Sofico Services UK has held an inaugural UK customer forum underlining the importance of the UK market for the international software supplier of automotive financing, leasing, fleet and mobility management companies.
The first-ever UK forum, dubbed ‘It’s Miles under the bonnet,’ attracted an audience from major FN50 leasing companies, global OEM captive lessors and mobility specialists including an EV subscription business – all Sofico Services UK customers.
In a series of presentations, delegates were taken through the latest Road Map information for Sofico’s mainstream Miles software platform – now based on the latest cloud native architecture independent of application servers – by Miles Product Manager, Bram Wallach, who mapped out its planned developments over the coming months and years. There was also the opportunity for delegates to meet with the Sofico UK team and discuss some of the latest developments in more depth.
The main topics centered around diversity, digitization and data, and highlighted the need for hybrid software systems which were capable of providing micro-services and delivering the wide range of mobility offerings that many major leasing companies and manufacturers are looking to provide to customers. As thought-leader, Sofico believes that the latest generation technologies should be easily adaptable, scalable and allow for changes to be made that accommodate fluctuations in demand and the need for the quick delivery of services.
A classic case of this technology is Sofico’s cloud-native Miles Enterprise Solution which is used by some of the world’s largest captive, bank-backed and independent financiers, delivering solutions into complex financing and mobility situations, and which is highly flexible and configurable.
As a leader in the global fleet software market, Sofico engages in regular dialogue with customers to adapt its solutions to meet their requirements and keep abreast of the latest market developments.
The two-day event was hosted at Sofico Services UK’s Malvern, Worcestershire offices and a local hotel. It included a trip to the nearby Morgan factory, with a driving experience in the eponymous sports car and concluding with a Q & A session from Morgan CEO, Steve Morris.
Delegates also attended a fascinating presentation from Dr Harry Behrens, Chief Technical Officer, and Founder at blox.move, the mobility blockchain platform which began life in OEM Daimler, but which is now, with seed capital funding, an independent venture.
The event was opened by Gémar Hompes, Global Managing Director, and Roger Smith, UK Country Lead.
Historically, Sofico has held a bi-annual global customer forum at the company’s head office in Ghent, Belgium, to showcase its Miles mainstream software platform and future Road Map. With this event postponed to next year to coincide with Sofico’s 35th anniversary, there was the opportunity to hold a customer forum in the UK this year for the first time.
Sander Hindryckx, Regional Manager at Sofico, who also attended the event, commented: “This inaugural UK customer forum was a great success and underlined the importance with which we view the UK market.”
Andy Page, UK Regional Sales and Marketing, added: “One of the main purposes of the event was in building a community within the mobility industry and bringing it together to exchange experiences and define the outlook of the future, as well as validating that our long term vision and ambition is in line with their needs and ambitions.
“In line with the group’s ‘local office’ approach, we now have a steadily growing number of UK fleet customers, including major leasing companies, both independent and captive, along with specialist mobility suppliers. Feedback was very positive regarding our inaugural event, and we will now look at the possibility of making it a more permanent feature.”
