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| Case Study |
Posted:February 22,2008 |
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MyTVS is a chain of multi-brand auto servicing and repair workshops from India’s largest automobile distribution and services company, T V Sundram Iyengar and Sons Ltd. The company wanted to implement a new IT solution to provide outstanding service to its franchisee network and their end customers. This solution will take advantage of several new technologies in Microsoft Windows Server® 2008, SQL Server™ 2008; Internet Information Services 7.0 and the Active Directory® service. With the new platform, MyTVS secures individual franchisee’s data on a virtualized solution, hosted by Excellon Software, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.
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| Situation |
The Customer Centric Businesses (CCB) Division of T V Sundram Iyengar & Sons Ltd. (TVS) recently launched MyTVS, the brand under which it is integrating its three motoring service initiatives. The initiatives include multi-brand service facilities for all cars, sales of pre-owned cars, and roadside emergency assistance services.
The car servicing business is built primarily on the franchisee model. The company had earlier implemented a desktop-based software application at all its service centers. Franchisees would enter transactions offline and send data to TVS on a weekly basis. This system had several drawbacks and TVS decided to completely replace it with a modern solution.
With the launch of the MyTVS brand, the company had ambitious growth plans, and they intend to increase the number of franchisees to 379 across the country over the next four years. They required a server-based, centralized IT solution to manage this growth and to ensure that the following three key pain areas were addressed:
 Customer service: Real-time tracking of all processes, from receiving the car, giving an estimate, to final vehicle delivery.
Inventory management: It was critical for TVS & Sons to identify parts shortages, plug leakages and get a centralized view of inventory across all service stations.
Customer management: There was no way to track service due dates and trigger reminders for individual vehicles. |
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" The solution allows our network of franchisees to improve service levels at a lower cost, while enabling us to build and operate a flexible, secure platform to meet growing business demands."
Mr. R. Srivatchan
President – Customer Centric Businesses, T V Sundram Iyengar & Sons
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| Solution |
It was time for MyTVS to invest in a solution that would allow each franchisee to securely communicate with the parent organization, provide real-time reports, and streamline processes and interactions for an improved and standardized customer experience.
The company opted for a solution from Excellon Software, an Independent Software Vendor, as a hosted solution built on the Microsoft platform. “We finalized on Excellon’s solution based on their deep domain knowledge. Moreover, as a growing business, we did not want to make a large upfront capital investment to host the solution in-house, so Excellon’s externally hosted solution offered a significant cash flow advantage,” explains Mr. Srivatchan.
“Excellon’s software expertise was evident in the flexible architecture of their solution, which permitted users to continue working even if connectivity was temporarily lost. Also, the solution provided user-friendly features like a report configurator and a familiar Windows look and feel,” added Mr. V. Sundar, Chief Information Officer, TVS & Sons.
Discussions with Excellon began in mid-2006 and implementation commenced in early 2007. The solution is currently implemented at 45 franchisees in the southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu and will extend to all 52 by June 2008.
Excellon took the opportunity to test its solution on the pre-release version of Windows Server 2008 with IIS 7.0. “We realized that Windows Server 2008, with built-in web and virtualization capabilities, would increase the reliability and flexibility of the solution considerably,” says Vishnu Tambi, Director, Excellon Software.
The solution leverages the virtualization technology of Windows Server 2008 to enable MyTVS to use the same server to store and manage multiple databases, currently running on SQL Server 2005. The solution is being tested on SQL Server™ 2008 and will soon be upgraded to provide significantly improved levels of security, reliability, and scalability.
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| Benefits |
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Increased Security |
Windows Server 2008 provides improved security compared to previous versions by protecting against failure. Several new technologies help prevent unauthorized connections to the networks, servers, data, and user accounts using Network Access Protection (NAP). “NAP is one of the key reasons for the high acceptance amongst franchisees, as any computer that tries to connect to another franchisee’s network must comply with the set security policy,” explains Mr. B. Jegadeeswaran, Assistant Manager – ITS, TVS & Sons.
In addition, data security will be enhanced using Microsoft SQL Server™ 2008, as it will enable encryption of the entire database, data files and log files, without the need for changes to the application.
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Lowers Cost Substantially |
The “pay-per-user” licensing model from Excellon ensures that MyTVS incurs additional costs only when a new franchisee begins to use the application. Also the annuity payment ensures that costs are manageable and predictable.
“We have reduced total cost of ownership with this solution. This optimization of IT infrastructure allows each franchisee’s data to be stored securely, as if in a stand-alone application.”
Mr. V. Sundar, Chief Information Officer, TVS & Sons.
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Simpler Customization |
The application can be easily enhanced. Changes in business logic, reports, workflows and master data can be quickly and easily rolled out to all users seamlessly and in the background, ensuring that all users are always on the latest version.
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Create Customized Reports |
| Probably the biggest benefit is the simple manner in which TVS and the franchisees can create custom reports. A Microsoft Office Excel 2007 front end enables data to be picked up from SQL Server and rendered in a pivot report, by which users can simply drag and drop fields and drill down into different aspects. |
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Related Information |
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