Providing the whole IT infrastructure around DMS

April 18, 2011 - PRLog -- Where did it all start?
The company started 14 years ago as part of the Pentagon
Motor Group’s IT department. Twelve years later, we broke away from the dealer group to go solo and the company has grown to 27 employees.

Initially, the team was there to help the dealership to get over the issues of a new dealer management system. It soon progressed into helping other motor retailers who found themselves in a similar situation. From our Derby base, we widened our activities into the
development of comprehensive communications management systems for the motor industry. For this, the provision of the highest levels of training and system support became a vital ingredient in the mix.

We then turned our focus onto system installation – offering advice, planning and installation and even developed our own router/ controller called a Navigator™ to cope with dealership specific demands and save dealer costs. In other words, we offered new and dedicated levels of connectivity and savings to our customers from the very outset – something that remains right at the core of our business today.

How do we approach IT with a Dealer?
Cost-reduction and quality are strong beliefs in everything we do, as well as the ability to address any facet of the process. We are accustomed to working within prescribed budgets as well as with existing systems and, above all, we take great pride in
taking true responsibility for the single-sourced business solutions that we offer.
RDS Global believes that its personalised business-to- business/ person-to-person approach, desire and ability to comprehensively understand our clients’ requirements as well as our extensive motor trade experience, gives us the edge over our competitors.
This is achieved by investing time and effort, learning each featurecustomer’s culture and unique business needs and designing a service tailored to meet their exact requirements.

Can we provide Hardware Support as part of your services?
Yes, but not one solution fits all customers. RDS take a bespoke approach to hardware support to each customer’s specific needs whilst cutting costs and delivering quality.

So, where does the Service Plan come into it?
The Service Plan software we provide was introduced as an add-on to the DMS three years ago and was designed for its simplicity and value for money. It started slowly, but when dealers found that it was good value, managed by RDS and we continually trained their staff to sell more plans more efficiently, the word soon spread.
Today there are more than 20,000 RDS Service Plans sold a year, something that we are particularly proud of.

Dealers can go to an array of IT providers, so what makes RDS unique to a motor retailer?
RDS has come from a motor dealer background – most of the employees have worked in the retail motor trade, so they understand the everyday issues that can arise. Where RDS is unique is in the provision of products and services that are required around
the DMS:
Networking – RDS is an internet service provider, so can source the best value for money lines for the business;Networking – RDS is an internet service provider, so can source the best value for money lines for the business;

Hosting – we host DMS, email, file and other servers at our
dedicated data centre in Derby, giving peace of mind to dealers;

Support – we support the whole IT infrastructure from the end user to the PC and to the servers – even certain DMS first line support, therefore covering the whole IT infrastructure.
RDS also supply, install and support all the necessary hardware and software to support the business. It means that, if there are any requirements, issues or questions, there’s just one number to call.

What are the benefits to a dealer of RDS being an ISP (Internet Service Provider)?
Like many dealers, RDS was becoming tired of not being able to get quality and control over an internet (broadband) provision. So, in order to be able to supply a quality of service and have the ability to monitor and correct faults at a very early stage, RDS invested in becoming an ISP, not only for peace of mind, but predominantly to give our customers a better service.

In a sentence, what does RDS offer that others don’t?
A unique “one stop shop” as we install and support all dealer IT, as well as own any problems from start to finish – whether it’s our
system or someone else’s’.

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RDS-Global was formed in 1997 to support one of the UK's leading independent motor retail groups. Such was the success of the company, and its ability to provide first class support and DMS training to the retail motor industry.