Drive Software Solutions Drive Talk Newsletter

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SUMMER 2009
WELCOME p2 p3 p4
The pressure is on
in the fleet market
– from above and
below. Finance
firms are ever
more stringent in
their funding criteria, while
customers are tightening
their belts and demanding The customer is king SLAs Belgacom
ever-greater levels of An expert comment Power to manage Running 8,000 vehicles
service from more cost-
competitive offerings. That
shifts the onus onto leasing
companies to demonstrate
that they have the business
models in place to secure
FUTURE PROOFING
the finance they require,
while leveraging those
business structures to
provide the best service.
FLEET SYSTEMS
Ten things to do before you adopt a management system
Leaner business models
ensure a competitive edge. Suppose you could have all of 5. Ensure the solution fits into hosted environment? Web-
But it’s not all about cost- the information on your fleet at your company’s existing IT based solutions are much
cutting – anyone with a the touch of a button. That’s policy. This avoids alienating easier to deploy and website-
spreadsheet and a short- the promise system providers your internal staff. Their help based e.Modules usually have
term vision can do that. always make. But how can you and knowledge will be a low learning curve.
Customer satisfaction be sure that they’ll deliver? invaluable in the 10. Do you want to provide
levels are lower than they implementation of the system. access to the system to your
have been for some time, Ten essential checkpoints: 6. Take a long-term view of customers or suppliers? This
so fleet operators are 1. Credit check or obtain the any potential IT solution and often provides a perception of
shopping around. The best last three years’ accounts for ask whether a comprehensive good customer service. In
way for the lease-hire any short-listed provider. sizing exercise is undertaken addition, if suppliers and/or
companies to counter this is 2. Ask for a COMPLETE list of by the potential supplier. If customers can update their
to focus on retaining installed users with a view to possible, obtain a sizing own data, this reduces the
existing customers. By contacting a cross-section of document from them in order workload on support staff and
tracking performance and companies using the product. to ensure that all areas of the provides a buy-in to the
proving deliverability to 3. Take time to visit the offices system are taken into account customer.
customers, fleet operators of the potential supplier to for future growth.
can attract new clients. gain a feel for the 7. Ensure that the system is There is a quicker and
That’s where the right professionalism of the future proofed. What easier answer...
fleet management software company and its employees. language or development For forward thinking fleet
comes in; to consolidate the Bear in mind that you may be platform is it written in? Will managers running complex
data you need for informed contacting some of the latter this ensure system longevity fleet operations DRIVE is the
business decisions, while for help in the future. or is it due for re-development only solution.
delivering the best in 4. Make sure you have a good in a newer environment? DRIVE is one of the few fleet
customer satisfaction. understanding of your 8. Get written guarantees on management software houses
Simon West-Oliver, objectives and the benefits of product scalability, that has defined a world
DRIVE Sales & the features you require performance and uptime. marketplace for its solution,
Marketing Director within your chosen solution. 9. Can the system be web and has close working ties
Ask for a trial period. deployed and provided on a with Oracle and KPMG to
DRIVE TALK SUMMER 2009 1
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2. NEWS
RELATIoNShIp
develop an international term partnerships with our
network of skilled DRIVE clients, helping and guiding
system providers. them in creating a sound IT
The pressure to manage
fleets to deliver ever higher
strategy,” says West-Oliver.
DRIVE provides its clients AND SERVIcE
levels of service while
maintaining cost
with a set of procedural
guidelines that work with
competitiveness is increasing. defined targets and objectives
DELIVERy analysis
experteye gives its market
DRIVE provides real tools to to enable a seamless and
aid decision makers. Flexible worry free implementation.
access to data, ‘what-if’ This has given DRIVE the Research consultancy
modeling and graphical ability to be very confident experteye provides
analysis are all provided to when it comes to providing analysis and solutions to
give managers the best clients with ‘testDRIVE’ the automotive industry.
opportunity to test decisions environments and guarantees Gary Jefferies, head of
before actually making them. on solution uptime and fault Business Development,
Using Oracle technology, responses. offers an insider’s view on
DRIVE also gives This quality initiative is the challenges facing
organisations the highest maintained for all potential leasing companies and
possible level of flexibility to DRIVE clients as well as the fleet operators.
adopt and even capitalise on established base. DRIVE is
change, whether that change launching a number of online The marketplace is tough for
is due to new business surveys to establish a market those supplying fleets and for Gary Jefferies:
practices or new legislation. view of IT solutions to ensure those operating them. A consolidation presents
Simon West-Oliver, DRIVE’s DRIVE maintains its position restricted availability of funds additional concerns
Sales and Marketing Director, as a world leader in innovative to the leasing companies and
believes that the continuing fleet solutions. stricter credit underwriting systems, competitor
success of DRIVE is due Martin Drake, DRIVE’s has put many relationships benchmarking and the
to its fleet software Managing Director, is between leasing companies management of KPIs.
