Management Team

Ken Fife - Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director

Ken Fife has been the CEO of Auto-IT since the company was formed by merger in January 2000. Prior to that, in 1987, he founded automotive system specialist company KGM Management. Under his leadership the initial operation comprising four people and 14 dealer management system (DMS) clients has grown to 80 staff with 17,084 software licensees in 1088 dealer locations.

Ken is a leader in the dealer management system market and has formed strong relationships with most of the major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in all the markets in which Auto-IT is actively engaged.

He was a major force behind the formation of the Australian Dealer Software Suppliers Association (ADSSA) and, apart from leading Auto-IT as its CEO, he has been the principal architect of Auto-IT’s strong offshore expansion.

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Michael Damianos - Non-Executive Director

Michael Damianos is a partner and CPA in a long established accounting practice with over 25 years experience in the automotive industry. His association with dealer management systems dates back to the early 80's when, through his accounting practice he developed an industry-specific automotive accounting system.

This led to the creation of one of the foundation companies that eventually became Auto-IT.

His accounting background is preceded by 10 years working in Sales and Marketing within the computer industry. This unique blend of experiences brings a valuable range of skills and knowledge to the business and in particular, the company's board.

Wayne Rushworth - Chief Operating Officer, Executive Director

Wayne Joined Auto-IT in 2005 following involvement in a consulting capacity. Prior to joining the company, Wayne had an extensive career in banking and finance spanning more than 25 years.

He has worked in institutional, corporate and commercial banking markets and in the finance company segment providing finance to the automotive and trucking industry.

Wayne has also worked on numerous projects including technology implementations and major change initiatives. He has a Bachelor of Economics, a Masters degree in Professional Accounting, is a CPA and is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

Aaran Newman - National Sales & Marketing Manager, Executive Director

A veteran of the motor industry, Aaran is the fourth generation of his family in the industry and has over 20 years experience. Son of Martin Newman, Managing Director of Newmans Motor Group and Newmans Information Services (NIS) Aaran filled a number of roles in both organisations gaining a strong insight into the workings of a dealership and a computer software company.

Since joining NIS (now Auto-IT) and prior to becoming National Sales and Marketing Manager, Aaran performed the roles of Support Consultant, Account Manager, Support Manager, Technical Services Manager, Accountant and Product Manager. Aaran has been instrumental in leading and driving the success of both our PMDS™ product and our Sales and Marketing teams.

Aaran holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree and a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance and Investment from the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA). He is a fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and is a fellow of the Corporate Directors Association of Australia.
 

Roger Peffers - Managing Director - New Zealand

Roger is the Managing Director of Auto-IT NZ Ltd. He has worked in the automotive and IT related industries for 20 years, holding a number of key positions within franchise automotive dealerships. His last position before joining Auto-IT was Group Service Manager for a major Toyota dealership in Wellington.

With Mechanical qualifications and a Business Diploma from Victoria University, Roger has brought a systematic and logical approach to managing and developing Auto-IT’s profitable New Zealand operations. His wealth of hands-on experience within the dealership community and his extensive skill sets within the IT industry have ensured that under Roger’s leadership, the Auto-IT NZ team achieves some of the highest customer satisfaction ratings within the Auto-IT community. 
 

Luan Tran - Research & Development Manager

Luan Tran is Auto-IT’s Development Manager in charge of its highly successful ‘new generation’ software products. He holds a Bachelor of Computing, majoring in Computer Technology and Software Development from Monash University and has achieved certification as a Master PowerBuilder developer in 2001, 2003 and 2006.

An accomplished technical manager, Luan’s expertise and strong focus in business-driven solutions has enabled him to make a significant impact on the growth and success of the company and its clients.

With an outstanding blend of creativity, passion and desire for perfection, Luan manages all aspects of Auto-IT’s Windows® product development including project management, change request management, issue management, patch and release management, business analysis and technical writing.

Luan’s technical creativity has enabled Auto-IT to offer its ‘new generation’ products across a wide spectrum of countries, languages and fiscal systems from within a single database.
 

Sue Lane - Support Manager

With more years of dealership experience than she cares to admit, Sue Lane's depth of knowledge in the areas of administration and accounts is substantial. Having worked extensively in the industry in Australia and the UK, Sue provides our clients and the Support Team with a unique strain of both technical and practical advice.

She is Train-the-Trainer Certified and Customer Service Certified, with a clear focus towards improving the levels of service and support given to our growing list of clients.
 

Jodie Pitt - Implementations Manager

Jodie Pitt was inducted into the automotive industry at a very early age - her father and grandfather are both veterans of the retail dealer environment.

Prior to joining Auto-IT, Jodie was the accountant for a number of large dealer groups for more than 10 years. She has also amassed a further nine years of experience implementing dealer management systems - the last five with Auto-IT.

Jodie is a qualified trainer and is currently completing her Bachelor of Business (Accounting). With a reputation as a hard-nosed pragmatist, Jodie is a favourite amongst clients, both new and existing.
 

