ADP WebSuite 2007 vs. Dealertrack

[drapp]

We cannot seem to come to terms with ADP / CDK, we are just too far apart to make the deal. Therefore, we are beginning the process of looking at the 'tier 2' DMS companies. First up is Dealertrack and obviously I have questions and reservations:

1 - What specifically should I be asking during the demo?

2 - What should I be aware of as far as functionality? All departments - not just parts.

3 - Are there any optional add-ins (software) that we really should consider?

4 - What are we going to miss about ADP - besides the cost?

Any insight would be helpful. I don't care how minor you think it may be please post your thoughts and suggestions. Or if you have another vendor that you think may be better I would like to hear about that as well.

[MovingForward]

Drapp,

We made that exact same switch about 3 years. Couldn't be happier with the switch. The biggest difference between ADP & Dealertrack in my opinion is reporting. However there are always ways to work around it.

Biggest parts difference in my opinion is stocking groups instead of sources.

Biggest thing to learn in accounting is the decimal point. With Dealertrack you must put in the decimal point.

If you have any particular questions or would like to discuss anything via phone get a hold of me on here and I would be happy to talk with you about Dealertrack.

[drapp]

What franchise(s) do you sell? Do you have GM? We only have GM.

[Richard]

*sighs* SO LUCKY....I wish I was going back to dealertrack....CDK DRIVE is garbage.

Dealertrack - you can actually see what you've sold today, or MTD, or YTD.... on Drive you have to wait overnight.

Doing a single bin or group of bins inventory is damn near impossible on CDK while you're open. It was very easy on DT.

Changing bin location was easy on DT.

Service RO's were simpler on DT.

Oh, best of all, all customers are shared, you don't have to stop and Add a service or sales customer if they want to buy or order a part.

[MovingForward]

Drapp,

We are Nissan, but Richard is GM I believe.

[steve@gmdealer]

Richard, Perhaps you should have another round of training to lessen your frustration... I don't have issues with any of those things.

[tcollins]

I spent 7 years with Dealertrack and currently use ADP/CDK. There are things I like about both and things I don't and that holds true for just about all other DMS systems as well. Dealertrack is a very simple system. It's easy to use and easy to teach. In the parts department, most of the counter people can be up and running in a day or two working independently. Two short coming I found we're the limited amount of reports although they were rolling out a report generator as I was leaving and it may be far more advanced now but it was limited at that time. All other reports were created and not customizable. Typically, I would run several reports and add them to a spreadsheet to get what I wanted. The second was DMS support. It was difficult to get to a high enough level to be able to find someone that was willing to take the time to fully understand whatever challenge you were facing. The lower level support always gives you the feeling that you must have done something wrong rather than there might be something going on with there system. I often found it took several days and often several weeks of back and forth phone calls to get a resolution.

ADP/CDK is a big robust system built layer by layer over years with huge capabilities both in reporting and daily task management. Some things are cumbersome, difficult to learn and understand, other things straight forward. Because of the multiple systems there are often several ways to accomplish the same task. For instance, I can think of at least 3 ways to post parts to inventory, each with it's advantages and disadvantages. Support is pretty good as you would expect from a tier 1 DMS, we have the ability to call, email, and chat and the response for the most part is OK. The draw back is trying to teach this monster to not only your own department but the dealership as a whole. Although you can pay for dealership training or go to a training center, it is difficult to find correct or current processes on your own and documentation is somewhat limited and served in broken pieces. There are several WBT but they don't encompass enough of the system to be adequate. (Dealertrack has a very useful WIKI that I found very helpful, well written, accurate and described every aspect of every program in detail and was updated regularly) To fully utilize this system and to gain the efficiencies possible you need a total dealership commitment to learning it fully. Each department has to set up and use all it's features and failing to do that creates fragmented and inefficient departments.

In speaking to dozens of other parts manager's around the country regarding Dealetrack a theme became apparent. For those manager's that have been around for quite some time and were use to a Tier 1 DMS, they felt Dealertrack was limited and restricting and they had a hard time adapting. For those new to the position or with limited Tier 1 experience that was not true and they adjusted well and in most cases liked Dealertrack program. I understand that's a generalization but if reflects the conversations I had. You may be different.

In my opinion, the automotive industry is ready for someone to create a system from the ground up based on what we do and how we operate with robust reporting, CRM capabilities built into every work station and POS software available to all front line employees. IPAD's, cell phones, and tablets, parts scanners and RF technology fully integrated between departments all in real time and cloud based. The current Tier 1 DMS systems and even Dealertrack are simply systems that were built in the 1970's and updated over and over again, with little thought about how requirements for dealership personnel have changed nor how our industry has evolved.

[drapp]

Thanks for the information - I appreciate it.

Our demo is this Thursday. I have become accustomed to ADP over the years and expect that any information I need can 'somehow' be extracted from the report generator if I 'think' about how to do it. That may be the biggest problem making the change.

However, we have been forced into a corner and simply cannot be expected to pay what they are asking. Also the server would be leaving the building and we would be risking the whole business on our internet connection. If we are going to base everything on the internet connection then we might as well save some money and go the tier 2 route. AT LEAST THEY SEEM TO WANT OUR BUSINESS. CDK doesn't seem to care if we stay or go - just pay them. We have been with them for nearly 19 years.