team and the DRIVE is keen to underline and their clients under strain. If the market is reviewing its
procedures it has about coping his team’s Leasing companies not providers, the leasing
initiated to
support
with the commitment to attaining targets on end-of- companies should better
customers in
future and its solution quality
providing contract vehicle resale prices,
the subsequent wholesale
understand their sales
process to ensure they are
acquiring, challenges partnerships. revaluation of their leasing majoring on proof of delivery
implementing and He says: “After book, cost reviews and a to potential clients while
benefiting from one of our market redirection on future rental improving performance to
DRIVE’s leading-edge research meetings, I was pricing add to the strain. existing business.
technology. amazed at the poor calibre of Fleet operators are experteye does not
“DRIVE is about coping solution management, both suffering too, experiencing recommend a response to the
with the future and its pre- and post-sales, that the tighter controls from leasing market based on price.
challenges. From its initial fleet sector was being providers and shifts in the Companies should be
concept it was always going to subjected to.” customer/supplier dynamic. concentrating on long-term
be a solution that would Drake goes on to say: “It The biggest issue facing the relationships and delivery of
change and grow with new became very apparent to me leasing companies will be services. Business being sold
technology as it arrives in the that DRIVE has an opportunity customer retention. The on price and chasing volume
fleet sector. to improve the service that customer has to be king. has contributed to the position
“We at DRIVE are totally this very competitive, and Fleet operators will spend we are all in now.
committed to providing long- constantly changing more time reviewing their While the market is under
term solutions built on long- marketplace needs.” suppliers and relationships stress there is a probability
with their leasing companies. that further consolidation will
DRIVE TALK IS pUBLIShED By Fleet operators are shopping emerge which could result in
around. One of experteye’s the surviving suppliers being
roles is to monitor customer leaner, meaner and more
satisfaction levels and market stable. Brand values and
conditions in the sector, and customer focus must not be
Publisher: Gordon Lyster. Editor: Alan Seeley. indicators suggest a threat to diluted through mergers.
Deputy Editor: Lisa Millard. Production Manager: Phil Long. customer satisfaction levels. Looking ahead, the lead
Business Development Manager: Rob McGowan. Those companies that pay leasing companies are
Contact Information: Phone +44 (0) 207 1938533 attention to customer retention improving customer delivery
Email: gordon@eventsandpublishing.com and satisfaction are the ones and investing in the customer
Website: www.eventsandpublishing.com that will emerge strongest. experience. The sector is at
These leasing companies last getting some focus from
need to manage their industry and businesses are
www.drivesoftwaresolutions.com customer satisfaction levels getting stronger.
Tel: +44 (0) 1438 317731 through performance Gary Jefferies, experteye
Fax: +44 (0) 1438 316222 processing improvements, Tel: +44 (0) 1844 96507
investments in efficient Email: gj@experteye.com
SUMMER 2009 DRIVE TALK
Drive Talk issue 1.indd 2 18/6/09 22:45:19

3. SHOWSTOPPER
Once SLAs are defined, provide a defined, auditable
management by and highly automated process
exception becomes flow.
automatic
Once these SLAs (Service
Level Agreements) have been
defined, then management by
exception becomes automatic.
Only events or activities that
require special attention or
are either late or have been
missed are drawn to the
attention of the relevant
individuals, both internally
and externally. The remedial
action can be linked to the
activity and transferred
directly to the person
responsible. This powerful
combination provides the
highest possible levels of
customer service with
significantly reduced
administration overhead.
SLA MAnAgEMEnT
When this functionality is
combined with an open
standard database and
Transparent and seamless systems from DRIVE powerful business
intelligence tools,
sophisticated management of
Does improving your company have never been linked and time-stamped to KPIs and exceptions becomes
customer service and greater. The industry leading produce follow-on activities or transparent and seamless.
reducing administration costs DRIVE solution can provide timely reminders. By generating a
sound like a utopian view of the controls to manage The ability to link management dashboard or a
the world to you? Well DRIVE demanding these messages to suite of reports, fleet
is able to offer just that with customers while Improving customers or information can be provided
the latest version of Events providing customer specific products internally to the management
Management combined with management by
the power and versatility of exception. service and means that highly
individualised
team and externally, direct to
the customer.
the Master Lease Agreement. User definable reducing services can be The DRIVE integrated
With increasingly system events can costs offered without fear eBusiness suite provides the
demanding customers generate activity of increased window into the back office
requiring more tailored messages that can be administration or poor system allowing customers to
solutions and better access to directed to internal or customer service. view their important metrics
their fleet data and external users, or groups of Automated escalation and and even interact with the
information, the challenges users. In addition these multiple transmission formats, data, through a fully secure
facing the modern leasing system activities can be such as email, text and letter, and controlled environment.
