Rackspace expands digital services, enhancing dealer eProcess on Google Cloud

Rackspace Technology, a leader in hybrid, multicloud, and AI-driven technology solutions, has announced a strategic collaboration with Dealer eProcess (DEP) to enhance digital capabilities and customer experiences by leveraging Google Cloud’s infrastructure.

Established in 2006 and based in Lisle, Illinois, Dealer eProcess (DEP) is a premier automotive digital agency known for creating high-performance websites, innovative digital marketing strategies, and exceptional customer support for car dealerships. With an impressive customer satisfaction rate nearing 99%, DEP has cemented its reputation as a trusted leader in digital marketing solutions for dealerships across North America and parts of Europe.

DEP’s flagship platform, Everest, powers dealership websites and manages millions of visitors monthly. This AI-driven solution integrates digital retail, marketing, and other essential tools to optimize lead generation and sales growth. The AI-powered engine, Sherpa, provides real-time personalized experiences by dynamically adapting to user behavior without the need for prior data or logins.

As DEP experienced rapid expansion through both organic growth and partnerships with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), the company faced significant scalability challenges. The onboarding of new OEM partners often meant adding hundreds of dealership websites at once, requiring a robust infrastructure capable of supporting large-scale deployments and increasing traffic volumes.

Jim Bodine, CIO of Dealer eProcess, highlighted the company’s dual approach to expansion, combining organic growth with strategic OEM partnerships. He explained that partnering with an OEM often requires deploying hundreds of websites at once, making it essential to scale quickly. To support this rapid growth, the company must efficiently allocate resources while managing the substantial data and traffic volumes critical to its operations.

To address these challenges, Rackspace Technology proposed a collaborative approach to build a comprehensive cloud solution on Google Cloud. Rackspace’s Elastic Engineering team provided guidance and expertise in establishing DEP’s initial cloud environment, ensuring it met the company’s performance and scalability needs.

Through their collaboration, DEP and Rackspace designed a fully operational Google Cloud infrastructure.

 Key implementations included Infrastructure as Code (IaC) hosted on GitHub, a deployment pipeline using GitHub Actions, and managed instance groups (MIGs) to optimize compute workloads. MIGs enhance high availability by offering automated virtual machine (VM) repairs, application-based auto-healing, and seamless scalability to handle fluctuations in demand.

Additionally, Rackspace supported DEP’s efforts to modernize its image build process, significantly improving automation and operational efficiency. This advancement enables DEP to onboard new dealership websites rapidly, supporting the company’s continued expansion.

The migration from a private cloud to Google Cloud has empowered DEP with the flexibility and scalability required to sustain its rapid growth. The new cloud infrastructure allows DEP to deploy resources efficiently, manage high traffic spikes, and quickly adapt to shifting market demands.

Looking ahead, DEP plans to strengthen its partnership with Rackspace Technology to foster greater innovation. “We are excited to continue working with Rackspace Elastic Engineering as we scale our data center infrastructure and enhance our technology stack,” said Bodine. “The Rackspace Elastic Engineering team serves as my go-to experts for Google Cloud Platform. They efficiently handle tasks in Google Cloud when I’m pressed for time. In many ways, they’re an extension of my team and a vital part of our success.”

With this strategic cloud transformation, DEP is well-positioned to accelerate its growth, optimize customer experiences, and continue delivering cutting-edge digital solutions to automotive dealerships worldwide.