Auto-Mate founder Dimension Data and software development company MIP Holdings have formed a joint venture (JV) to assume mutual and equal responsibility for Auto-Mate, the automotive dealer management system. The companies say the move assures Auto-Mate customers of world-class development and support for the system.
[VIDEO]Auto-Mate is used by 70% of motor dealers in SA. Its more than 800 customers - which together have over 4 500 employers using the Auto-Mate system daily - include most of the best-known names in the industry such as Barloworld, Unitrans, Super Group, Imperial and Combined Motor Holdings.
"Dimension Data found the establishment of the joint venture with MIP to be the best option for fulfilling its long-term commitment to customers," says Johan Coetzee, executive director of integration services at Dimension Data.
"The current Auto-Mate version was developed more than seven years ago and has seen many modifications over the years. This has resulted in multiple versions, making support challenging. We therefore made a major commitment to upgrade the entire system and ensure all users are standardised on the same version.
"Auto-Mate is written in the Progress development environment which was recently reassessed by Dimension Data`s global technology development group in Washington. The group determined that it remains the most robust and appropriate platform for this type of mission-critical application," adds Coetzee.
MIP says it is the leading Progress partner in SA with the largest base of Progress skills, and is one of the foremost Progress development shops in the world. The Nasdaq-listed Progress Software Corporation has chosen MIP Holding`s Internet component framework for Web-enabling Progress applications as its global standard.
[VIDEO]"The creation of the JV between Dimension Data and MIP provides a win-win scenario for all parties," Coetzee adds. "It assures Dimension Data of access to the skills required to upgrade and maintain Auto-Mate, while offering MIP an opportunity to share in the fruits of a major development project. Additionally, it gives Auto-Mate staff greater opportunities to grow the product and - most importantly - it assures our customers of ongoing access to leading-edge technology."
Michael Botha, MD of Auto-Mate, and MIP CEO Richard Firth, agree. "The motor vehicle dealer market is undergoing significant change," Botha says. "It is much more customer-centric today than ever before, and the opportunities this presents mandates a new dealer management system, which can also support the ever-closer relationship between dealers and manufacturers.
"Our partnership with MIP will ensure stability in the short-term and sustainability in the long-term for Auto-Mate. This is vital for the dealer network, which relies on Auto-Mate for its daily back-office requirements."
"This joint venture is of enormous importance for MIP, again underscoring the quality of our development skills and our ability to deliver on large, complex projects," says Firth.
Auto-Mate runs largely in host-based mode, with servers housed in Paulshof and terminals located at dealer sites. A few customers have their own customised client/server systems. MIP aims to migrate all clients to the more user-friendly, graphic and technically elegant Web-enabled, Web client model.
MIP will bed down the existing systems over the next six months before beginning the task of redevelopment next January. This exercise is expected to last 18 months.
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