Company Overview
AutoTrader.com, created in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, is the Internet’s leading auto classifieds marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location about 3 million new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of auto dealers and private sellers and the site attracts about 14 million unique monthly visitors. Through innovative merchandising functionality such as multiple photos, videos, detailed descriptions and comprehensive research and compare tools, AutoTrader.com unites new and used car buyers and sellers online improving the way people research, locate and advertise vehicles. AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. The venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor.
Business Challenge
Many companies that undergo rapid growth experience a corresponding increase in the number of tools required to support the business. As the number of systems increases, the overhead necessary to support those systems expands beyond the point of achieving a solid return on investment. AutoTrader.com realized the company had reached that point and wanted to
consolidate internal collaboration and productivity tools. One candidate for consolidation and functional enhancement was the corporate intranet. AutoTrader.com required this replacement platform to be extensible and capable of supporting existing functionality in addition to new desired functionality. To aid in user adoption, AutoTrader.com needed the replacement collaboration platform to be easy-to-use allowing for frequent content administration.
Solution Approach
After thorough review of AutoTrader.com’s requirements, migration of the existing intranet, which was based on the Plumtree platform (now known as Oracle WebCenter via the Oracle acquisition of BEA Systems), to the Microsoft SharePoint platform was recommended. Migrating to the SharePoint platform allowed replication of the existing intranet functionality while providing additional functionality inherent to SharePoint to further internal collaborative efforts. Northridge addressed specialized AutoTrader.com functional requirements by leveraging the Microsoft .NET Framework to develop custom components that plug into the SharePoint platform. To ensure intranet security, permissions, and accessibility, Northridge leveraged AutoTrader.com’s existing Microsoft Active Directory environment.
Results Delivered
The migration from Plumtree to SharePoint was seamless. The rollout of the SharePoint intranet for AutoTrader.com has already proven successful. The new SharePoint intranet provides the unique ability to delegate content authoring, ensuring content is dynamic and fresh, and providing information to users without IT delays. The AutoTrader.com management teams leverage custom SharePoint approval workflows for content governance and accuracy. The roles and permissions enabled through Active Directory allow for collaboration that is both organization-wide and geographically targeted. The custom .NET components and integration with external training sites, wikis, and blogs create a single point for internal collaboration across all AutoTrader.com teams.