Dealer mergers and acquisitions rendering some DMS systems "almost useless", says Pinewood

19 November 2007

 

The trend for mergers and acquisitions among dealer groups is rendering some dealer management systems "almost useless", says Pinewood.

 

The DMS specialist says that demands placed on existing DMS systems by restructuring processes can mean that they are left almost redundant when it comes to delivering even the most basic services to users in newly consolidated retail groups.

 

Neville Briggs, managing director at Pinewood, explained: "We are increasingly coming across this trend, dealerships using older DMS systems that have been involved in a merger or acquisition are finding themselves in a situation where their IT is effectively useless as it is unable to effectively integrate or produce consolidated reporting.

 

"The problem lies with their lack of 'scalability' or how easily a DMS system can be made larger or smaller to fit the needs of a changing organisation.

 

"There are some DMS products in the market which are so difficult and expensive to scale up that the management of these new, enlarged dealer groups are encountering pretty serious problems that are affecting their day-to-day activities. Instead of helping them during the acquisition or merger process, their DMS systems can actually be a stumbling block."

 

Briggs said that typical problems involved an inability to see what is happening across the new and enlarged organisation.

 

He said: "One of the key uses of DMS systems by dealer group management is to see an accurate snapshot or key indicators showing what is happening right across their company at any given moment. Where the DMS infrastructure cannot support this managers are left effectively blindfolded.

 

"This makes it difficult not just to run the business on a day-to-day basis but to see dealership performance information which allows important decisions to be made following a merger.

 

Briggs added that Pinewood was winning sales based on the ability of its Pinnacle DMS to be adopted and scaled up quickly, thanks to its browser-based technology.

 

He said: "For example if an existing Pinnacle customer buys additional retail outlets the scalability of Pinnacle means that we can have the new dealerships up and running in days and the owners are able to see a consolidated business overview very quickly to see how the new structure is performing. 

 

"A number of dealer groups involved in mergers and acquisitions have come to us this year and chosen to adopt our system because of the significant problems they have encountered with their existing IT."

 

 

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