STAR Publishes the Dealership Infrastructure Guidelines 2008v2.0

McLean, Virginia, July 17th, 2008 -- – 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 goal of the document is to help dealers prepare their IT infrastructure for the next generation dealer-to-OEM communication systems.

The 2008v2.0 version of the Dealership Infrastructure Guidelines has several updates. First we completely modified the Business Continuation and Disaster Recovery section.

Second we added an additional appendix item to assist with disaster recovery planning.

Finally, we renamed the Emerging Technologies section to Technology Watch. This section includes the WISE model and plenty of explanations around technology today as it relates to a dealership.

About STAR

The Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail (STAR) organization is the information technology (IT) standards organization for the retail automotive industry. STAR is leading the effort to implement voluntary IT standards throughout the automotive industry. These standards are designed to support business information needs and provide secure and reliable means for dealers, manufacturers, and retail system providers to communicate. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, STAR is a not-for-profit volunteer organization and its members include dealers, manufacturers and retail system providers. As members, these companies 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, AsConAuto, AutoDESA, Auto/Mate, Inc., CIECA, DealerTrack-Arkona, Innovative Programming Systems, Inc., Karmak, Motorcycle Industry Council, National Marine Manufacturer's Association, OAGI, Object Management Group (OMG), Oxlo Systems, PBS Financial Systems Inc., PROCEDE Software, Quorum Information Systems, Reynolds & Reynolds, RouteOne, T-Systems North America, Inc., Unipart Automotive Logistics

Manufacturers:

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. American Suzuki Motor Corp., BMW of North America, Inc., Chrysler LLC, Daimler Trucks North America, LLC., Ford Motor Company General Motors Corp. Jaguar Cars, Land Rover USA, Mazda North American Operations, Navistar, Nissan North America, Inc., PACCAR, Inc. Porsche Cars North America, Inc., Renault, Toyota Motor Sales, USA

For further information, contact Ghezal Khalili at 703-556-8584.