Addressing the recent attention placed on application service providers (ASP) in the automotive retailing industry, The Reynolds and Reynolds Company has announced that it will continue to grow its ASP services by focusing on the front-office dealership applications that provide a quicker return on investment to dealers.

Reynolds currently supports more than 1,000 auto retailers with ASP services and solutions across the United States, according to Lloyd "Buzz" Waterhouse, president and CEO.

"Although much of the automotive retailing industry views the ASP model as a relatively new concept, Reynolds and Reynolds has been at the forefront of ASP for several years," Waterhouse said.

According to Waterhouse, Reynolds' front-office focus is designed to give retailers of all sizes the most rapid return on their ASP investments. "Our suite of services leverages the true power of ASP -- even among the small- and medium-sized retailers with single, centralized points of consumer contact," Waterhouse said. "They are looking for an ASP solution in the front end of the dealership where it naturally fits with existing systems and already successful processes."

He added that should a retailer choose to migrate its back-office dealership management system (DMS) to ASP, Reynolds and Reynolds can help. In fact, he noted that several of Reynolds' larger enterprise customers have already adopted this model.

"We've found larger enterprises can better afford the IT infrastructure and necessary security measures to handle the potentially high risk of moving mission-critical information and systems off-site. They typically stand to gain greater benefit with lower risk when migrating to a back-office dealership management system ASP model."

"Using Reynolds' managed server ASP solution, our dealerships will maximize their operational efficiencies in a number of areas, including Internet communications connectivity and standards, advanced back-up and tape handling strategies, hardware, operating system and application standardization, and the integration of disparate and proprietary systems that currently exist within all the dealerships in the automotive retail industry across the country," said Keith Holcomb, AutoNation's senior vice president of Information Technology.

In addition to AutoNation, Reynolds recently announced its partnership with Asbury Automotive Group, the largest private auto retailer in the U.S., to provide ASP services from its Automark group.

Through its ASP offering, Reynolds will continue to host, integrate, manage and deploy software applications and services to retailers. Reynolds has a wide array of ASP offerings already in place and operational, including:

e-fin: the first comprehensive, full-service electronic financing marketplace in the automotive industry.

ERA(R) Managed/Shared Server: an alternate manner for dealerships to leverage world-class ERA applications without worrying about technology obsolesce or system administration issues.

Automark: an integrated suite of Web-based services, which include Web hosting, Web site design and training.

DealerKid: electronic customer marketing and relationship management software and services, including Internet lead management and prospecting tools.

Managed Connections: a family of complete network solutions providing world-class network connectivity, services and support.

Managed Access: an advanced global, automotive network-managed Internet service providing business quality communications through e-mail, secure Web access and Intranet/Extranet functions.

ChoiceParts(TM): an independent electronic parts network that links buyers and sellers in a cost-efficient, user-friendly solution for the multi-billion dollar automotive parts market.

"These integrated ASP services help auto retailers power the performance of their dealerships through increased customer loyalty and retention, stronger relations with car companies, improved employee training and retention, and improved operations," Waterhouse said. "Plus, unlike some of the recent casualties among pure Internet-based providers, our customers can count on us being there to meet their needs in the future. Reynolds' business is strong and we are entirely focused on serving the automotive retailing industry -- as we have been for more than half a century."

About Reynolds and Reynolds

Reynolds and Reynolds, headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, is a provider of integrated information management solutions to the automotive retailing marketplace.

The company's services include a full range of retail and enterprise management systems, networking and support, e-business applications, Web services, learning and consulting services, customer relationship management solutions and leasing services.

To find out more about the company, its vision, products and services, visit www.reyrey.com.