DMS recommendations since Reynolds is locking people out...

[AutoArchitech]

I have a dealer group that has asked me to get some recommendations on a DMS other than Reynolds & Reynolds. They are not happy with some of the issues R&R has been having lately. Any ideas for a web based DMS that can handle 5+ stores?

Thanks

Mark

 

[CliffC]

Mark,

You may have already checked these -but if not, here they are.

1) Dealer Systems Providers (DSP) Vendors


This guy has been getting a little more attention lately too.

2) Welcome To The Paul Gillrie Institute


By no means are these the only places to look -but either one could be a good start.

Happy Hunting,

Cliff

P.S. If you find one you like, ask for references, forget nearly everything the reference tells you -just ask them to conference you in on a few of their support calls so you can listen for yourself. That should narrow the field a little.

 

[emersonhr]

I started kicking around this same idea late last year.... Unfortunately there are not too many choices other then the few big DMS vendors that everyone already knows about.

Now, if you want to think outside of the box then yes, your options are nearly endless.
Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/en/us/industries/retail.aspx),
SAP (http://www.sap.com/usa/sme/solutions/businessmanagement/businessallinone/automotive/index.epx),
Oracle (http://www.oracle.com/us/industries/automotive/index.html)

I do not know of any dealerships actually using any of these products, but I did look into these three when the owner asked me for a few options and I'd love to hear from anyone that has experience with them. Unfortunately, we being car guys I know it's hard to move away from things that we have grown accustomed to.

I can't speak for ADP or Arkona because I do not have experience with their systems, but the computer geek in me says to go outside the box and find a better way of doing things.

 

[Jarrett]

I heard some really good reviews on ADP's new product DRIVE, however have never used it.

We kicked R&R to the curb and moved to DealerTrack, using Salesforce.com to pick up where the DMS falls off.

 

[andwrig]

I heard some really good reviews on ADP's new product DRIVE, however have never used it.

We kicked R&R to the curb and moved to DealerTrack, using Salesforce.com to pick up where the DMS falls off.

How do you like Salesforce.com?

 

[Jarrett]

RE: Andwrig

Salesforce.com has allowed our business to increase awareness across departments. Each transaction, whether parts, service , sales, body shop, prospecting is all recorded back to the customer record as related records. This allows sharing of information easily. To get the data from the DMS into force.com we have had to build data integration hooks.

DealerTrackDMS does not have a custom report generator as of yet. To overcome this we have been building our reports in salesforce.

Salesforce.com really is a Platform more than a CRM or database, and because of that we have been able to easily harness our data for our own business processes.

Most of you may think I work for them or am some kind of evangelist of their product, I am not. However I am interested in seeing Tier 1 DMS systems become as affluent with current technology as they have.

Included in their Platform is a very functional API, Database Management System, Java like programming language, custom HTML interpreter (you can change any pages to meet your needs), and the best part is the list of 3rd party providers for things like email marketing... AppExchange - Hundreds of Cloud Computing Applications, Pre-Integrated with salesforce.com

 

[Aereus]

I agree with Jarrett that an integrated Web platform that can manage the data out of the DMS is a great solution for some. Fully customizable apps (like Salesforce and Aereus) can manage the data in ways that can give you a full 360 degree view of the data on the fly.

 

[JoeC]

I used ADP and Dealer Track/Arkona all under the same roof and went thru the DealerTrack/Arkona implementation. The good news about Dealertrack is the web interface. They use a GUI screen that allows users to use a lot of point and click rather than function keys+ you can easily have remote access with a two minute download. It is also user friendly to all of dealertrack products- Book-out pro, AAX, submitting apps,etc. Also, I know they have a CRM tool but I had never used it. The bad news is the downtime. There seems to be a lot of it and if the check printer goes down, be prepared to hand write those checks. Maybe that doesn't apply but all in all it was an easy system to learn. From an accounting/office perspective ADP or Reynolds is better though.

 

[Cookie]

Indeed a few big DMS providers are the dominant players. It's somewhat similar in the automotive world. You can't build a car however you like... It's nice to think so....but there's a ton of regulations involved...and then you have to ram several perfectly good ones into walls and measure how crash worthy they are. You can't use the manikins from Old Navy...you have to obtain some very expensive dummies outfitted with sensors to relay impact stresses into monitoring equipment. Etc Etc. There's a lot more to building a car to sell than just bolting parts together. Now...if you are content to build one for your own personal use to drive on your own property..that's different. DMS providers have similar issues. It takes a great heaping hoard of people to keep up with the requirements of manufacturers. Parts Return Policies, Warranty Claims, Tax agencies and DMV requirements, Financial Statement changes, New Vehicle Model Years, and the list goes on. I wondered If I could design a "better" system than the big DMS providers... and eventually determined that there were HUGE barriers to entry. Sure, I could probably do "some" things better than the DMS providers...but it's hard to succeed on a very limited feature set. Eventually I figured...if you can't beat 'em...join 'em. -- make specialized software that integrates with the big DMS providers.