Microsoft Corporation
July 1996
Recognizing the need to streamline communications and information distribution between corporate headquarters and its 8,500 dealers in North America, General Motors (GM) is developing GM ACCESS—an expansive dealer information program. This solution will link GM world headquarters in Detroit with its entire North American dealership network to provide fast, accurate sales, financing, and service information, which will improve customer service while saving dealerships time and money.
The GM ACCESS project team, consisting of GM Sales, Service, and Marketing, EDS (Electronic Data Systems), and a 14-member council of General Motors dealers, chose the Microsoft® Windows NT® Server version 4.0 network operating system for several key reasons. Its built-in Internet, intranet, and communications services support GM's long-term information technology (IT) strategy. Its new Windows® 95 operating system user interface makes it even easier to deploy and manage and thus helps reduce training costs. And its high performance can help speed up information distribution between GM's corporate headquarters and its dealers.
Until now, GM dealers sent vehicle and parts orders, warranty information, and other details to headquarters through the GM Pulsat satellite network. However, information from headquarters—such as application updates, service diagnostics, and bulletins—was sent to dealers on magnetic tape, CD-ROM, floppy disks, and paper. The time required to create and distribute these materials often resulted in the information being outdated by the time the dealers received it. It was also hard to ensure that the information reached the appropriate person or department at the dealership.
As the volume of information increased, the need to get that information to the dealers in a timely, consistent manner became a top priority according to Ken Roesler, GM Project Manager for GM ACCESS. "Whether it is the cost of money, features and benefits of the vehicles, or the latest service diagnostics, we want dealers to have fresh information consistently presented to the consumer at the point of use," explains Roesler.
Because the dealerships operate on a wide range of hardware and software platforms and because they have minimal, if any, IT support staff, the solution developed had to be extremely easy to use.
Taking these challenges into account, the project team identified three key tasks that the solution must accomplish:
The resulting solution is GM ACCESS, a dealership automation program that will facilitate the exchange of real-time information and communication. The beta test version of GM ACCESS includes three key applications—a vehicle locator, a graphical sales tool used to configure vehicles, and an e-mail system—all running on Windows NT Server 4.0. The software runs on a Compaq Prosignia 300 application server located at each dealership. Each server ties into a TCP/IP local area network at the dealership and connects to GM corporate headquarters via the Pulsat satellite network. The system is being tested at the 14 dealerships represented on the advisory council as well as in a pilot installation of six additional dealers.
According to Wayne Stein, EDS Project Manager for GM ACCESS, the project team members evaluated two other network operating systems before they decided on Windows NT Server. They chose Windows NT Server because it meets virtually all of their requirements:
"Windows NT Server 4.0 provides an outstanding base for GM ACCESS," Stein concludes.
In addition to the overall advantages of Windows NT Server, the GM ACCESS team chose version 4.0 specifically because it includes built-in Web services, the Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 browser, and all the tools necessary to have an intranet up and running within hours. The team also chose it for its new Windows 95 user interface, which makes administration easier and can help reduce training time.
"One of the big reasons we went with Windows NT Server 4.0 is because we want to be absolutely Internet compatible," notes Roesler. "We want our retail stores to be easily accessible to customers electronically."
General Motors already has a number of brand Web sites. In addition, it is offering each dealer a free Web page that will link back to the brand Web pages. This setup will enable customers not only to locate a dealer from the brand Web sites but also to jump from the dealer's Web page back to the brand site for more information on specific products. Customers can also establish a relationship with a dealer via Internet e-mail.
According to Roesler, the company is currently looking at creating intranet applications to be used within the dealerships. And it is surveying dealers to find out whether they're interested in offering additional features, such as service scheduling and inventory availability, through their home pages. "We're trying to leverage the total capabilities of the tool," Roesler notes.
Results from beta testing and the pilot installation indicate that GM ACCESS can help improve productivity throughout the dealerships. "We know that today about 50 percent of the time spent with a customer is spent trying to figure out the price of a product. In this new environment, we can present that information immediately," Roesler notes.
This system can also improve service productivity. Quickly disseminating service bulletins and diagnostic software from GM headquarters as soon as a service problem is discovered and resolved can shorten the resolution of those problems for subsequent customers. This can improve customer service as well as profitability for the dealer.
Because GM ACCESS is a very open system, it can potentially work with other business-critical applications within the dealerships, such as wheel balancing, parts catalogs, and inventory systems, to provide a tightly integrated solution that supports quicker service for customers and reduces costs for the dealer.
In addition, Windows NT Server support for centralized management enables EDS to monitor and manage performance of all servers remotely from its offices in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and make any midstream adjustments necessary to optimize the system. This can keep support costs down as well.