Porsche
Informatik
Business Partner Management System
Porsche Informatik, based in Salzburg, Austria, is linking its network of dealers via an internet portal. Dealers, partners and retail customers are connected through the portal and are constantly kept in touch with the latest information.
Porsche Informatik needed an internet solution that would allow 250 Austrian dealers to build custom websites whilst simultaneously incorporating the existing brand and supplier content. Using Hyperwave technology, editing tools and other centrally integrated applications, dealers can now adapt their own web pages and make individual content available. The web-based system accepts an unlimited number of viewers and is a means of improving the efficiency of Porsche’s partnerships, using a shared, central website as a reliable source of information.
Dealers have the choice of different layout designs for their web pages. Using their preferred option, they can design an individual site that follows the Porsche Corporate Design scheme, allowing every contracted dealer an opportunity to showcase itself and its products via the web. The easy-to-use Hyperwave software ensures that relevant information pages can be drawn up very simply, without any existing programming knowledge and keeping the information up-to-date is simple.
An integrated editing system enables every dealer to distribute content in the form of news and current information, photos or event data. Customers can then find out about the range of dealer services in their area, giving them access to all relevant market-related data and applications at the same time. The Hyperwave Enterprise Content Management platform allows Porsche Informatik another channel-to-market in terms of advertising.
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A used car application was also incorporated into the system, which offers information about the entire range of second-hand vehicles available from dealers. The used car database lists a total of 15,000 vehicles. Using various filter criteria such as specifications or colour, customers can find out if and where their desired second-hand car is available.
Looking for a suitable used car is now quicker and less complicated for customers and the same applies to the Porsche dealers included in the system. If a certain type of car cannot be supplied at the required location, the dealer can consult the online network and find out if fellow dealers have the right car in stock. All customers can be dealt with efficiently and the improvement in customer service levels has noticeably affected Porsche Informatik’s bottom line.
"Information processing is not an end in itself for us but a means of increasing the efficiency of our dealers. They specify what is required. Hyperwave software has been a vital support in developing a Porsche-quality integrated IT solution for dealers and customers," comments Josef Bayrhammer, IT manager at Porsche Informatik.
The Hyperwave-based applications have achieved a high level of acceptance among users, due to ease-of-use and flexibility. The internet solution is scaleable and can operate with Oracle and Microsoft SQL server database systems. Currently, it is running on an UNIX operating system. The modularity and ability to integrate the Hyperwave software were decisive factors for Porsche Informatik’s IT department.
It only took a short time for the new system to be adopted by the car dealers. The portal solution was extended to also include Eastern European dealers. Hyperwave’s Multiple Language Support ensured that no language problems occurred and the dealers were integrated with ease. Dealers in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia and Slovakia now design their own web pages based on the Porsche Informatik portal and take an active role in the company-wide exchange of information.
By using a shared internet solution, new developments can be made readily available in all partner countries. Overall, a total of 380 dealers benefit from the online solution through Porsche Informatik, 250 of which are based in Austria alone.
About Porsche Informatik
Porsche Informatik, a subsidiary of Porsche Holding and one of the most successful motor-trade firms in Europe, currently acts as a consultant, developer and operator of EDP solutions for motor-trade activities in eight countries (Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Rumania, Slovakia and Slovenia).