DRIVE’S KILLER APPS
Making the most of the best features in DRIVE
contract loader The contract loader can be used for loaded. There is a bulk contract
Did you know that the DRIVE system such essential processes as: termination to end these contract types.
includes a contract loader that enables
sale and leaseback or any bulk loading of Data migration from legacy systems Sales and leaseback deals
lease contracts? In this mode the quotation uses the In this mode, quotations can be
The loader takes care of matching the customer MLA identified then uses generated in one process against a set of
rental premiums, creating the correct workback to match the billing value in vehicles. Multi-quote generation can then
records, setting the lease active and the legacy system placing differences in be used to alter parameters and apply to
controlling any back billing. The loader a finance and service variation charge. all the quotations at once. There is also a
can be tested first and the user is in full This approach ensures that all data bulk margin workback facility. When the
control of activation. structures in DRIVE are complete and deal is won the process is executed to
A fleet with several thousand contracts billing matches the legacy system. completion setting all vehicles live on the
can be loaded in a matter of hours and system in a matter of minutes coupled
will be live and ready for the purposes of Fleet management deals with generation of purchase orders for all
billing immediately. In this mode, batches of vehicles are the vehicles.
DRIVE TALK SUMMER 2009
Drive Talk issue 1.indd 3 18/6/09 22:45:28

4. CASE STUDY
Keeping tabs on telco This is essential in an
belgecom’s huge fleet organisation where a high
needs some very data volume is standard.
capable software
Despite diminishing
headcount in the Business
Services Fleet Department,
our investment in DRIvE has
allowed us to absorb the
growth in our business.
One striking example is the
number of company cars
managed in DRIvE, which has
doubled compared to two
years ago following the
integration of the car fleet of
our two most important
affiliates, and consequently
TALKIng
into DRIvE.
The discontinuance of
TELEphonE nUmbERS
Business Objects support by
our IT department forced us
to implement another solution
Roland Stockman, Program Manager for Group Internal on the DRIvE Oracle
database, and to produce a
Services at belgacom explains how his organisation complete set of operational,
management and KPI reports,
relies on DRIvE to keep tabs on its 8,000-strong fleet allowing us to manage the
Belgacom Group car fleet,
and provide up-to-date
What is belgacom? Department to conclude a set up, specifically the inventory data to our car
The Belgacom Group is fixed-price agreement over a construction, testing and insurance, breakdown
Belgium’s main provider of longer period with the running of multiple data assistance, glass replacement
integrated telecom services. manufacturing and lease loaders, was necessary. Also, assistance, tyre and traffic-
With its long-standing companies, we also offer ‘Best acquainting our partners with fine handling contractors.
experience as Belgium’s Buy’ cars, being fully DRIvE and making
incumbent operator Belgacom
Group is able to provide all its
equipped vehicles offered to
our internal customers.
them work to the new
processes, was a
DRIVE Issupported? DRIVE well
customers – private or There are around 3,800 challenge we has allowed With multiple
professional – with services vans for our technicians: successfully us to absorb personnel
and solutions in fixed and about 2,500 of these have a overcame with the growth changes within
mobile networks. cargo capacity less than DRIvE’s support. in our our key user
The Belgacom Group 750kg, the others ranging to community and in
business our IT support team,
integrates fixed and mobile more than 3.5 tonnes. What has DRIVE
telephony, internet and Tv. The fleet also manages delivered for you? underlined the
trucks, trailers and plant. The major benefit has been importance of a constructive
how big is your fleet? process-driven automation of dialogue with DRIvE.
As of May 2009 we had a total What made belgacom routine administrative tasks in In the second quarter of last
of 7,741 vehicles, most of them choose DRIVE? our capacity as an internal year, in close collaboration
company cars and vans. The decision to go with DRIvE leasing company for the with DRIvE, Belgacom took
was taken in July 2001. DRIvE Belgacom Group, making full the opportunity offered by our
how is the fleet made up? met all our needs in a user- use of the DRIvE leasing, fleet migration to v8.1.0 to get
There are around 3,400 friendly, fully integrated administration and general better aligned internally,
company cars. A monthly package with visible features modules. revisit all our open logs and
adapted internal lease processes, together with a The open nature of the change requests, and
ratebook containing around commitment on realistic DRIvE system is evidenced implement our internal
300 model/make/derivatives implementation planning and by our ability to integrate it processes, which has
is distributed to those a lower budget impact than with our SAP human strengthened our relationship
employees who need a new the competitor solutions. resources employee data with DRIvE.
car. The budget category system; with Jato; with our
assigned to the employee and Was it easy to migrate single fuel provider’s Would you recommend
contribution rules determine your system to DRIVE? incoming data; with outgoing DRIVE software solutions
an employee’s vehicle choice. Our previous home-grown data feeding the Belgacom to other organisations?
Where it is possible for the system was rather basic, so a Group payroll system, as well Based on our experience to
Business Services Fleet considerable investment in as the employee inventory. date, yes, of course.
www.drivesoftwaresolutions.com
Tel: +44 (0) 1438 317731 Fax: +44 (0) 1438 316222
SUMMER 2009 DRIVE TALK
Drive Talk issue 1.indd 4 18/6/09 22:45:39