We are proud to announce the launch of TechDriven, our new series of interviews, and whitepapers that highlight technology accomplishments at DataScan and beyond. Our inaugural issue is an interview with Kathie Holt, Business Information Officer of Product Solutions at Toyota Financial Services and Marc Maples, Director of Wi Implementations and Product at DataScan.
_________________________________________________________
TechDriven: Interview with Kathie Holt (TFS) and Marc Maples (DataScan)
In August 2019, Mazda announced that they would be switching to Toyota Financial Services as its captive finance partner. TFS was challenged to deploy a production-ready platform for floorplan lending to support Mazda by April 2020. TFS quickly selected DataScan to expand its multi-year system and audit relationship for this time-sensitive project. The interview below explains how this high-priority project was accomplished.
Q: Kathie, would you mind describing both the business and technical challenges delivered to your team with the new Mazda business?
Kathie: The Mazda opportunity came with a short timeline to deliver, about 6 months. While the timeline was short, the timing was good as we had just embarked on a digital transformation journey focused on mobility, agility, and platform-driven business. Instead of adding Mazda Financial Services (MFS) to our legacy systems, we chose to launch MFS on a new digital, multi-tenant architecture platform designed for multiple brands. Our challenge was to partner with solution providers who can deliver fully functional, multi-tenant solutions with speed and agility. These solutions are designed for the business of the future, not just the business of today. As our business continues to transform and grow, the new solutions had to be flexible and intuitive enough to support adjustments for our new private label partners.