If you are the person at an automaker responsible for integrating dealer systems, no doubt you are busier than ever. All of those seamless digital experiences the business is strategically pursuing require more and more real time integration with dealer systems, DMS, CRM and others.
The traditional OEM approach to this problem would be to define DMS integration points and require DSPs to conform to proprietary APIs. Though often expensive and slow, this purely proprietary approach worked well enough for many years. Amid today’s rush to digitalization, though, it simply won’t be fast enough to keep up.
The problem is every OEM has a new digital vision of retail, as do many others in the industry. They all are urgently working to make their visions real, and all of these ambitions depend on integration with the various business systems chosen by an independent franchised dealer network. What has changed is that there are more of these systems in the market today, and they are all busy responding to requests to integrate. Even when OEMs are paying DSPs to adopt proprietary APIs, the waitlist can be very long.
The good news is that there is another way to integrate to dealer systems and deliver on-time. At Motive, we call it the MIX and Match approach. The Motive Integrator eXchange API gateway (MIX) hosts dozens of APIs that are already connected to back-end DMS systems. Our experience is showing that these standardized APIs can be used off-the-shelf to support key steps in a wide variety of integrated digital processes. MIX APIs are playing key roles in an online service appointment booking system and a service parts ecommerce system. It is no longer necessary to define proprietary APIs for every step in the process.
The better solution today is to look at the APIs available in the industry, and work with them. Many exist today and Motive is working to standardize them. Certainly there will be situations where only a proprietary API will meet business requirements, and that’s OK. It's just faster and easier if you don't have to reinvent things that already exist. Call us to discuss how Motive can help you get your digital initiative online.
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