The implementation project took just 11 weeks from start to end, including configuration, development and testing, the fastest time that Sofico, a privately owned provider of global fleet, leasing and mobility software, has ever installed Miles.

VWFS was first established in Sydney in June 2001 with just five employees, but today employs over 110 full time employees.

In December last year, VWFS began a tender process to find a fleet software supplier with an IT solution capable of supporting a new portfolio of fleet-specific products and services as part of a move into the Australian fleet market.

The primary objective of the fleet project was to deliver an IT system, infrastructure and processes for a new, branded fleet management organisation, and to help establish the new venture as a leading fleet provider.   VWFS followed a selected tender process and evaluated three fleet system solution providers, according to Philip Farhart, fleet project manager at VWFS Australia.

Sofico ticked all the required boxes and was appointed as fleet system vendor partner to VWFS’ new fleet venture in March this year.

Speed to market was of vital importance for VFWS. Crucially, Sofico’s Miles solution, which manages more than 1million vehicles around the world, comes with a pre-configured Reference Implementation set-up.

This set-up is based on common processes and best practices within the leasing industry, which speeds up the implementation process considerably and can cut the time required for implementation down to a matter of months or, in this case, weeks.

Miles is also highly configurable which allows it to be adjusted to meet the customer’s exact requirements and to provide optimal support of their individual processes.

As a result, Sofico technical support staff, working closely with counterparts from VWFS, were able to effect a very rapid implementation of the system, as well as quickly turning around any modifications that VWFS requested.

‘We can now provide a full suite of fleet management solutions in Australia to our target market,’ said Philip Farhart.

‘Miles gives us end to end functionalities with a built-in accounting model for real-time updates, plus an embedded report writer for customised reports and documentation.

‘It also provides us with the ability to integrate with a broad range of business services and external data suppliers, such as fuel card providers, JATO, the Personal Property Securities Register and accounting systems.

‘It also has the ability to interface with third party applications, such as OCR, for data imaging directly into the database, while its web capability can be used to support fleet managers, drivers, dealers, suppliers and brokers – all backed by a comprehensive online help menu and documentation,’ he said.