber optic network and datacenter
Pon Dealer Group eventually selected a redundant 500 Mb/s MPLS network supported by Eurofiber’s fiber-optic network. A link was also established to the core network of Pon Holdings, the parent group. Security is provided by two firewalls in a redundant configuration. It was decided to host the redundant data storage and applications across two locations, including a datacenter belonging to Dataplace, a sister company of Eurofiber. Active WiFi access points, which are connected to the fiber-optic network, are located in the Pon Dealer Group’s various showrooms.
Low latency and reliability
“The present situation is a substantial upgrade from the past. The network connections are faster and latency has significantly decreased”, Op den Winkel explains with satisfaction. “To give a practical example: in the past, when a car workshop which is part of our group requested a digital repair record, downloading the accompanying photos used to take a long time. Now, the entire file, including photos, is displayed on screen quickly and in one go. It all happens so much quicker than before, exactly as we would wish.” The new network connections and hosting
facilities are also well-prepared and equipped to handle future applications and the migration of certain software to the Cloud, says Op den Winkel. “Our core network’s current bandwidth capacity is 500 Mb/s, and if necessary we can easily grow to 100 Gb/s on Eurofiber’s fiber-optic network.” He can’t speak highly enough about his experience working with Eurofiber. “The fiber-optic network is of the highest quality and very reliable, and as an organisation Eurofiber is professional and capable of acting quickly and flexibly.”
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