J.D. Byrider Junks Old Technologies and Drives Franchisees Down the Road to Success

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1 J.D. BYRIDER J.D. Byrider Junks Old Technologies and Drives Franchisees Down the Road to Success J.D. Byrider is a franchise-based business that sells used vehicles to lower-income buyers, many of whom have credit problems. The company had spent millions of dollars and four years developing a line-of-business application system with Sun Solaris Unix in a Lawson application development environment. With no new system in sight, franchisees were left with an old, minimally supported system running on Linux using dbase files. As a result, a high level of frustration existed within their own company and the franchisee group. Byrider made the decision to switch their development environment to Intel-based servers in a Microsoft SQL Server and ASP development environment. Microsoft Business Solutions Axapta was selected as the enterprise accounting package. Within 12 months, the new solution was operational. Since the implementation, franchisees and managers can view their business operations in real time. Critical application problems have been reduced by more than 93 percent, operational costs have been slashed, and franchisee satisfaction is high.

2 CUSTOMER PROFILE J.D. Byrider franchises sell basic transportation to customers with poor credit histories, or without credit. The company has 135 locations across 34 states and more than 1,500 system users. Collectively, the franchisees sell more than 6,500 cars per month. BUSINESS SITUATION J.D. Byrider had spent four years developing a line-of-business application system to manage their franchise business. Information analysis was difficult to achieve. With no operational system in sight and costs continuing to climb, franchisees and Byrider s management were frustrated. SOLUTION DESCRIPTION The development environment was switched to Intel-based servers with development done in ASP. The line-ofbusiness application logic was salvaged and interfaced to Microsoft SQL Server, and functionality was updated. Microsoft Business Solutions Axapta was implemented as the enterprise accounting solution. BENEFITS Critical application problems have been reduced by more than 93 percent The line-of-business system provides higher functionality and workflow support at 16 percent less cost Franchisees can focus on growing their businesses PARTNER(S) Altara SOFTWARE AND SERVICES Microsoft Office XP Professional Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Microsoft Windows XP Professional VERTICAL INDUSTRIES Hard Lines Retailing Retail and Hospitality COUNTRY/REGION United States AUDIENCES Business Decision Makers 2 MICROSOFT BUSINESS SOLUTIONS AXAPTA CUSTOMER EVIDENCE

3 Situation J.D. Byrider bills themselves as the industry leader and North America s largest chain of used car sales and special financing dealerships with 135 locations in 34 states. Most of the J.D. Byrider dealerships are individual, turnkey, franchised businesses that are part of a national system. Michael Maenhout, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, says, All the hassles of the day-to-day administration are removed from them (the franchisees). They get 99.99% uptime and system availability. They don t have to worry about the latest virus, upgrades to the software, backups, etc. We do that we are a full service information technology provider to them. Byrider is a certified Microsoft partner by virtue of their business relationship with their franchisees. The company has been highly successful, as evidenced by their recognition as the #6 best franchise in the U.S. by Success magazine in Byrider franchises sell five- to ten-yearold, basic transportation to people with credit problems. In fact, many of Byrider s customers have experienced multiple bankruptcies. Why would a company want to target this difficult market? Byrider believes this used car segment of the automobile industry is the largest franchise market in the world. The average car on the road in the U.S., according to Byrider, is over eight years old. This results in a successful business venture for the company, selling what is always in demand, even if there is a downturn in the economy. Additional sales are generated through the financing program, extended service contracts, and insurance products. THE NEVER-ENDING DEVELOPMENT STORY Byrider had spent millions of dollars and four years developing a line-ofbusiness application system to support its franchisees. The solution was being developed using Sun Solaris Unix in a Lawson application development environment. The extended development period left users without a new system and no realistic date for its completion. It also left the existing Linux production system with minimal maintenance and support and little new functionality or development. In 2000, Michael Maenhout was hired as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. It was incumbent on his information technology group to demonstrate that they could deliver on the promises of a new system both quickly and cost effectively. The CASE tools being used for development were not robust enough and the cost of the MICROSOFT BUSINESS SOLUTIONS AXAPTA CUSTOMER EVIDENCE 3

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5 infrastructure and software was too high compared to what we could get from a Microsoft solution with Intel servers, Maenhout says. TWO OPTIONS FOR THE FOUNDATION Maenhout saw two options for their development environment. The first was to stay with their Linux-based servers and use Java. The other option was an Intel-based server solution with Microsoft technologies, initially using ASP and later Microsoft ASP.NET for development. Byrider opted for the Microsoft solution set, including Microsoft SQL Server for the data store, for several reasons. They believed that with the Microsoft solution, there was a single company standing behind the products, training was readily available, talent was readily available, there was no question that they would be able to make it work, and they felt confident that the company would still be there in the future. In addition, they believed the cost of a Microsoft solution compared with a Linux/Java solution was basically the same. With no additional cost and less risk, the obvious choice was the Microsoft solution. Their strategy was to salvage the existing application business logic, interface it to Microsoft SQL Server, and update it with new functionality. THE ENTERPRISE ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE The next choice was an enterprise accounting software package. Because their 100+ franchisees were each organized as separate business units, they needed an enterprise strength financial solution to provide headquarters with good insights into the financial performance of each individual unit. Because they had already settled on a Microsoft solution, they wanted a system that was compatible and ideally, would be a Microsoft SQL Server solution as well. The solution also had to fit into their cost parameters. The company and a select group of franchisees looked at several vendors. Lawson would not scale to handle their over 100 different franchisees, and PeopleSoft's cost was prohibitive. Oracle was also considered. Microsoft Business Solutions Axapta was the clear choice for its technical fit as well as its business functionality. Solution Within 12 months, the existing line-ofbusiness application system was rearchitected to use Microsoft SQL Server for all data storage. Microsoft Axapta was implemented and fully integrated with the line-of-business system for all GL/AR/AP transactions. All reports from the line-of-business system were rewritten as ASP browserbased reports. MICROSOFT BUSINESS SOLUTIONS AXAPTA CUSTOMER EVIDENCE 5

