Astera > Case Studies > VinSolutions/AutoTrader.com Keeps Track of Over a Million Cars With Centerprise Automated ETL

VinSolutions/AutoTrader.com Keeps Track of Over a Million Cars With Centerprise Automated ETL

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

America

Country

United States

Product

Centerprise Data Integrator 7.5

Tech Stack

ETL
REST Web services

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Productivity Improvements
Cost Savings

Technology Category

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Data Management Platforms

Applicable Industries

Automotive

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

The AutoTrader Group is a billion-dollar operation that offers extensive market data on new and used automobiles. It deals with over 5000 car dealerships and includes companies such as AutoTrader.com, Kelley Blue Book, and automotive data management subsidiary VinSolutions, among others. VinSolutions is the data service middleman between car dealerships and Internet car marketing companies like AutoTrader.com and Cars.com. The company not only manages the data integration, but it is also responsible for integrating its software into the dealership management system (DMS), the core software applications that automate car dealerships.

The Challenge

VinSolutions, a subsidiary of AutoTrader Group, was tasked with the challenge of integrating data from hundreds of dealership management systems into their core system. This included critical data such as the list price, along with various other pieces of metadata that determine how the vehicle should be listed. With listings on more than a million cars requiring updates every day, the scale of the challenge for VinSolutions approached big-data territory. The company also had to integrate its software into the dealership management system (DMS), the core software applications that automate car dealerships. This was a significant challenge as each dealership used their DMS in different ways, and VinSolutions had to work with a variety of DMSs, including custom-built ones.

The Solution

VinSolutions decided to automate its homegrown ETL process and get out of the custom development business. After evaluating several data integration software solutions, the company chose Centerprise Data Integrator because it provided all the functionality needed, including automated ETL, and the easy-to-use interface enables business users in the implementation department to work with the software. The software has dramatically reduced the need to custom code the integration into each dealer’s DMS. The company is currently looking to take its ETL process to the next level with real-time data integration via REST Web services. This form of integration is highly dependent on whether a given DMS supports the specific APIs.

Operational Impact

Vendor on-boarding time has been reduced significantly
Eliminated a lot of custom coding and data mapping work, saving developer resources
The company is starting to roll out real-time data integration with the dealerships that support them, such as the corporate websites for Nissan, Kia, Toyota, and Lexus.

Quantitative Benefit