User-Centred Experiences of Peugeot Customers of Maan Auto in Finland, Supported by Applications Management from Ireland
Maan Auto has been supplying Peugeot cars, spares and accessories in Finland for over 50 years via an extensive dealer network.
The challenge was to update the company web-site - the resultant application needed to be fully integrated into existing support services. Maan Auto turned to Capgemini in Ireland who had delivered Applications Management services for several years.
A Next Generation web-site by Capgemini in Ireland using a thin-client interface from IBM Websphere, supported by comprehensive services for Applications and Infrastructure Management, is the result. It creates a platform for Maan Auto to introduce M-Commerce in future.
When car drivers in Finland think of Peugeot, they drive to Oy Maan Auto AB - a habit that goes back over 50 years since the company’s founding.
The company is organised as four divisions: Import, Sales, After Sales and Administrative. Maan Auto is a subsidiary of the SOK Group.
In a fast-paced and competitive sector, the 74-strong dealer network accounts for a turnover of FIM 1,040 million.
Business Requirements
Representing a dealership for one of Europe’s larger volume car manufacturers, Maan Auto enjoyed a healthy demand from Peugeot drivers in Finland. Added to this was the emergence of alternative distribution channels like the Internet that was highly popular for consumers in Finland.
For Maan Auto, it was imperative that its window to the world was not only useful to satisfy world-class user experiences, it also needed to be streets ahead in terms of functionality and scope.
Back-office systems at Maan Auto included DMS, a Distributor Management System running on IBM AS/400. This supported all dealers, with interfaces to other systems at Maan Auto. Although DMS was adequate to serve back-office processes, the “green screens” were not conducive to the same user-friendly interface to front-office applications as more recent web-based alternatives.
Maan Auto wanted to see how it could link DMS with a new “thin-client” front-office application. The company had a strong rapport with Capgemini. The latter was providing AM (Applications Management) from Ireland, supported by Infrastructure Management from Finland. The relationship between Maan Auto and Capgemini spanned some 14 years.
Capgemini was invited to help Maan Auto develop a strategy, and deliver a solution that was seamlessly integrated into existing services.
The Capgemini Solution
The creation and maintenance of a world-class online presence for Maan Auto required a long-term strategy to guide the company through each generation of the Web. The Next Generation solution from Capgemini would keep Maan Auto ahead of consumer expectations in terms of site usability and functionality.
Capgemini’s global profile coupled with strong local presence was an important factor in developing a strategy that Maan Auto could adopt. This included use of IBM Websphere to provide a thin-client interface to DMS. The project team included graphical design experts from DareStep in Milan.
Workshops with dealers helped to establish requirements and scope the project. High level and detailed plans were set up to provide Maan Auto with project status at all times. Specifications for development were drawn. A prototype enabled vision to be tested - a valuable checkpoint for refinement.
Outputs from the analysis phase provided inputs to commence full development. The project team in Ireland accomplished all programming effort. The development was later transitioned to the AM Support team after ‘go-live’. Visits to Maan Auto in Finland necessitated by project requirements were scheduled to coincide with standard visits as part of the existing AM service. An IBM AS/400 language translation utility allowed conversion of compiled code into Finnish for screen designs.
The team’s familiarity with DMS and combining visits for the project and existing AM service helped to keep costs down without impacting quality - of the resultant applications or of the existing service.
As a parallel activity to development of front-office applications, Capgemini redefined the existing AM service. A dedicated service delivery manager provided a single point of contact to Maan Auto for the AM service. The introduction of a formal process to manage change, service level agreements, clear routes for problem escalation and an Issues Register were just some examples of this.
The AM service is supported by three levels - Help Desk for call management, problem and change management via a second level and new projects and enhancements via the third level. The existing service for infrastructure management on Windows NT servers from Capgemini in Finland remains intact. The two teams keep abreast of service development from each element. The result is that Maan Auto receives a coherent and seamless service from Capgemini, irrespective of the type, source or location of the service provider.
Capgemini’s own quality system, DELIVER, is used for project management. This means that methods and best practices evolved from successful AM services that Capgemini delivers to clients world-wide are leveraged for Maan Auto.
The Benefits
Thanks to input by Capgemini and DareStep, Maan Auto now has a next-generation web-site that provides a platform for M-Commerce via mobile devices. Dealers are happy to buy-in to a solution that facilitates a user-friendly interface to DMS. The solution is a cost-effective, quick-win for Maan Auto, with its investment in back-office systems protected. With the resultant application incorporated into the existing service from Capgemini, Maan Auto continues to benefit from a reliable and responsive AM service.
Service improvements on the remote delivery of the AM service mean that Maan Auto is able to benefit from the same high standard with sharper accountability from Capgemini. Methods and best practices introduced by Capgemini lead to a service that evolves.
The partnership allows Maan Auto to retain a sharp focus on its business - to serve new and existing Peugeot drivers in Finland, now and well into the future.
Written in co-operation with Oy Maan Auto AB
