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Infrastructure Upgrade for Customers

ej@etlsolutions.com (Editor) — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

ETL have expanded their server capacity in order to get new projects online quicker. This increased capacity means better performance and a more secure and robust data migration environment.

The foundations have been put in place for future expansion, as part of a series of internal changes designed to facilitate an aggressive growth strategy across the business for ETL. Other improvements include a new CRM so that customers’ communication can be tracked and responded to more efficiently.

Ian France, ETL’s Chief Architect, said, “We are looking for ways to improve performance and the service that we deliver to our customers. We take security and reliability very seriously; this upgrade has improved our service offering.”

New Data Migration Tool Improves Ease of Use

ej@etlsolutions.com (Editor) — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

ETL are always looking for ways to improve their solution and service offering; they have created a tool called Transformation Packager (TP) which creates deployment packs. ETL have worked with many organisations to successfully migrate and integrate data where there are complicated types of data sets or data from disparate environments.

ETL's ability to deploy data migrations into varied systems, ranging from enterprise class networked solutions to desktop PCs in isolated locations has always been one of their strengths. TP now makes this process even easier.

With many data migration projects just simply getting the files ready to deploy the data migration or transform can be time consuming and costly. This new tool will package the files into a pack ready to execute the data migration on any system; the migration can then be executed automatically.

This new tool has several advantages, for example, the ability to easily customise the packs if the same migration is being deployed to different environments, without the need to hand code or create the pack from scratch. New connection details can be updated using a simple GUI suitable for non-technical users.

One of Your Most Valuable Assets

ej@etlsolutions.com (Editor) — Tue, 2 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Data is one of your most valuable assets; it may only become apparent when it’s no longer available. Our data migration solutions improve productivity and save many organisations time and money. Click the play button to watch our Data Migration presentation.

Strengthened Team Improves Service

ej@etlsolutions.com (Editor) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

ETL Solutions recently added two new experienced people to their team to provide enhanced services to clients and partners.

In the Automotive team, Andrew Smith brings more than 30 years experience working with Dealer Management Systems such as ADP's Kerridge Autoline. He has practical and strategic experience of working on advanced information and automation projects within the automotive industry which will add significant value to our clients and partners.

Phillippa Hallewell joins as Marketing Executive bringing more than 16 years experience of marketing and selling new technologies across multiple industries. She will be responsible for implementing the marketing strategy to help bring new solutions to market. Working closely with partners and clients to ensure ETL focuses on continually improving the data integration services they provide.

John Bigerstaff, CEO of ETL said, "I am delighted to welcome two such experienced people to the team. I am excited about the opportunities their skills give us to focus even more on delivering what our clients and partners need to be successful.”

New Automotive Services Drives ETL Forward

ej@etlsolutions.com (Editor) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

ETL’s integrated data services improve customer retention and provide businesses with a new perspective. This new service portfolio enables manufacturers (OEMs) and dealers in an increasing competitive market to get feedback, improve customer retention and increase revenue.

Working with strategic partners ETL offers solutions that can measure and improve dealer performance, create loyalty and membership programmes, manage customer relationships (CRM), enable predictive marketing, create customer satisfaction surveys (CSI) and automatically replenish parts (RIM).

In addition ETL can create customised reports from Dealer Management Systems systems such as ADP's Kerridge Autoline which enable dealers to quickly produce business critical information and therefore make informed strategic decisions. Make the most of your DMS data and maximise your sales.

Transformation Manager Goes Global

ej@etlsolutions.com (Editor) — Tue, 2 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The latest version of ETL Solutions’ data migration toolset, TM, has enhanced functionality that reduces the risk of errors when migrating complex data. The new multiple language support enables multi-lingual data to be moved from one data environment to another.

Other enhancements include greater support for Oracle databases and extended Microsoft Excel compatibility including Microsoft Excel 2007. TM’s unique ModelPacks enable users to work with the best model for their data migration scenario further reducing errors and saving time.

TM is used by one of the world's largest oil companies, a major bank, and a global aerospace manufacturer where data needs to be extracted and moved from and to multiple platforms and environments.

Download the full version of the release notes.

Hidden Complexities of Data Standards

ej@etlsolutions.com (Editor) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

ETL Solutions attended the PPDM Association User Group Meeting on 28th January 2010 where Dr. Tony Eastwood shared their experiences on ‘the Hidden Complexities of Data Standards Integration’; presented issues included using PPDM for the first time and the transition between different versions of the PPDM model.

The PPDM Association is a global, not for profit standards organisation that works collaboratively with industry to create and publish data management standards for the resource industry. ETL have many years experience working with complex data integration and migration problems.

Using best practice ETL’s solutions expose many of the complexities which could otherwise be a major obstacle to the ongoing adoption of PPDM standards. ETL have used their experience to write a whitepaper about their experience as data integration and management specialists working with PPDM.

Download the ‘Experiences of PPDM Integration’ whitepaper .pdf

New TM Release

ej@etlsolutions.com (Editor) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

A new version of Transformation Manager – TM Version 4.14 – has been released.

Changes include:

New and Enhanced Features

Oracle Float datatype now supported as default
Unicode characters now legal in SML strings
Programmatic Build now possible

Design Tool Changes

MakeNull() use deprecated
JRE Version installed is now Java 1.6
Maximum Cursor default number changed
New SML Generation Settings introduced

API Changes

net.etltm.TMDH modified
net.etltm.TMTransformer modified
net.etltm.TMAdapter modified

TM Dependencies

New jars included

Repository Upgrade

Changes to Text Repository Character Set introduced

To download a copy of this version contact ETL support and a URL giving a direct download will be provided.

