Maintaining Operational Continuity: Tractor Zoom's Support During a Major Third-Party Outage

On June 18, 2024, a significant cyber attack targeted CDK Global, a major software provider, resulting in a widespread system outage that left automotive and ag equipment dealers unable to access their essential business systems. CDK Global, the parent company of VitalEdge’s IntelliDealer – a crucial Dealer Management System (DMS) used by many ag equipment dealers – was confirmed to be the victim of a ransomware attack. While the full details of the cyber attack have yet to be publicly disclosed, the immediate impact was severe, disrupting day-to-day operations and impacting revenue at hundreds of dealerships.

Tractor Zoom’s Anvil Pro platform, an integrated end-to-end dealership solution, relies on a uni-directional integration feed from the dealer's IntelliDealer system. The outage meant that no new information could be transferred to Anvil Pro. As a result, dealers were unable to process sales or update stock units, leading to potential discrepancies between IntelliDealer and Anvil Pro. While dealers were able to view information housed in Anvil Pro prior to the outage, they could not see or make any updates or changes during the outage.

Approximately nine Tractor Zoom dealer clients, representing 215 locations, rely heavily on IntelliDealer for their daily operations. This outage halted critical functions, including inventory management, sales processing, and other important customer service activities. 

Tractor Zoom first learned about the CDK Global outage through news reports. Initially, it was unclear which parts of CDK Global were affected, prompting our team to immediately investigate the potential impact on our customers. Upon recognizing that IntelliDealer might be compromised, we began to thoroughly assess the situation.

To safeguard our customers and ensure the integrity of their data, Tractor Zoom promptly disabled the integration feed from IntelliDealer to Anvil Pro. This precautionary measure aimed to prevent any potential effects from the ransomware attack from affecting Anvil Pro. Because our priority was to protect our users' systems and data, we kept the connection severed until we received confirmation from CDK Global that it was safe to re-engage.

Throughout the outage, Tractor Zoom maintained constant communication with CDK Global, actively monitoring their restoration efforts. Our team was prepared to re-establish the integration as soon as IntelliDealer systems were restored and deemed secure. This vigilance ensured that we could act swiftly to get our customers back online as soon as possible.

Tractor Zoom’s support team played a crucial role in helping customers navigate the outage. We communicated updates frequently and conducted numerous calls with customers to identify ways in which Anvil Pro could fill operational gaps. For instance, we assisted customers in creating reports of stock units edited during the outage, facilitating manual reconciliation once IntelliDealer was back online. We ensured that the data generated was easy to upload, enabling seamless reconciliation of business systems.

Ensuring effective and frequent communication was key to managing the outage. We provided regular updates to keep customers informed about the status of the situation and our actions. As CDK Global's disaster recovery process progressed, we kept customers updated on the steps being taken and the expected timelines for restoring third-party integrations like Anvil Pro. This transparency helped manage customer expectations and reinforced our commitment to supporting them through the crisis.

As customers began to see their systems coming back online, many were eager to reconnect Anvil Pro to IntelliDealer. However, CDK Global prioritized the restoration of core systems before re-enabling third-party integrations, like that of Anvil Pro. We kept our customers informed about this process, continuously validating and testing connections to ensure a smooth transition once full functionality was restored.

Through proactive measures, vigilant monitoring, and constant communication, Tractor Zoom effectively supported its customers during the CDK Global outage. 

“The team at Tractor Zoom were very attentive and did a great job communicating updates to us as they came in,” said Smiley Mondragon of AgUp Equipment. “If we had questions, they had answers. We were very pleased with the customer service and attention to all issues.”

Our commitment to protecting customer data and providing exceptional support minimized the disruption and ensured a swift return to normal operations.