First of all hello I am obviously new to this forum but have been supporting my group of dealerships for 7 years.

My question is this. We currently utilize both R&R as well as ADP in our stores. Our ADP system is over 10 years old and although I would love to move all stores to one DMS provider I have to say that the ADP system is paid for and still works fine. On the other hand our R&R system is 5.5 years old and we have just been told by the powers that be with R&R that we MUST replace the system within the next 12-18 monts because they are going to "End-of-Life" the system we currently have.

They did not say "we would like to move you to a newer system" nor did they say "Hey, we have some great new stuff on the newer system". They said "YOU HAVE NO CHOICE" they stated that they would not be supporting our current HP system after Dec. 2008. I said "are you sure this is something you want to try to force?" They said "we understand you aren't happy with our decision but that is the way it is GOING to be" They stated also that any R&R customer they have would have no choice but to follow suit. I was wondering if anyone else has gotten this same speech? I'm pretty upset that our 5.5 year old system HAS to be replaced! Its all about $$$$ with R&R..

Any input?

Thanks,

Bill

What are they calling the new system? What version is the system you are running now?

Questions I would have are:

• is it the ERA system that is being replaced or just the hardware that it is running on?
• Unless I've missed a pretty major announcement, R&R has no new DMS to offer. It is still ERA, ERA XT (hosted model) or post-merger, the UCS system.
• Why did the dealership get an HP box 5.5 years ago such that it needs replacing? To my knowledge, they have had no major software upgrades to require such a replacement.
• If they are end of lifing a piece of hardware for their support convenience, they should be presenting a pretty attractive offer.

I have been a dealership CFO, bought several DMS's from R&R, advised others on their purchase, and even worked at R&R briefly.

Hope that helps.

Actually, I saw a hybrid UCS/Reynolds system the other day. The name of it is slipping my mind right now. It was about equal to ADP Web 1000

Wow,
I have not seen these letters, only heard that they exist. It sounds like you have answered your own question. The DMS world is trending toward offsite solutions to offset technical obsolesence. "True" Integration, and fewer third parties having access to data is also important in choosing a DMS provider. The only DMS provider who has this nailed down is ADP. Their ASP with CRM solution keeps your data safe and clean. It sounds like you have had a good run with them so far. I would look in to getting your rep in to show you why they are different than other providers. I've looked at everything out there and this is my best solution to streamlining the process and being able to add future locations without costly server upgrades. Also their CRM with Target Marketing is like having the Mudd Group set up shop in your dealership at 1/1000th the cost. Get them to show you the new stuff, you will not be sorry. Good Luck.

The one I was thinking of is Power Workstation. It's more of an addon to UCS then anything, isn't it?

It is certainly not an true integrated solution. There are very few of these being successfully utilized.