The full Release Notes are available here.

Integrating Dealer Networks

ej@etlsolutions.com (Editor) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

ETL Solutions are helping to improve customer service by integrating dealer networks...

Automotive manufacturing is an intensely competitive global industry where manufacturers continually strive to balance cost reduction and efficiency improvements with increased sales and service innovations through their dealer network.

Integrating their dealer network seems simple enough – in theory at least – but the reality is different. In fact, achieving a seamless flow of data between a manufacturer and its dealers is a major problem that can have a big impact on the success of any customer service initiative.

The reason is that dealers tend to use different Dealer Management Systems (DMS) to run their business and each DMS supplier has a different approach to data integration. Some only make data available as a file extract or reports whilst others provide an interface which allows development of customised software.

Each DMS also has unique and sometimes arcane data structures and this adds to the complexity of accessing, aggregating, replicating, converting and using the data. Even within a DMS different versions are sometimes incompatible.

Some manufacturers have tried to solve this problem themselves by writing data extraction programs or by having dealers send extracts of their data as a flat file or a spreadsheet, but these are all largely ineffective, time-consuming, labour-intensive, prone to data quality and accuracy errors and just too expensive.

Honda UK had tried for many years to integrate their 200 dealer network but faced the familiar problem of different and incompatible DMS. They now use Datahub Automotive and this solves their problem and enables new DMS to be added quickly and simply.

Datahub Automotive is a new approach that extracts data directly from multiple, diverse DMS via the internet. Data is then aggregated, replicated, converted and loaded into a target data store before being transmitted to its destination. Once established, Datahub Automotive operates automatically through a central configuration management facility that manages any changes in functionality, maintenance routines or software updates.

This ability to access and interpret data enables a manufacturer to develop targeted customer service programmes based on accurate data. The results are impressive and include supply chain efficiencies and reported revenue growth through better dealer management.

DMS Data Migration Achieved

ej@etlsolutions.com (Editor) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

ETL Solutions have been able to assist with the migration of an automotive dealer’s data migration to the latest Autoline DMS system.

Autoline provided an input file format defining the data required to initialise their Autoline system. ETL’s knowledge and experience, developed over a number of years of extracting data from a large number of DMS systems, allowed us to create the extracts required quickly. A test run was performed and this proved successful. This was followed by a final transfer when the dealer went live with the new system. The legacy migration performed for this dealer will be able to be used in the future for similar legacy migrations to Autoline.

MSX International selects ETL Solutions

ej@etlsolutions.com (Editor) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

MSX International selects ETL Solutions as European Automotive Data Extraction Services Partner.

March 2009, Bangor, UK

European Auto Dealers to Benefit from Strategic Partnership

MSX International, Inc. (MSXI), a leading provider of outsourced business solutions and services to the global automotive marketplace, today announced that it has selected ETL Solutions Limited, a leading data integration solutions provider, as its European dealer management system (DMS) data collection and distribution service partner. Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will integrate MSXI’s™ Automotive Business Processing Outsourced (BPO) applications solutions with ETL’s Transformation Manager (TM) Automotive Framework, which is a Web-based system that provides a direct interface to leading dealer DMS systems in Europe. MSXI will use ETL’s data extraction capabilities to seamlessly and securely access dealer client information such as service records, bookings, parts sales invoices, and new and used car sales information. This information will be used to drive MSXI’s Customer Lifecycle Management (CLM) programs, which enable dealers to create effective “touch points” with customers during the ownership of their vehicles, and create and retain long-term, loyal customers. The data will also be used in conjunction with MSXI’s Dealer – Sustain Service Profits application and training programs to develop highly effective dealer personnel and increase service profitability.

“The ability to quickly and securely access key dealer data in an efficient manner is critical to improving the customer experience and dealer profitability,” said Peter M. Leger, MSXI president and chief executive officer. “However, integrating OEM dealer networks can be a challenging issue, particularly since the information technology infrastructure used by dealers often varies widely."

Read about MSXi and ETL's Partnership which appears in the news section on Automotive-Technology.com

ETL Solutions announces DataPort

ej@etlsolutions.com (Editor) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

ETL Solutions announces DataPort, a fixed price solution for Data Integration.

March 2009, Bangor, UK

DataPort for SAP, Barloworld Optomiza and Deltek OpenPlan released.

DataPort is based on Transformation Manager (TM) a Data Integration Platform specifically designed to meet the challenges of data integration and improve productivity.

TM achieves this faster, more effectively and cost efficiently than conventional hand-coding methods. It has been deployed across industry sectors and forms the base of data integration solutions used by some of the most demanding companies in the world.

DataPort is offered as a packaged service. This means that it can be implemented for a fixed fee against a fixed scope.

"The advantages to end-users and partners are huge. As well as providing peace of mind, it also delivers proven integration in the most cost effective manner available today." says Mark Williams, Industry Sales Manager at ETL Solutions. "Our product offerings portfolio based on our Integration Platform are expanding rapidly as more and more companies seek cost effective ways of managing their IT data movement & sharing issues."

DataPort offerings today include integration to Barloworld Optimiza, Deltek's OpenPlan and SAP.