3 Min Read • October 18, 2018

CDK Cloud Connect Helps Grieco Auto Group with Growth

When Michael Grieco Sr. opened his first new car franchise in 1995, installing a network with maximum uptime, dependability, cost efficiency, and simplicity were all concerns. These soon grew when the new CEO, Michael Grieco Jr., sought to expand into additional locations.

At the time, Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) was the usual go-to solution for connecting multiple locations. But as Neil Rowey, corporate fixed operations manager and corporate IT administrator at Grieco Auto Group explains, that technology had limitations. "Circuit ordering was one of the biggest delays we experienced, and we were stuck with expensive contracts."

Operations and sales were negatively affected by MPLS. "Whether it's a local application that needs to pull data from a remote server, or a browser-based CRM or DMS, or a remote terminal session, speed matters. Slow or unresponsive software is frustrating for customers. Dropped connections, bad audio or video, and time-out messages can be maddening for users, as well as damaging for the business."

Expanding an MPLS network raised additional concerns about complexity, cost, and speed. "The connectivity, equipment and network administration costs quickly add up — a company with 100 offices may pay out more than $2 million a year. In addition, while dealerships patiently wait for service providers to establish MPLS connection to new branch offices or make any changes, their dealer businesses are losing money by the minute."

Today, Grieco Auto Group has 14 rooftops throughout Florida, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and sells a total of roughly 1,800 new and used cars each month. Why did Rowey choose Cloud Connect as his network? "Timing and the simple fact that Cloud Connect now costs us half of what it previously cost to run MPLS are the two biggest benefits."

By using the internet instead of hard wiring between locations, even remote sites could be connected quickly — and dependably. "Since Grieco installed Cloud Connect, the dealer enterprise network is always up and running. Huge benefit, especially since we are in the business of selling cars, and keeping our customers satisfied is our number one goal."

Cloud Connect's dependability comes from the redundancy built into the system. Dealers are able to use multiple connectivity sources of any bandwidth, simultaneously — including individual local providers for each location, which is far less costly than the large network-wide providers MPLS demands. So if one goes down, they don't all go down.

Regardless which connectivity sources the dealer chooses, Cloud Connect coordinates them through the cloud, which makes remediation fast and virtually invisible: "I actually receive frequent proactive support calls from CDK about a circuit down, and honestly, don’t even know we have a problem because we are always still up and running with Cloud Connect."

Looking back on their more than 20-year relationship, Rowey adds, "Grieco's partnership with CDK is nothing short of a transformation, and has really helped modernize how we do business."

"We look to CDK Global as our strategic partner and they really are an enabler of our success. Within two minutes, I can make a call for service or support and they take care of me."
— Neil Rowey
Corporate Fixed Operations Manager, Corporate IT Administrator, Grieco Auto Group