|
|
|||
Market Outlook The first quarter of the 2008 calendar year has not been without its challenges. Many of us have seen negative results in our superannuation funds for the first time in several years and this together with a share market in free fall and rising interest rates is setting the scene for a substantial rise in failed small businesses over the remainder of the 2008 year.
Despite this, Australia continues to
outperform many larger economies in the Western world and the
Australian Equipment Industry in the meantime remains relatively
immune to the down turn. Auto-IT is an information technology company with a mission to deliver and support computer systems that improve profitability in retail automotive and equipment dealerships. Information Technology is all about empowering dealers to meet customers’ expectations and to enhance their experience in the dealership. A flexible, well integrated and secure computer environment should hold the key to raising profitability in good times and bad. Some business owners in our experience still subscribe to the outdated notion that the ongoing cost of supporting dealer software and IT infrastructure is a waste of money or even worse, a constraint on growth. But those who understand the value of IT and base dealership processes around known best practices will be rewarded with greater returns from their investment in IT systems and more loyal customers as a result. Dealership Data and Who Controls Access To It This brings me to the fraught question of who owns the data resident in dealers’ systems. If this question is put to the factories, the dealers, the customers, or the Dealer System Providers, the answers will be widely divergent and there is no prize for guessing what the answers will be from each of these self interested parties. Auto-IT believes that it is the dealers who own the data residing in their own computers. Not to have access and control over this important property, not only makes the dealer potentially captive to a single supplier, but also limits the benefit they should be enjoying from their not inconsiderable investment in computer technology. We adhere to this belief so strongly that if you so desire, and if you are a customer of ours, we can give you the opportunity to install products that ensure nobody (including Auto-IT) can gain access to your data without your prior knowledge. Auto-IT now has more than 10,000 licensed users of its software products. On a final note, Auto-IT continues to enjoy strong sales both onshore and offshore. Last calendar year our new software license sales averaged 250 new users per month and we are on track to exceed these figures this year. Currently as at 1st May 2008, 10,440 individual users are licensed to use Auto-IT software products in 8 countries and 400 dealer groups. I look forward to being able to report strong growth and a healthy sales result in the next issue of The Occasional Newsletter shortly after the end of our financial year. Ken W Fife | Chief Executive Officer | Auto-IT Pty Ltd.
5 $6 Million Export Deal for Auto-IT
Auto-IT Pty Ltd has secured a US$6M deal to supply its proprietary retail dealer management software systems to businesses in North America.
In December 2007, John Deere Information Systems (JDIS), a supplier of software to John Deere dealers in North America, exercised an option to purchase the source code for Auto-IT’s EQUIP™ software, effectively becoming a fully-fledged reseller in the United States and Canada.
JDIS had entered into a distribution agreement in 2003 with Auto-IT that gave it the right to become the sole distributor for the product for its dealers in North America and Canada.
The US$6M deal now means JDIS owns the source code in North America in its own right but only for the agricultural and construction industry. Auto-IT retains the right to sell its software systems into non-agricultural, forestry and construction dealerships in North America, as well as to all markets internationally.
Auto-IT was selected by JDIS, a subsidiary of Deere & Company, a global agricultural equipment supplier, from a pool of 20 software manufacturers in six different countries.
The deal now positions Auto-IT Pty Ltd as the number two player in Australia and New Zealand for supplying systems into the retail automotive dealer market and the number one supplier of agricultural and construction dealer systems. Currently Auto-IT supplies systems to 70 percent of the John Deere market in Australia and NZ.
In welcoming the deal, Auto-IT Pty Ltd’s chief executive officer Ken Fife says the development is a significant step towards growing its international business.
“Although consisting of only 70 people we are a strong and profitable business and are making our presence felt on the world stage. John Deere is already supporting our efforts to sell to its dealers in other international locations.”
“This deal therefore gives us an opportunity to not only further strengthen our position in Australia, but to gain an even greater foothold in international markets potentially worth in excess of A$1.5B.”
“Currently, the business has a presence in Australia, Brunei, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Fiji and South Africa but we are planning for even more rapid growth – at least two new countries each year,” says Mr Fife.
Auto-IT’s product range consists of two key products called UNITS™ and EQUIP™, which are Windows-based ‘new generation’ software, and PMDS a long-serving Linux-based software system, all specifically tailored for the automotive, trucking, agricultural and construction equipment industries.
John Deere users will receive two upgrades per year via seamless data transfer.
Product development and enhancements will be a joint effort between Auto-IT and JDIS, effectively ensuring that the Australian John Deere market is given streamlined access to subsequent software versions.
John Deere Australia’s Dealer Development Coordinator, Jamie Chua-Taylor also predicts a bright outlook.
