Kathy Gibson is at the Cisco Small Business Summit in Sandton – In a flat market it’s no easy task for a used car business to stand out from the crowd.
However, a name that everyone knows, and increasingly turns to, is WeBuyCars – and technology has played a big part in the company’s success.
Quentin van Rensburg, head of IT at WeBuyCars, explains that data is everything in the WeBuyCars model. “We are a data company that also buys and sells cars,” he quips.
“The quality of data, and securing that data, is our commodity. And we had to have a highway to transport that data, so we built a very private network and secured it to create what we call the golden data highway.”
Every company values its data, but why does a used car dealer have such a focus on securing its data?
Van Rensburg explains that when you have any commodity that can be bought and sold, the key to business success is finding the right price points.
“If we can collect and analyse this data we can get a good idea of what our revenue will be – and this puts us in a very good position to negotiate buying and selling,” he says.
WeBuyCars was set up by two brothers: one with a marketing background and the other with a passion for cars.
During their journey so far, they have had to change direction and now position data as a key differentiator.
Armand Lombard, IT infrastructure manager, explains how important this data is: “Typically a dealer will pay less for a car than its listed trade and retail value.
“But the real value of a vehicle lies in what people will pay for it. And because we have all this data, we have a pretty good idea of what a particular vehicle will sell for.
“In some instance, we might be able to sell a particular make and model for more than the trade and retail value. For another vehicle we may know that it will achieve significantly less.
“The important thing is that we know.”
Van Rensburg says the valuation can get even more accurate now that they are able to factor in the vehicle’s condition as well. “So we can tie a price to that particular vehicle.”
Ensuring that data is secured and safely transported relies on a lightweight but sophisticated infrastructure layer.
Lombard explains that the Cisco Meraki journey started as recently as October last year when WeBuyCars implemented MX in the branches to link them via software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN).
This was followed with Meraki access points and switches, which enabled analytics to give an insight into what the business needs are. Access points (APs) and switches at all branches followed.
Once the branches were tested and connected, the rest of the Meraki stack followed: mobile device management; cameras and Insights.
“The business has to be able to move and be agile,” he says. “At the same time simplicity and security were key.”
Identifying the right technology to build the highway required involved an indepth process.
One of Meraki’s key differentiators – apart from built-in security – was the fact that it easy to implement and can be deployed across just about any wide area network connection. Lombard says.
“We only know about a month in advance when we are going to open a new branch,” he explains.
Fortunately, the Meraki solution can work on any network connection. The entire solution is in the cloud, so this ability is vital.
“Being cloud-based means we are not tied to physical equipment,” Lombard points out. “So we are able to roll out a new branch in less than a month. And, because it’s preconfigured, when we are ready to open a branch, we simply ship down the kit and they implement it there.”
Van Rensburg says that both he and Lombard come from an enterprise background, so they understand the kind of IT infrastructure required to run an enterprise. But WeBuyCars has nowhere near the IT headcount that a typical enterprise has.
“So we had to find technology that will let us do what we want to do, but with way fewer people.”
At the end of the day, it’s IT that gives WeBuyCars its competitive edge, Van Rensburg adds.
“The market is flat, but we are capturing more of it.”
And all of this is accomplished by an IT team of just 17 people, split into data science, application development, infrastructure and support.
Customers are able to access WeBuyCars via apps that are typically developed in-house.
Van Rensburg says development is very important to the company, and IT is typically measured on the value it adds to the end user.
“That is what is good for business – but it means that the backend has to be really streamlined to ensure we are able to get the most out of our data.
“In this way, IT is becoming an enabler to the business.”
Making sure the infrastructure runs smoothly is Lombard’s job and he says being able to manage eight branches remotely from head office is key.
“If we had traditional networking kit we wouldn’t be able to do this,” he says. “But with Meraki, everything is quick and secure in the cloud.”
Van Rensburg adds that this combination of great performance and security is key. “The business wants to see the value of the apps and dashboards – if the highway didn’t work we would be vulnerable.”
Going forward, WeBuyCars expects to add to the Meraki stack with technologies like cameras for automatic gate control and inventory, and improved client interaction at the warehouses.
