Northwood University Adopts Leading-Edge Technology to Drive Automotive Marketing Curriculum and Degree Programs

DAYTON, Ohio, Sept. 20 -- The Reynolds and Reynolds Company , the leading provider of software and services to the automotive retailing industry, is strengthening its 30-year relationship with Northwood University. Northwood is adopting Reynolds ERAxt On Demand, Contact Management and WebMakerX solutions for use by the school's automotive marketing and management undergraduates in Michigan, Florida and Texas.

Northwood officials value having access to the latest technology because it provides the nearly 350 undergraduates in its automotive program insight into how a car dealership operates. Its use in the laboratory allows automotive majors -- freshmen through seniors -- to better understand all aspects and every department of a dealership.

Dr. David E. Fry, president and chief executive officer of Northwood University, believes the technology and applications will further enhance Northwood's ability to educate its students.

"We are committed to providing the most comprehensive educational tools to automotive marketing and management students, and we are delighted that Reynolds and Reynolds is helping us to deliver on that commitment," said Fry. "It not only reflects Reynolds' commitment to this university and the education of its students, but also demonstrates the company's dedication to the future of this industry."

Delivered in an "off-premise" format, ERAxt On Demand is the latest version of Reynolds' market-leading ERA(R) dealer management system. The university will also adopt Contact Management, a premier web-based customer relationship management solution, and WebMakerX, a powerful web brand management platform.

Since the servers and applications will be maintained offsite at a data center -- not the university -- any technical issues can immediately be addressed by support experts.

"We continue to lead the industry in applications delivered off-premises," said Jeff Almoney, chief technology officer and vice president, Reynolds Applications On Demand. "Providing the next-generation ERA system to Northwood is a natural move for us. Not only does it expand on the important relationship we continue to have with Northwood, but ERAxt On Demand will better prepare the university's students for their careers."

Northwood University students will benefit from the system's ease of use and increased overall efficiency. ERAxt has reporting capabilities that provide an up-to-the-minute picture of dealership performance in a Windows-like point and click environment. With views into key business metrics, students can learn how to determine the status of a dealership's operations from the sales, service and accounting departments. Northwood has been using ERA in its laboratories since its market introduction in the late 1980s.

ERAxt is offered as part of Reynolds' Applications On Demand offerings. It builds on the company's market leadership as a software and service provider dedicated to providing automotive retailers with choices in the way they want to access and use software applications to run their businesses.

The next-generation, off-premise delivery format delivers a collaborative networked computing environment that offers ease of use, support and security. Thanks to an alliance with LexisNexis, Reynolds Applications On Demand is delivered off-premises from the LexisNexis Data Center in Dayton, Ohio. The center's hardware, software and electrical/mechanical systems are engineered with multiple levels of redundancy to provide uninterrupted service.

Through an expanded relationship with IBM, Reynolds Applications On Demand utilizes IBM eServer BladeCenter systems, each operating with its own processors, memory, storage, network controllers and operating systems. The partnership enables Reynolds to deliver the latest in server and computing technology to auto dealerships.

Reynolds is Northwood University's exclusive automotive retailing software provider.

About Northwood University

Northwood is a private university that operates campuses in Midland, Michigan, West Palm Beach, Florida and in Cedar Hill, Texas. It has been preparing students for productive leadership careers in business and management for nearly five decades. Northwood's mission is to prepare qualified undergraduate and graduate learners of any age or location with the tools, skills and intellectual capacities for productive leadership careers in a global economic network of free markets and private enterprise. The University emphasizes experiential learning and innovation at graduate and undergraduate levels both for traditional and nontraditional students. Through general education and focused discipline study, learners are prepared for varied management careers.