TrustFord, the UK’s largest, dedicated Ford dealer group, has partnered with cloud and managed services provider, ANS Group, to transform the performance of its network and IT systems with a Wide Area Network (WAN) solution.

The company – which has 60 sites across the UK offering sales, servicing and repairs – will also enjoy significantly higher bandwidth, faster network speeds and direct public cloud connectivity, allowing it to run more applications with increased efficiency. This will enable them to better engage with customers at its dealerships through technology, transform its internal communications and futureproof its network infrastructure.

The project will enable TrustFord to accelerate the introduction of the FordStore concept into dealerships, which creates an immersive, digitally-led experience for customers through interactive displays, a dedicated app and video content. The WAN will also deliver improved connectivity between sites by enabling next-generation video conferencing applications, and facilitating remote working.

On top of this, the cloud-ready network will deliver TrustFord customers up-to-date ‘smart’ car software and updates as they are developed and released by Ford.

Commenting on the partnership, Andy Pocock, IT director at TrustFord, said: “We chose ANS because its values and ambition complement our business perfectly, as well as the resiliency and scalability of its WAN offering.

“We are the largest Ford dealer in the UK and pride ourselves on our forward-thinking, application-led IT strategy. The team at ANS understand our vision and have exceeded our expectations. We’re confident that this project will futureproof our IT so we can be even more agile and adapt to changing business needs in years to come.”

Andy Barrow, CTO at ANS, added: “TrustFord is leading the way in the motor industry, and it has been quick to adopt the latest technology in order to deliver a better experience for both customers and staff. We are looking forward to the start of a very successful working relationship and supporting TrustFord’s growth through technology.”