6 Since we went to this development and operational model with Microsoft technologies, Our uptime has just been phenomenal, especially compared with others in the industry. I talk to people in other businesses locally, and nobody can hold a candle to our uptime. Dave Beckman VP & Chief Technology Officer J.D. Byrider Byrider was assisted in the Microsoft Axapta implementation by Microsoft reselling partner Altara (formerly nfocus Technologies). Byrider s goal was to become self-sufficient, without the need to rely on a lot of consulting. Altara, Microsoft reselling partner, assisted them with the implementation and in meeting their goals of developing the ability to manage the system independently. The Microsoft Axapta part of the solution was ready for some time before the other components were in place. They ve implemented better than most people in terms of getting knowledge internally. The system is in real-time. Today it is so important that things are done instantly and seamlessly, says Brad Dennison of Altara. He also says that at the time of installation, the Byrider Microsoft Axapta implementation was believed to be the largest in North America, with 200 users across the U.S. The line-of-business application now runs on Linux servers but uses Microsoft SQL server as the database. The application is being converted to.net, one module at a time. Benefits NEW FUNCTIONALITY; FEWER APPLICATION PROBLEMS After four years of failed development, [the franchisees] didn t believe it was going to happen that this new system using Microsoft SQL Server and Axapta would really be finished and operational in one year. When we started converting the franchisees from the old system to the new, people recognized that there was a lot of new functionality. Now all franchisees have been converted to the new system, Maenhout says, and they love it. Customer-reported critical application problems have been reduced by more than 93 percent since the implementation. REAL-TIME KNOWLEDGE OF THE BUSINESS The previous system was batchoriented. At night the users had to press a button, create a file, release from one module, and post to another module. Now they have their fingers on the pulse of what s going on in their business. Our business is 6 MICROSOFT BUSINESS SOLUTIONS AXAPTA CUSTOMER EVIDENCE

7 geared around real-time knowledge. You can be anywhere and use a VPN internet connection to know your payment stream and expenses at any moment, Maenhout says. ROBUSTNESS From the business standpoint, Maenhout says, The business functionality is extremely robust. Everybody likes it. There are no issues. It's highly reliable. The performance and accuracy of the system have been excellent. RELIABILITY AND UPTIME Byrider sells over 6,500 cars per month across their 135 locations. They typically process more than 350,000 combined GL, AP, and AR transactions per month. There are normally 100 to 130 concurrent users active in the Microsoft Axapta interface at a given time over a wide area network using the thin three-layer model. Dave Beckman, Byrider s Chief Technology Officer, comments on the reliability of the system that handles this large user group and transaction volume. Since we went to this development and operational model with Microsoft technologies, our uptime has just been phenomenal, especially compared with others in the industry. I talk to people in other businesses locally, and nobody can hold a candle to our uptime. We just don t have unscheduled downtime, Beckman says. EFFICIENCY The technical side is extremely efficient for the number of transactions that we pump through it, Maenhout says. As much as we ve tried and tried to blame Microsoft Axapta for being a poor performer on some occasions, it s always come back to our systems. I just think that the underlying architecture and design of the Microsoft Axapta product is extremely strong. The people who mapped it out did an excellent job of putting it together so that it can be maintained and customized by the user when necessary. Microsoft Business Solutions offer integrated business applications and services that allow small and midsize organizations and divisions of large enterprises to connect employees, customers, and suppliers for improved efficiency. The financial management, customer relationship management, supply chain management, and analytics applications work with other Microsoft software, including the Microsoft Office System and the Windows operating system, to streamline processes across an entire organization. This gives businesses insight to respond rapidly, plan strategically, and execute quickly. Microsoft Business Solutions are delivered through a worldwide network of channel partners that provide specialized services and local support tailored to a company s needs. For more information about Microsoft Business Solutions, go to: MICROSOFT BUSINESS SOLUTIONS AXAPTA CUSTOMER EVIDENCE 7

8 FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) in the United States or (905) in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: For more information about J.D. Byrider products and services, call (317) or visit the Web site at: For more information about Altara products and services in the Midwest (formerly nfocus Technologies) call (877) This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Axapta, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.