Another commercial for eliminating cash and moving to 100% digital currency!
Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
191–200 of 363 posts
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#192For about ten years, I've theorized that we will see the rise of 'boutique' doctor, dentist, and law offices that keep only paper records for the sake of the privacy of their clients. There are a bunch of problems that connection and automation bring with them, the rise of digital monocultures seems to be one of them.
I don't believe they will go back to paper records.
However, I could see certain professions operating with simplified "air gapped" systems.
Not connected to the Internet at all. It would take some disciplined processes but it would be possible. Updates could be done by qualified tech's to maintain the air gap when updating with a "sneakernet".
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even when the system is working they have to go search the lot, because half the cars listed in the system are phantoms.
> half the cars listed in the system are phantoms How? Like, they order a certain number of cars from the dealership--do they just trickle in randomly? Do they forget to log sales? I get misplacing where the car is, but whether it is? Granted, I have friends who work at rental-car companies, and the level of shitshow they aspire to is truly inspiring.
As in, the car listed on the web site does not exist.
It's merely a gimmick to get you in the door and convince you to buy something else. (And probably illegal, too.)
Happened to me the first time I went to buy a car. I just walked out and went to a different dealer.
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
> government-mandated monopoly Could you expand on this, aren't U.S. car dealerships private businesses competing in a (mostly) unregulated market?
> direct manufacturer auto sales are prohibited in many states by franchise laws requiring that new cars be sold only by independent dealers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_US_dealership_disputes not a monopoly per se, but "forced demand"
Kinda like auditing.
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
> government-mandated monopoly Could you expand on this, aren't U.S. car dealerships private businesses competing in a (mostly) unregulated market?
> direct manufacturer auto sales are prohibited in many states by franchise laws requiring that new cars be sold only by independent dealers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_US_dealership_disputes not a monopoly per se, but "forced demand"
That's the opposite of a monopoly. It's intentionally breaking up vertical integration.
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#196Oh boy, has this made issues and opportunities for my automotive B2B SaaS. My product's customer are car dealerships and most of my customers are on CDK. This is definitely creating a void of data for them though fortunately my product won't fail without the expected DMS data. In terms of opportunity, dealers had paperwork that would be generated for the F/I department from CDK which I was able to port into my SaaS a…
What are cdk and dms in this context? I'm only familiar with them on AWS
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
> half the cars listed in the system are phantoms How? Like, they order a certain number of cars from the dealership--do they just trickle in randomly? Do they forget to log sales? I get misplacing where the car is, but whether it is? Granted, I have friends who work at rental-car companies, and the level of shitshow they aspire to is truly inspiring.
As in, the car listed on the web site does not exist. It's merely a gimmick to get you in the door and convince you to buy something else. (And probably illegal, too.) Happened to me the first time I went to buy a car. I just walked out and went to a different dealer.
> the car listed on the web site does not exist
Sure. And I get that some of the walking around is probably a ruse. But we're talking about their internal records.
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
That 90% is for both of the two biggest DMSes, CDK and Reynolds & Reynolds. Both DMSes have been around since the '70s or so, so they're probably considered a safe option by a lot of dealers.
Ah, you're correct. However, the linked litigation doc argues that the two have an agreement not to compete with each other. It also explains that it's very disruptive for a dealership business to transition to a new data management system.
I believe the litigation was about data integration, due to the mentions of Authenticom. Authenticom was a vendor my company used until we needed to start getting data directly from R&R. (IIRC we were a third party on a lawsuit related to that.)
Switching DMSes is likely disruptive, but is still pretty common. We've had dealerships do it every now and then.
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#199Oh boy, has this made issues and opportunities for my automotive B2B SaaS. My product's customer are car dealerships and most of my customers are on CDK. This is definitely creating a void of data for them though fortunately my product won't fail without the expected DMS data. In terms of opportunity, dealers had paperwork that would be generated for the F/I department from CDK which I was able to port into my SaaS a…
What are cdk and dms in this context? I'm only familiar with them on AWS
Car Deployment Kit (I jest, I have no idea)
Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider
#200I don't want to come off a loving Tesla too much, they're not perfect, but this is another big area where they are transforming the status quo. So much of the FUD being thrown at them is by this lobby, they still can't sell cars direct to consumer in Texas! Car dealers, especially used cars, in the US are one of the most hated consumer experiences. Pricing is unclear, consumers are talked into buying things they don't want or need, to the point that most women I know won't buy a car without a man joining them. Additionally, they're resistant to EVs because it is eating into their service margin. I saw a brand new Porsche dealer going up recently with only two Level 2 charges. Probably a 10M project, and they have only a token level of concern for planning for future infrastructure. They're out of touch, short sighted, businesses with little alignment to the corporate manufacturing brand.