Case Study: Rent-A-Center Modernizes Network With Verizon Business

Rent-A-Center Inc. is the largest rent-to-own operator in the United States. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, it currently operates approximately 3,049 company-owned stores nationwide and in Canada and Puerto Rico. The stores offer high-quality, durable goods such as major consumer electronics, appliances, computers and furniture and accessories under flexible rental purchase agreements that generally allow the customer to obtain ownership of the merchandise at the conclusion of an agreed upon rental period.

Challenge

Rent-A-Center previously employed network access from multiple service providers and was looking for a single platform to standardize delivery of a wide range of internal business applications to the company’s more than 19,000 employees across more than 3,000 retail locations in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. In addition to powering Rent-A-Center’s in-store employment kiosks and the company’s Web-based management training program, Rent-A-Center also wanted a network solution that could enhance security and help it address the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

Solution

Rent-A-Center chose to transform many of its business operations by tapping the power of an Internet protocol (IP) network provided by Verizon Business. The new MPLS-based network was implemented to provide consistent delivery of critical applications. Additionally, Verizon Business professional consultants worked closely with Rent-A-Center staff to design a highly reliable and secure network for the retailer’s thousands of store locations. Verizon Business project management staff then coordinated onsite deployment activities to seamlessly transition 3,000 Rent-A-Center retail locations.

Rent-A-Center decided to rely on Verizon Business for the day-to-day monitoring, management and maintenance of its IP PBX voice system and the wide- and local-area networks serving the company’s corporate headquarters. In addition to streamlining network management, the new IP-based infrastructure helps enhance Rent-A-Center’s in-house network security and address the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) by reducing the number of access points and consolidating data onto a single platform, making it easier to secure, analyze and store information. The PCI DSS, established by the PCI Security Standards Council, is a set of comprehensive requirements for enhancing payment account data security.

Results & Benefits

Through a close working relationship between Verizon Business, Rent-A-Center is now able to benefit from a network solution that’s highly available, flexible and backed by world-class networking assets, leading technical knowledge and superior professional services capabilities. This frees up Rent-A-Center’s technical staff to focus on supporting its mission-critical applications for human resource, enterprise resource planning and financial functions, while providing 24/7 support for the company’s communications infrastructure.

“IP is helping Rent-A-Center transform business operations in many ways,” said Robert Rapp, the company’s chief technology officer. “IP is driving improved efficiency and the ability to reliably deliver applications ubiquitously to all of our branch locations, using a single platform. With a strong network foundation in place, Rent-A-Center is now focusing on new initiatives that will further enhance our productivity and enable the company and its employees to better serve our customers.”