Daman and Trilogy Help Drive Ford's Online Success

Working to enhance and extend the process of online car purchasing, Trilogy Software and Ford Motor Company recently teamed up in a unique Internet joint venture. This new business entity then tapped Daman Incorporated to provide the customized technology solution that would move Ford's e-commerce success into the fast lane.

Supporting the Online Strategy

This collaborative organization operates as the automaker's full-service e-business partner, responsible for development and maintenance of Ford's various customer websites. The group also supports an online automotive information exchange that links Ford's strategic partners, buyers, suppliers and its worldwide network of dealers.

Driving Toward E-Business Leadership

Striving to achieve an industry "first," Ford wanted to move beyond online automotive promotion to actual completed sales using the Internet. To meet this leadership objective, the team needed to build a comprehensive and versatile e-commerce gateway linked directly to the company's traditional sales channels. In its search for the right technology partner, the group discovered that Daman Incorporated had the knowledge and experience necessary to help put Ford in the driver's seat.

Applying Daman Expertise

The experts at Daman Incorporated first developed an extensible, component-based infrastructure that would allow Ford to efficiently roll out multiple websites – one for each type of car and service. The sites targeted end consumers, as well as corporate fleet buyers. While maximizing the reuse of deployed technologies, the company capably provided site-specific customization and multi-lingual support for the global applications. Daman also demonstrated its impressive versatility by using a wide range of tools for system development, including Microsoft Site Server, Java/COM classes, ASP, Oracle, SQL Server, biztalk server and the Trilogy tool suite

Despite the sites' extremely complex architecture, Daman provided a strong focus on simplicity in the Human Interface Design. The company developed interactive, easy-to-use online systems that allowed consumers to utilize different points of entry and varying communication preferences. Straightforward data access was also a driving force in Daman's design for flexible exchange bridges to accommodate Ford partner information.

Racing Ahead with Success

As these websites are continuing to go live, Trilogy reports that Daman's technology solution has played a major role in Ford's e-commerce success. By promoting the Ford Focus online in Canada, the automaker reports sales quickly escalated to rank the Focus as the fourth highest-selling car on the Internet in that country. In addition, the strategic partnership with Daman Incorporated has provided Trilogy and Ford with the following:

• Smart methodology and modular architecture that enables fast, personalized site rollout as needed across the globe
• Intuitive, friendly interfaces despite the extraordinarily complex site structures
• Valuable time savings by consolidating the communications channels previously used to connect dealers and customers (telephone, fax, e-mail, XML, and in-person contact)
• Potential revenue increases by enabling vehicle selection, configuration, purchasing and financing through a single online sales channel
• Enhanced communication and information exchange among Ford dealers, partners and suppliers