Frank Maiolo - Manager Strategic Projects

Frank started his professional life in business administration holding financial and management accountant positions and ultimately a Company Secretary position for a large Australian public company. His Computer Science qualification eventually led him to the IT industry where he designed systems for management of aeronautic components, freight management, retail and other industries.

His involvement with dealerships began 26 years ago. During this period he led the design, development and delivery of three retail dealer management system evolutions. His most satisfying achievement has been to deliver many technical firsts; under Frank’s direction Auto-IT’s dealer management system products have achieved world's best practice status.

Frank’s and his team’s efforts have led to the delivery of Auto-IT’s current Windows®-based retail dealer management systems, now with international deployment capabilities across a wide range of currencies, languages and statutory requirements.

Frank now heads up management of Auto-IT's Strategic Projects.
 

Management - Factory
 

Grahame McCann - Factory Manager

Grahame’s experience spans over 30 years in the Automotive and IT industry with companies such as Inchcape, Newman’s Information Services, ADP and NAB.

Grahame has worked in a variety of roles in Service, Sales and Management covering brands such as Fiat/Lancia, Subaru, Volkswagen/Audi and Proton. Major roles throughout Grahame’s career have included National Service Manager, National Product Manager, State Manager WA and State Manager Commercial leasing.

Grahame and his wife also ran a very successful Master Franchise operation in NSW for Poolwerx, with over 52 Franchisees and 15 Retail stores

Many of these roles were startup or troubled businesses which has provided Grahame with a wealth of experience and grounding in many of the disciplines required to succeed in today’s business environment.

Grahame’s Automotive, IT and recent business experiences bring to Auto-IT a broad range of important skills, assisting in the growth of Auto IT.

Peter Fritz – eBusiness Manager

Peter has worked for Auto-IT since 1997, bringing with him a unique combination of experience and skills across a range of technical and creative fields. Peter has worked professionally in publishing, advertising, motor vehicle sales and graphic/multimedia/Web design and has always been at the forefront of his trade.

Peter developed a passion for cars at an early age and spent 15 years building a career in the media with some of Australia’s premier motoring publications including Car Australia (now MOTOR), Australian Motorcycle News and 4x4 Australia - driving and photographing everything from Ladas to Lamborghinis alongside industry greats like Alan Jones, Jim Richards, Peter Brock and many others.

Along the way he developed freelance relationships with a number of marquee clients, including Mazda, SAAB and HSV. He went on to spend four years at a Honda dealership (and later, Mercedes Benz), where he set a series of records in new Honda sales, subsequently being promoted to manage the premium NSX brand.

Peter is an integral part of the marketing team and is involved in our online and offline marketing initiatives, such as this website.
 

Management - Red Hat^® Enterprise Linux^® (REL) Solutions
 

Steve Hall - Product Manager

Steve Hall is the 'Father' of PMDS. Steve has almost 40 years experience as a programmer and 30 years writing Dealer Management System (DMS) software - after starting in the software industry in 1970. In 1980 Steve joined forces with Newmans Motor Group and together they created PMDS™. At this stage most DMS's were simply accounting systems. As word spread of the effectiveness of the product more dealers were requesting the software and consequently Newmans Information Services (NIS) was formed. Steve was a founding shareholder of NIS and now Auto-IT and continues to write highly effective software for dealers to this day.

Wes Caldwell - Development Manager

Wesley Caldwell is the Software Development Manager for Auto-IT's highly respected PMDS Product. Heading up a team of dedicated and experienced programmers, Wesley manages all aspects of the development cycle, including project management, change request management, issue management, patch and release management and technical writing.

His extensive knowledge of the PMDS product can be attributed to over 10 years of experience within Auto-IT, from his early days at Newmans Information Services in the Data Services position, he then spent several years honing his customer service focus and product knowledge in the support department. Having both an appreciation and dedication to the PMDS product, he migrated into roles including quality assurance and software development. Wesley now leads the PMDS development team as they continue to expand the core PMDS product suite whilst also developing modern and exciting browser-based products for PMDS.
 

Lucy Kelly - Client Relations Manager

Lucy Kelly is the PMDS™ Client Relations Manager at Auto-IT and heads up the PMDS™ Account Management team in our Sydney offices, servicing all of our PMDS™ clients.

Before working for Auto-IT, Lucy worked for over 10 years in Senior Management and Operations roles in service-based industries, dealing with clients from a variety of businesses. Lucy draws on her experience in these client-focussed roles to provide first-rate service to Auto-IT's clients. She completed her Master of Business Administration in 2005.
 

Lachlan Rothheudt - National Customer and Technical Services Manager 

Lachlan Rothheudt brings over six years of IT network administration and technical experience within the automotive industry. He now manages all aspects of PMDS™ technical services, including networking and infrastructure installations and support, as well as designing new and improved solutions that make the most of today's technologies.

Before commencing with Auto-I.T. in 2006, Lachlan worked for four years managing the IT division for one of Sydney's larger dealership groups and was an integral part of the company's ability to lead the Australian automotive industry in the utilisation of innovative technologies and processes.
 

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