Success Story
Efficient Execution: How incadea India Achieved a Seamless DMS Rollout for Volkswagen and Audi India
Years in Business: 23
Acquired: 2018
Corporate Headquarters: Germany
incadea is a global provider of enterprise software solutions and services for the automotive retail and wholesale market, offering cloud-based dealer management systems and digital sales platforms to help dealerships operate more effectively. The company supports more than 4,000 dealerships across 60 OEMs, operating in several countries across the globe.
The Challenge
For dealership management software companies, large-scale rollouts and installations are routine but often daunting. Successfully managing these projects within tight deadlines is where many falter. incadea India, the South Asian regional headquarters of the global automotive retail software provider, faced such a challenge when tasked with upgrading Volkswagen and Audi dealerships across India to the incadea DMS 720 BC system on the Azure cloud platform.
The goal was formidable: upgrade nearly 213 dealerships in just four months, requiring 20 dealership upgrades per week. Yet, through meticulous planning and disciplined execution, incadea India met the challenge head-on, delivering the project on time and setting a benchmark for success in the process.
At the outset, the team recognized the magnitude of the task ahead. A project of this scale presented significant challenges:
- Immense Resource Demand: Sustaining the high effort required over several weeks risked burnout among team members.
- Coordination Complexity: The project necessitated seamless collaboration between incadea, SAVW IT, third-party vendors, and the dealerships. Poor communication could easily lead to delays.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Aligning multiple stakeholders and maintaining consistent updates was critical to avoid bottlenecks.
Given these challenges, it was evident that success would hinge on strategic foresight and planning.
Preparation
In many cases, companies are left to formulate plans based solely on previous experiences, assuming success will come based on lessons learned. But this viewpoint can be extremely narrow, limiting plans to what is to be expected, rather than the unexpected—which is far more treacherous.
Volaris Group, incadea’s parent company, prioritizes knowledge sharing across its global subsidiaries to circumvent companies being caught out in times like this. Events like Volaris 101 and Quadrants conferences equip teams with best practices and strategies for effective project execution.
Sahin Nigam, Director of Delivery and Operations at incadea India, noted, “The Volaris 101, Quadrants, and LEAD conferences were instrumental in enhancing our execution. These sessions provided valuable insights on key performance indicators and strategies to maintain them above expected levels.”
He wouldn’t know it then, but these conversations and learnings would help him and his team identify areas of focus well before this particularly large project came across his desk. He further went on to explain: “The knowledge gained from these sessions significantly contributed to improvements in areas such as planning, resource identification, training, communication planning, team morale, and maintaining an effective feedback loop. These incremental steps have been crucial in refining our approach and achieving the desired outcomes.”
All this knowledge, plus the grit and tenacity of the entire team, ultimately set the stage for a successful project.
Planning
Prior to the kick-off call with their client, incadea India divided the project into critical focus areas to ensure all aspects were thoroughly addressed:
- Risk Management: Identify potential risks, like resource unavailability or delays, and develop mitigation plans, including contingency resources.
- Timeline Optimization: Create strategic milestones, group dealerships by size for balanced rollouts, and utilize real-time tracking tools.
- Resources and Training: Conduct comprehensive training, optimize resource capacity planning, and develop transparent reporting dashboards.
- Stakeholder Alignment: Maintain weekly updates, establish a centralized collaboration platform, and conduct regular progress reviews.
- Testing and QA: Pilot the rollout with selected dealerships and implement a robust post-go-live support plan.
As the adage goes, “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.” By addressing these focus areas, incadea India was prepared to execute the rollout with precision.
Execution
With an aggressive timeline, the team adhered strictly to the established plan, employing several strategies to ensure smooth execution:
- Phased Rollout: Began with pilot deployments at two dealerships (one VW and one Audi) to identify and resolve initial issues.
- Strategic Dealer Grouping: Balanced large and small dealerships weekly to optimize resource use.
- Real-Time Monitoring: Utilized tracking tools for continuous progress oversight.
- War Room Setup: Established a controlled environment for immediate issue resolution during the pilot phase and early rollouts.
- Customer Success Integration: Leveraged the Customer Success team’s familiarity with dealer needs for smoother transitions.
- Proactive Planning: Shared dealership data with the cloud team to ensure infrastructure readiness.
- Structured Communication: Deployed MS Teams and WhatsApp groups for instant issue resolution.
- Iterative Refinements: Collected feedback after each phase to refine processes continuously.
- Team Morale: Maintained morale through regular check-ins, recognition, and incentives.
Outcome
Through structured planning and disciplined execution, incadea India successfully upgraded all 213 dealerships within the stipulated timeframe. The project minimized disruptions for customers, maintained high team morale, and demonstrated an exemplary model for large-scale IT system rollouts.
This achievement underscores the importance of strategic planning, stakeholder alignment, and iterative improvement. incadea India’s success serves as a benchmark for efficiency and collaboration in the fast-paced world of dealership management software upgrades.
