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Martin Drake, Drive Software Solutions
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Drive Software Solutions provides management systems for the vehicle leasing and renting business, as well as to large vehicle fleet operators. Calling on the services of Oracle for the technology, and Road to Data for the statistics, they have a complete, international offering, as Martin Drake explains.
Could you give a brief outline of the activities of Drive Software Solutions?
We design, develop and support the ‘Drive’ product, which is a full functioning, integrated management system for the fleet business. It is a complete operational solution for the leasing business, the rental business and large fleet owners.
In which countries do you currently operate?
We are a UK company but we also have systems deployed in Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Spain. Further afield we are in the USA and Canada, South Africa… and we even support Jamaica’s buses!
How does your principal product, Drive, actually work?
The product goes right through from vehicle quotation and purchase, through lifetime fleet management and contract management, maintenance management, driver contact, internal workshop management, fuel control… We supply Drive either as a system which can be installed onto the client’s own internal computerised systems, or as a hosted service. Drive is fully web deployed, making this process simple.
And how does it help fleet operators, in concrete terms?
For the leasing business, it means that they can offer flexible contracts, because Drive gives them the ability to manage all aspects of a contract, and therefore makes them more competitive; if the client is a company fleet manager, Drive helps him to run his business as a profit centre within the company. And not only does it handle such items as vehicle allocation and replacement strategies, but it also enables the fleet manager to remain within safety and duty of care legislation.
You have partnerships with Oracle and Road to Data. How do these work?
We have used Oracle technology for a long time, and we now even go as far as undertaking joint projects and marketing with them. Oracle technology is an enabler for our systems. Road to Data are a supplier of the basic vehicle data which our system needs in order to calculate elements such as planned maintenance, anticipated fuel usage, manufacturers’ CO2 emission figures… There are some 4,800 vehicle variants in the UK alone, and Road to Data are unique in providing data updates as a web service.
A word on the future…
Within fleet management businesses we are seeing increasing sophistication in the services deployed. In particular telematics, which is now becoming truly cost effective, coupled with base data, is allowing the fleet manager to make real inroads into areas such as fuel fraud and vehicle abuse.
Who are Drive Software Solutions?
Drive Software Solutions is owned by two of its executive officers – Martin Drake and Lorrie Rodia – and two private investors. Based in Stevenage just outside London, it employs 30 and turns over around 3.7 million EUR. The company emerged from FCS, which Martin Drake bought out of NFC in 1990. Development of the Drive product began in 1997.
| 30/08/2007 | Tim Harrup
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