Terry O'Reilly is the president and CEO of Pricedex Software, one of the leading providers of product, part and pricing information management software solutions in the aftermarket.
What would you say is the biggest technology challenge in the aftermarket right now?
I think there's still something of a challenge for some of the companies to recognize that in the future, they should still be looking for a central system with a central repository that serves all of these stakeholders and allows them access, but maintains one source of the truth.
In many instances, we still see companies looking for partial solutions, where they can map to industry standards and therefore meet a requirement. There are going to be resellers who, for their very own good reasons, do not want to give up a certain way of dealing with product information, and they don't want to tell the rest of the world what that is. Whether we will ultimately get complete adoption of the standards, we don't know yet, but we'll get adoption in the core, and then there may be some elements that certain resellers want to ask for and keep as proprietary. I think the industry will adapt to be able to handle that.
Another challenge is to reduce or eliminate technology confusion, because partial solutions that are being proffered in marketplace include data pools, and the value proposition for those is still up in the air. Product information management (PIM) is a term that gets used by companies who we would not regard as really having a PIM solution. I think the actual information technology is there to manage what we have today and to grow into what we'll need tomorrow, but there is a challenge in the recognition and familiarity with technology that does exist and how one type of solution differentiates itself from another.
How would you characterize the current state of standards adoption in the industry?
I think those who have participated in advancing this cause have a right to take a little bow, because while there still a lot of mileage to travel in that respect, there's been tremendous gain both in adoption and, what's even more important, awareness and commitment. Awareness and commitment are way up. It's trickled through most corporations and is now recognized as a very important element of how they do business and what they have to be good at.
There is a better direct dialogue between resellers and manufacturers. I would say each of them is getting to understand the other's positions, and in particular I think the manufacturers are recognizing the importance of getting data through to the marketplace faster.
Are there new technology initiatives within the general retail space that will impact the aftermarket?
I think there is a recognition that when manufacturers can manage their data properly, that a good system will enable them to output in whatever format the reseller requires. So if one receiver has a minimum requirement of X number of attributes, then as long as those attributes are properly created and maintained, they can determine which ones go to which customers and ensure they are getting what they want in the way that they want it.
One of the biggest things going on is that the manufacturers are recognizing that being too slow to market with new product information has a detrimental effect on market share. They are conscious of their time to market with data.
Terry O'Reilly is the president and CEO of Pricedex Software, one of the leading providers of product, part and pricing information management software solutions in the aftermarket.
What would you say is the biggest technology challenge in the aftermarket right now?
I think there's still something of a challenge for some of the companies to recognize that in the future, they should still be looking for a central system with a central repository that serves all of these stakeholders and allows them access, but maintains one source of the truth.
In many instances, we still see companies looking for partial solutions, where they can map to industry standards and therefore meet a requirement. There are going to be resellers who, for their very own good reasons, do not want to give up a certain way of dealing with product information, and they don't want to tell the rest of the world what that is. Whether we will ultimately get complete adoption of the standards, we don't know yet, but we'll get adoption in the core, and then there may be some elements that certain resellers want to ask for and keep as proprietary. I think the industry will adapt to be able to handle that.
Another challenge is to reduce or eliminate technology confusion, because partial solutions that are being proffered in marketplace include data pools, and the value proposition for those is still up in the air. Product information management (PIM) is a term that gets used by companies who we would not regard as really having a PIM solution. I think the actual information technology is there to manage what we have today and to grow into what we'll need tomorrow, but there is a challenge in the recognition and familiarity with technology that does exist and how one type of solution differentiates itself from another.
How would you characterize the current state of standards adoption in the industry?
I think those who have participated in advancing this cause have a right to take a little bow, because while there still a lot of mileage to travel in that respect, there's been tremendous gain both in adoption and, what's even more important, awareness and commitment. Awareness and commitment are way up. It's trickled through most corporations and is now recognized as a very important element of how they do business and what they have to be good at.
There is a better direct dialogue between resellers and manufacturers. I would say each of them is getting to understand the other's positions, and in particular I think the manufacturers are recognizing the importance of getting data through to the marketplace faster.
Are there new technology initiatives within the general retail space that will impact the aftermarket?
I think there is a recognition that when manufacturers can manage their data properly, that a good system will enable them to output in whatever format the reseller requires. So if one receiver has a minimum requirement of X number of attributes, then as long as those attributes are properly created and maintained, they can determine which ones go to which customers and ensure they are getting what they want in the way that they want it.
One of the biggest things going on is that the manufacturers are recognizing that being too slow to market with new product information has a detrimental effect on market share. They are conscious of their time to market with data.
