InformationWeek

Sept. 11, 2000

Avis Avoids Mishaps On Acquisition Spree

arry Kinder, senior VP and CIO at Avis Group Holdings Inc., likens his role with the rental-car company to that of a symphony conductor. "I'm orchestrating the sharing of technology across four companies," Kinder says, referring to Avis' acquisition of PHH Europe, PHH North America, and Wright Express. "I'm the symphony conductor who knows how to play all the instruments."

Acquisitions can be messy affairs, but Avis has managed to avoid mishaps by using the talent and expertise of the companies it acquired. Prior to taking the CIO post at Avis, Kinder was both CIO and chief operating officer at PHH Vehicle Management Services, the parent company to PHH North America and PHH Europe that specializes in fleet management and leasing. Kinder admits that his was an unusual position. His main agenda: bridging the gap between business and IT.

Avis bought PHH Vehicle Management Services in June 1999 for its vehicle-management systems. PHH had developed an interactive, business-to-business extranet that lets customers access information about PHH's fleet of cars and trucks via the Internet. Avis leveraged PHH InterActive's technology across all four companies and modified it to meet the specific technological needs of each.

For example, Kinder's IT department developed a version of PHH InterActive for Wright Express, the fuel-card company that Avis bought last year. Wright Express integrated the InterActive component into its application, and it can now be accessed online by its customers. Fleet managers can reduce the incidence of fraud at gas pumps by electronically tracking where a driver stops for gas and how much gas is being purchased on a daily or weekly basis, Kinder says. Also, by accessing the Wright Express online intranet, a fleet manager can report a lost or stolen fuel card and order a new one immediately. "We've taken these mostly manual processes that involved lots of people, and we've automated a lot of our business," he says.

Next on Avis' agenda is the development and use of wireless applications in its rental cars and across PHH fleets. Avis is using General Motor Corp.'s OnStar voice-activated onboard computing system, and is working with Vetronix Corp., which develops applications for the auto PC. The onboard computing system communicates with a company's servers and lets drivers request to have E-mail or news reports from the Internet read to them while in the vehicle. Avis is also working with Palm VIIs, smart phones, and cell phones with Internet access to let its customers rent a vehicle through a wireless device, report mileage, and be notified of information about the status and availability of a vehicle, Kinder says.

From a merger and acquisition perspective, Kinder says, "Avis bought millions of dollars worth of technology and has spread it across the four companies, raising the value of all of them."

Return to main story, "On The Move And In Touch"

Illustration by Jeffrey Fisher

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