“This is definitely a win-win situation for both companies and their respective clients.”
“Australian John Deere dealers can now enjoy the benefits that come from a partnership that delivers a technologically superior product, which is not only tailored to suit their needs but also seamlessly integrated into their business.
“Simply put, they now have a robust and user-friendly system to manage their business well into the future,” says Ms Chua-Taylor.
5
The rollout of Build 2000 has gone very well, with over 75% of our UNITS™ and EQUIP™ clients benefiting from the numerous enhancements and performance benefits of the build. The conversion team will start to scale down and start work on our latest build, Build 2040, which will be piloted in August this year. Those clients who've not yet upgraded will need to move quickly as there are limited spots available now for upgrades.
5
Got a new staff member? Need a refresher? Want to step up to a more advanced level? Need help tackling that one process?
To ensure we offer training sessions that meets your needs, we’d like to ask what you require.
Whether you’re interested in training for the Finance, Management Reporting, Parts, Service or Sales related modules of EQUIP™, we can offer training in areas that meet your needs. Training delivery options include classroom, on-site or web-based methods.
So we can determine the most common areas in which training is required, please click here to complete our one minute survey. It will help us to serve you better.
Thank you!
5
Risk Minimisation - when is the right time to upgrade your server?
Is it time to upgrade, or should you hold off for a couple more years? This question is raised from time to time, and can often mean the difference between seamless business operation and catastrophic disaster.
The big manufacturers - IBM, Fujitsu and HP suggest a 3 year life span for their servers and have proven that pushing a machine past this age is increasing the risk of system failure. The older the hardware, the more likely that a failure and loss of productivity will occur. A company can avoid big expenses by updating its servers every three years. If it waits five years, then there's a greater risk of having to upgrade a failed server in a disorderly and manic fashion.
Apart from the age of your server, here are some signs that it may be time to upgrade:
Consider the impact!
Have you considered the full impact of a server crash or hardware failure on your business? Consider the scenario where your server is out of warranty and has a fatal hardware crash. Even if you can isolate the issue and source a replacement part or component it could be at least one or two full business days before it arrives and more time for a technician to install and configure.
How will your staff manage without the computer system for what could be anything up to several days? Consider the parts department and its inability to accurately manage stock levels and pricing. Consider frustrated customers in the service department, consider the morale and frustration of staff members and the reduction in productivity.
What overall affect does this have on your business? Whilst it is possible that hardware issues can still be encountered on newer machines, you can minimise the risk by upgrading as per manufacturer recommendations, which provides the peace of mind that comes with a manufacturer warranty and the latest technology. Maybe its time to check how old your current server is....and maybe it’s time to upgrade before disaster strikes!
5
Servers fail. They break down; hard disks seize up, memory chips burn out. And it always happens an hour before the big sale or service rush! Then of course there are other potential disasters that can affect servers such as fire, flooding, burglary and lightning strike.
We all know that server backups are essential, and all run a system backup of some sort to either tape, hard drive or remote storage device, but do you take the time to check the backup logs and run test system restores to ensure that the backups are actually working?
Backup logs should be checked on a daily basis, and test restores should be run every few months.
For Windows servers, i.e. EQUIP™ customers, the backup logs will be located in either “Veritas Backup Exec” or “Acronis True Image”. These logs can also be configured to email a selected group of people in the organisation.
System restores can be carried out by Auto-IT to ensure that your database backups are working correctly. Please contact your Account Manager for further information.
Submitted by Lachlan Rothheudt – Systems Engineer, Auto-IT.
5
Question:
How can you stop Workshop Charges from appearing on the Service Tax Invoice?
Answer:
The following screen shows workshop charges. These charges will appear on the Service Tax Invoice unless you make changes to the Branch Configuration Maintenance program.
Where workshop charges are not required to be printed on the Service Tax Invoice you can perform the following:
The following screen shows the Branch Configuration Maintenance program. All that is required to stop the charges being listed automatically is to remove the tick from the box for each charge by checking the boxes next to the workshop charges.
Question:
How come the amount of available hours in EQUIP™ does not correspond to the amount of technician hours I have?
Answer:
There are two ways to correct this situation:
Question:
What is a quick way to copy and paste information?
Answer:
Highlight the text to be copied and press the keys ‘Ctrl’ and the ‘C’ keys simultaneously. This copies the text. Then place the cursor where you want the text and simultaneously press the keys ‘Ctrl’ and ‘V’ to paste. This will work in most programs within a Windows environment.
Submitted by Kelvin Gilbert, Mark Beamiss & Max Sita.
5
Auto-IT Pty Ltd
|
