Bringing business to the cloud

Today is Safer Internet Day as expressed and supported by Microsoft here: http://www.microsoft.com/security/saferonline/ This post is about a passion of mine that I'm so proud and honored to be a part of.  In 1999 I was blessed by being involved with the Garff family and the Ken Garff Automotive Group in the creation of Vehix.com.  In 2013 the site was shut down but it had a great 14 year run and the important part is the relationship created by the formation of a friendship between John Garff and myself.  Since that time we have worked hard to use our talents to improve lives, educate kids and enhance the lives of our family, friends and staff. John and his family created a non profit called Success in Education and we at RyanTech were asked to come to the table again with ideas, innovation and heart.  That's exactly what we did in 2012 and we're pleased to say that the program in it's second year of going digital is hosted entirely on the Windows Azure platfor...

It's time to open up about the real deal behind certification programs and what they mean for auto dealers. You might have heard the news about one of my companies on the wire:  Press Release Here  where it was announced that Authenticom has acquired the assets of RyanTech on DMSi(c), Carpod and VIN Explosion.  Because of that, we are no longer in the DMS Integration business and I have three words to say about that, "Thank You Authenticom!". The truth of the matter is that the certification programs from DMS providers and attempts to block access for a dealer to freely move their own data where they want it has become such a CORE competency that you either do DMS Integration and ONLY that or you get out of the way and let somebody bigger do it for you.  This is the case with the recent acquisition of our technology and moving it over to Authenticom, where it will serve dealers well.  They have a great, friendly, seasoned and competent staff and the technolo...

For those of you who know me I think it is safe to say that I have earned the ability to post this blog after being involved in technology and privacy since 1992 in a very intimate way.  For those that do not know me I invite you to research if you so choose in order to validate my thoughts. This whole effort to validate privacy and government access is a crock.  The Patriot Act was established long ago and has provided our fine country all access to phone, Internet and financial data since its inception.  If you make a phone call it costs money people, if you send an email that was done on a device or connection that costs money or was transacted for free it is capable of being intercepted by our defense dept. There must be a new incentive/motive for this discussion about privacy and spying that is created by Corporate America.  In the most recent articles I have read I shake my head.  Our government has had this ability for over 12 years and I personally a...

Thank you for those who attended the 8:30 session this morning which I know could be tough.  Congratulations to our first 10 attendees that walked away with Windows 8 and Office 2013 for FREE!  For those that did not attend, here are my notes and answers to questions asked after the presentation.  The presentation was recorded and will be available online by Digital Dealer as they have prepared. Q.  Why is Windows XP not compliant in April, 2014?      A. The support for operating system updates and security patches will no longer be supported by Microsoft after April, 2014.  Due to the lack of updates, the operating system will no longer by PCIC or GLB compliant.  What's more is that users will likely be targeted for attacks from cyber criminals just as has happened in the past with retired operating systems. Q. We are thinking about utilizing thin clients instead of PCs in our store.  Do you have any recommendations ...

R unning a dealership is a complex business and requires computers to manage operations. Sure, there’s a DMS to handle inventory, accounting and OEM requirements, but we’re talking about the day-to-day business that requires multiple devices and PCs, with licensed operating systems and office software. Unfortunately, most dealerships aren’t keeping their PCs current, licensed and legal. Recently, thousands of dealerships were surveyed and scanned regarding their use of basic PC office software and technology. In a survey done by Microsoft Cloud Services, information was collected on how many PCs/laptops were at a dealership and what operating system and software was installed. In addition, dealers were surveyed on the number of unique e-mail addresses and how those addresses are being utilized. The results aren’t pretty. This will give you the opportunity to see where your dealership fits in. Dealerships, on average, have 80 PCs with 100 e-mail addresses, along with a varie...

With so many acronyms being invented because of the "cloud" we'd like to explain what SAAS or Software as a Service means and give an example of a splendid use of the concept for auto dealers. At the end of this blog post we have a link to a story on just one dealer who has adopted this solution. In a survey that we did at one of my companies, Microsoft Cloud Services, we started to scan dealership technology and survey how many P.C.s are on the lot inclusive of laptops as well as details like which operating system and version of Microsoft Office they have installed because in our studies the two were a requirement to get business done.  We also asked how many unique email addresses are being utilized and what those email addresses are being utilized for.  We also asked which provider they used for email services as well as how many mobile devices are in use at the dealership. We have the surveyed information from thousands of dealerships from Digital Dealer, Driv...

Dealerships were amongst the first community businesses to be computerized. So why are most dealers having such a hard time with e-mails, spam, viruses and other computer issues?  Dealerships are essentially behind because they were so far ahead. Dealer management systems were developed long before the technology reached the masses — long before there were PCs, e-mail and today’s plethora of PDAs and smartphones. Today’s dealership looks nothing like the dealership of the past. Remember when there used to be satellite dishes (lots of dishes — one for each franchise) on the roofs of dealerships and dumb terminals on the desks? That was how we communicated with the DMS and OEMs. Remember the day of servers underneath a desk or in a closet next to the reams of paper and extra toilet paper? Unfortunately, this early  computerization delayed the utilization of PCs and certain common programs....