STAR Publishes Updated 'DIG' Technology Guidelines for Automotive Dealers
MCLEAN, Va., June 24 -- STAR (Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail), the IT standards body for the North American retail automotive industry, has published an improved version of the "Dealership Infrastructure Guidelines" (DIG), which will help to facilitate the standardization of an open, common IT infrastructure for all automotive dealerships.
The DIG is a technology reference manual intended to assist dealers and their technology partners in developing a simplified, more cost-effective IT network. It includes information on Internet access, security, local area network design, PC hardware, and other IT components.
"The DIG is an ever evolving guide that helps build a strong foundation for your infrastructure. It has an abundance of information that stays current with the needs of the industry for those implementing new technologies," says Nichole Pierron, STAR Infrastructure Project Manager.
The most important update in version 6 of the Dealership Infrastructure Guidelines is the inclusion of checklists. These checklists serve like a maintenance guide, reminding the dealer to evaluate aspects of their dealership infrastructure on a regular basis.
Other technology updates include: new wireless LAN security options, recommendations on content filtering and security, updates on ISDN, cable modem, and satellite Internet access methods.
The goal of the document is to help dealers prepare their IT infrastructure for the next generation dealer-to-OEM communication systems.
Version 7, coming in December 2004, of the DIG will provide even greater benefits for dealers: the addition of "Executive Summary" sections for each chapter, more detailed technical chapters, and granular checklists for each chapter. These features will help technology implementers at dealerships to better plan and manage infrastructure rollouts.
In addition, Version 7 will include dealer feedback on the format and content from the newly formed Dealer Advisory Group (DAG) within STAR. The DAG encourages dealers to provide insight and feedback on the standards and services STAR is providing to its members.
STAR is a non-profit, auto industry-wide initiative to create voluntary IT standards for the data elements and transmission format used by manufacturers, dealers, and retail system providers to communicate with each other. STAR's initiatives will result in a more efficient data exchange between dealers and manufacturers, with lower costs, more accurate and timely data, and increased levels of customer satisfaction.
STAR's 41 members, consisting of 19 automotive manufacturers (OEMs), 21 Retail System Providers (RSPs), and 1 dealer group, approved the guidelines on June 23rd.
The DIG can be downloaded for free at: http://www.starstandard.org/ About STAR (http://www.starstandard.org/ )
The Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail (STAR) organization is the Information Technology (IT) standards organization for the retail automotive industry. The goal of the STAR organization is to use IT standards as a catalyst in fulfilling the business information needs of dealers and manufacturers while reducing the time and effort previously required to support this activity.
Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, STAR is a not-for-profit volunteer organization and its members include Dealers, Manufacturers and Retail System Providers (RSPs). As members, they are interested in developing, promoting, and administering voluntary IT standards in the retail automotive industry and improving the effectiveness, timeliness and competitiveness of the IT solutions needed within the retail automotive industry.
STAR membership roster: Dealer Groups: NADA
Retail System Providers: ADP, Advent Resources, Inc., AIAG, AFSA, Arkona, Auto/Mate Inc., Cyclone Commerce, DealerTrack, Motorcycle Industry Council, NAT, Inc., NeoSynergy, LLC, PBS Financial Systems Inc., OAGI, Procede Software, Reynolds & Reynolds, RouteOne, Sprint, Sun Microsystems, Tibco, UCS, 5Square Systems Corporation
Manufacturers: American Honda Motor Co., Inc., American Suzuki Motor Corp., BMW of North America, Inc., DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corp., Hyundai Motor America, Jaguar Cars, Kia Motors America, Land Rover, Mazda North American Operations, Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, Inc., Nissan North America, Inc., Porsche Cars North America, Inc., Renault, Saab Cars USA, Subaru, Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Volkswagen of America