As retail lenders and fleet lessors continue to amalgamate, and
grow ever-larger, so the software infrastructure behind them
requires greater capacity. Scalability has become the smart
industry word and in its shadow has come several industry
acquisitions – especially from the US outwards.
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Recently automotive software providers have come to the notice
of investment companies. This month, Frontline
Solutions, established in 2003, formed a partnership with
investment group Capricorn Ventures International. The partnership
involved Capricorn acquiring “a significant” stake in the software
company and led Andy Shuter, Frontline Solutions’ managing
director, to tell Motor Finance that the partnership will
enable the software provider “to seize new business opportunities
and achieve further expansion”. A Capricorn spokesman added; “This
is an excellent investment with substantial growth potential in an
innovative industry”.
Bynx’s Mark
Binks believes that in the wake of consolidation by lenders
will come greater amalgamation within the software vendor
community. He says: “The geographical footprint and the scope of
the vendor product will be the key factors in influencing the
success of the software vendor. The successful deployment of a
low-cost offshore model will be crucial to the success of UK-based
software vendors.”
James
Tew of Codeweavers
adds: “We already work with a number of software companies – many
of which are not competitors of ours. This symbiotic relationship
highlights the nature of the products and services we provide, as
well as the true ‘open and unbiased’ nature of what we do.”
Brad
Sayer of Turners
NetResult strikes a sanguine note. “With consolidation,” he
says, “greater levels of development work will be outsourced to
niche software development providers, thus placing the development
company as a ‘wholesaler’. White label products would then be
re-marketed to individual users. This approach encourages greater
economies of scale and will prove to be the most viable option
available.”
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By GlobalDataBrendan
Gleeson of White
Clarke Group, meanwhile, believes that consolidation will
inevitably bring “greater process standardisation, further
automated decisioning, more use of modern workflow processes,
tighter integration with third-party systems and pro-active
capabilities for new business development”.
Motor Finance Issue: 41 – March 08
Published for the web: March 26 08 16:10
Last Updated: March 27 08 12:59
