ADP & GM Access shut down

[DealerProfit]

Really the details don't matter from a cost perspective. Yes the technology is advancing, and that warrants change, but to take advantage of the situation for yet another round of cost transference to the dealership. Come on GM..... Looking towards the future GM and others are going to have the dealer body in a position of covering the vast majority of bill which might make the company profitable for a while, but look a little further out. GM becomes just another vendor selling a product. Can't wait until we can kick them around. Price, delivery time, quality of product, are your people sufficiently trained to interface with mine, etc......

[texaslp]

"With regards to GM lowering their bill to the dealers. I believe their position is that they will not be lowering their charges"

No big surprise there. I was asking that question quite sarcastically.

[Matt Parsons]

We agree with you that we would like to know a long-term plan, but unfortunately that has not been revealed by GM with a significant level of detail. I do know that GM works closely with their Dealer IT Council and other such groups as the devise their strategy. I am not sure who all the members are but you may ask your GM rep to get you a listing as maybe their is a dealer from your general vicinity or franchise that you could speak with to see if they have greater insight into what the future holds with GM (or possible look in the GM Edge Publications as they may have report outs from these councils).

I do know that there are a large number of workbenches on the horizon (I often hear several dozen) and these will be rolled out of a multi-year schedule.

P.S., keep in mind that part of the GM IDMS program is that if a dealer chooses to purchase a GM IDMS Endorsed system through the GM Contracting process they are guaranteed to get all future factory integration points at no additional charge. This does not mean that if there are infrastructure changes that those are free, but the integration charges are no charge for the life of the GM Agreement (6-years) even though the dealers contract with GM is month-to-month.

If people are not familiar with IDMS, I am happy to post a topic on this and explain what this program is all about.

[This message has been edited by Matt Parsons (edited 10-09-2007).]

[This message has been edited by Matt Parsons (edited 10-09-2007).]

[drapp]

As of today I still have not been able to obtain answers from ADP for the following two questions.

1 - EXACTLY what impact does the removal of the GM Access server have on FACTS? All the documents from ADP on the DCS / GM Access issue make reference to it effecting FACTS but nobody at ADP seems able to tell me what effect it will have.

2 - Will the currently available software contract also cover the upcoming changes to RAPID in June 2008? We spent money on DCS about 10-12 months ago, now here we are again, I don't want to be here again in 8-9 months dealing with more cost increases.

With all due respect to ADP - their sales staff handling of this is HORRIBLE! No one and I mean NO ONE can answer simple direct questions as to what it is they are asking us to buy.

[deboss]

I am not on ADP so maybe my understanding is not correct, but - When we submit our FACTS statement it is done in the form of a Excel spreadsheet (called TBEdit I think) and is sent to the General via the internet. It has been this way for a few years now. When the change was made a few years ago I thought all Vendors would be submitting there financial statements in this format and manner. We have not needed what was commonly called DCS for several years now (not including Rapid) I am certain there are configuration and security issues involved but it would seem that ADP would be transmitting FACTS along with Warranty, Deliveries, and whatever else used to require DCS software via the internet. I used to pay ADP nearly $500 a month for DCS (actually the old CARS/Dyatron program). This all went away several years ago when my DMS provider (Autosoft) began providing this at no additional cost. This refreshes my memory of why I changed several years ago. I do not miss the former need to purchase upgrades to my software everytime the General has a better idea.

[Matt Parsons]

GM FACTS is not affected by the GM ACCESS decomission project. As stated, FACTS was changed several years ago to be a web-based solution.

With regards to future integration changes we as ADP can not charge for those in advance of them occurring as this would violate items such as Sarbannes Oxley. I can not say if there will or will not be charges for future changes as I have not seen the planning for these items at this time.

I can tell you that if you are contracted under our IDMS program, all future GM integration points are included at no additional charge for the life of the ADP/GM Contract (72-months). This is one of the benfits of the GM IDMS program in which ADP Web200X and Web1000 are both endorsed platforms. Additional benefits are a month-to-month contract and no price increases for the life of the term.

If you would like to know more about IDMS, please speak with your ADP Sales Associate and they can help you to understand the value points of becoming an IDMS dealer.

[drapp]

Matt

I appreciate your responses.

If FACTS are not part of this DCS package why does the letter from ADP dated October 22, 2007, contain the following statement?

"With this new release, the following applications will be replaced with the necessary Internet-based versions in order to maintain your DCS functionality: Financial Statements (FACTS), Customer ..."

I am very familiar with the way we currently send facts to GM. We currently download a trial balance excel spreadsheet from dealerworld. Using a function called TFD we "pull" a data file from our DMS to a PC and this file populates the spreadsheet. Once the spreadsheet passes its own edits then that document is transmitted directly to dealerworld from the PC. It has been suggested by an ADP employee that a portion of the DCS software is required to perform the TFD function, however, this person was not sure. This person was supposed to contact a Ms. Sipes on my behalf but unfortunately I have not heard anything further.

I will take your information / explanation to my dealer and hope for the best.

Thanks again.

[This message has been edited by drapp (edited 11-01-2007).]

[Matt Parsons]

drapp, would you send a copy of the ADP letter to my eFax number? 888-712-9420 and I will research further...

[Matt Parsons]

OK, now I understand the confusion. drapp thanks for the letter. What the letter was trying to convey, is that for Elite and Web200X clients, the GM DCS Package Release 2.5 replaces what the dealer has been purchasing from ADP. The letter was trying to show all the items included in the new bundle (which some are the same as the old bundle). When the new bundle is purchased it replaces the old bundle including the billing.

For clarification, FACTS is not affected by this switch as it is the same in either the old bundle or the new.

Hope this helps.

[drapp]

Thank you for the information