DMS market switching on to new software-as-a-service model, says Pinewood

12 July 2007

 

A relatively new way of delivering software to customers that has gained ground in other areas of IT looks set to be the next major trend in dealer management systems, says DMS specialist Pinewood. 

 

The company says that the concept of "software-as-a-service" is rapidly gaining ground within the DMS sector.

 

SaaS means that instead of just selling the dealer a piece of software, the DMS provider handles all maintenance, daily technical operation, and support for the system provided to their customer including disaster recovery.

 

A key factor in the adoption of the SaaS model in any industry is that users never have to pay for new versions or upgrades.  As a hosted solution the most up to date version of the software is always the one being used.

 

Neville Briggs, Pinewood managing director, said: "In the past, a dealer has bought a DMS system for an upfront cost, the supplier has installed it on the customer's PC network and then charged for ongoing support and upgrades.

 

"The SaaS model is a more up to date way of supplying software services, with the provider usually hosting the DMS system through a virtual private network and providing all the surrounding services for a monthly charge.

 

"Dealers like the model because it provides a fixed cost - under traditional software provision there are always variable costs due to unforeseen circumstances such as hardware failure, virus attacks and business expansion.

 

"And, of course, because they know the fixed cost, they are much more easily able to undertake a cost benefit analysis on the investment required in a DMS system and justify the expenditure in financial terms."

 

Briggs explained that customers in a widening range of markets, both public and private, within the UK were looking at SaaS as a means to overcome the problem of legacy systems and to curtail upgrade expenditure.

 

He said: "With SaaS, there is no debate about where a problem or responsibility lies. With the software company? The hardware supplier? The Internet provider? Instead, everything comes from a single source. If there is a problem, there is just one phone number to call or helpdesk to e-mail.

 

"Certainly, our own experience of the SaaS model, which we have pioneered in the DMS sector for over five years, is that it works well for dealers and for companies such as ourselves"

 

Briggs added that SaaS would become more widespread in the DMS sector as more software providers start to consider offering this type of model.

 

He said: "Very few DMS companies can offer these facilities at present, although we have been offering a SaaS based model for around five years, but signs are it will become a major trend in the medium term as other dealer IT companies start to move to investigate a hosted model."

 

 

For further details please contact Simon Wells at
Paperchase Public Relations on 01283 711311
or e-mail simon@paperchasepr.co.uk