Excellon Software: Sales, Distribution and the Cloud

Innovation is the engine that has been driving every aspect of human life forward. Right from the nitty gritties of our daily lives to major business functions, everything has been touched by innovation and has thus become simpler. The criticality of thinking out of the box cannot be overstated and it is this ability that has always distinguished a leader from a follower. Vishnu Tambi, a seasoned entrepreneur, a technologist and the CEO of Excellon Software believes the same. His company, which is a provider of sales and distribution automation solutions, has gained the position of being a market leader by imbibing innovation within its very DNA. “As an innovation driven organization we move ourselves continually to innovate and build comprehensive solutions that help automate the sales, services and distribution functions,” Vishnu explains. The organization’s years of hard work, dedication towards building a superior product and focus on innovation has resulted in the Excellon 5 Platform, a next-gen cloud based sales & distribution, service management software. The web-based, cloud computing solution suite can be configured, customized, and scaled according to business demands. The innovative product has led to the company gaining over 30,000 users across 7000 locations worldwide. Additionally Excellon has partnered with some of the blue-chip companies from India and the world over to transform their sales, distribution and service networks. Over the years, the company has built a roster of prestigious clients from varied verticals such as automobile, retail, consumer durables, and industrial machinery & equipment. The strides that the organization has made so far is a testament to its commitment, diligence and efficacy in enabling businesses transform the way they work.

Addressing Market Needs

Sales and distribution has always remained a critical component for the financial success of any business. However, these functions are mostly ignored when it comes to adopting new and efficient technology solutions. The Excellon team (previously E-Caliber, Inc.) identified this gap in the industry and was looking to address sales & distribution automation for emerging markets. Vishnu further adds, “The market for sales & dealer management solutions has traditionally been dominated by either US/European brands building solutions for large general purpose organizations or for those looking for customized development. However, there were considerable limitations of such applications, such as localization for the geography, adaptability with time & business change, scalability, and usability. This resulted in a lot of customers running into problems of usability and adaption, compounded by end user attrition & re-training.”

Having understood even the minutest needs of the industry, the Excellon team developed an initial version of the software which automated everything that a dealer or service centre would need to run its complete business. After initial success, the Excellon team literally visited thousands of dealers and distributors, as well as many OEMs, and incorporated those leanings in the future versions of the software. As a result, we today have a product that helps users in forecasting demand, manage inventory & cost, remedy delayed decision making, improve after sales service and better overall productivity & performance. The solution has been designed keeping in mind the small business owners in the ecosystem, who may otherwise be intimidated by software designed for large business entities.

Excellon 5 Platform: An In-Depth Look

Most of the business organizations in the manufacturing & distribution verticals grapple with dynamic business challenges that Excellon seeks to address with its comprehensive suite. The Excellon Solution helps organizations better align their manufacturing and distribution process with customers and markets. The software allows customers, the flexibility in terms of changing business models and business processes; as well as personalizing software for end-users. The software can be scaled as per use and thus allows organizations to grow from a few users to hundreds of thousands of users with the least effort. By leveraging cloud infrastructure, this was further automated to scale automatically during peak usage. The company has also made sure that the software is accessible by users on the go. “Mobility is a business need today; therefore Excellon Platform 5 is available on Smartphones and Mobile Devices. This has brought users in remote locations users who were earlier outside the purview into the ecosystem,” adds Vishnu.

There is an in-build and extensive ‘customer connect’ at various touch points which ensures that the customer remains at the heart of all operations. This is achieved using the mobility solutions and thereby making the whole organization more customer-centric.

The software allows for improved and easier integration with existing software systems anywhere in the world. This brings about a higher degree of synchronization and results in improved accuracy, clarity, and decisions-making. Excellon has developed an Excellon Cloud Portal to enable seamless integration with back-end OEM software. This allows organizations to deploy various other solutions such as ERP, DMS, Insurance, Consumer Financing etc., to be accessed by numerous consumer/customer mobile apps. Dashboards and Analytics are also a critical part of the Excellon solution that aids real time decision-making. Business analytics are now available on-demand to the relevant users providing relevant data. This makes users more agile & nimble, more suited to the dynamic business environment of today.

These features enable Excellon to provide the most comprehensive and unified software platform that works for every user and stakeholder in the enterprise. The solution covers the entire business ecosystem comprising of customers, field teams, headquarters as well as third parties such as dealers, distributors, service providers and other related entities. Additionally its cloud-based subscription model is an attractive proposition to customers who are also keen to keep their costs in check. “Excellon is a unique proposition that allows unprecedented flexibility, security, and scalability to organizations and helps them become nimbler in decision-making; more accurate at the strategic level; and more efficient in their operations,” explains Vishnu.

Being Driven By Customer Needs

At the heart of every successful business lies the deep understanding of what their customers’ needs are. Excellon is no different and the company’s core competency lies in understanding of client’s business needs. Leveraging its specialization and technology, the company is capable of delivering solutions driven by innovation. “Our domain expertise extends to understanding the client’s business in the context of the ecosystem that it functions in. based on this understanding, we adapt our solutions to these complex business structures,” adds Vishnu. The organization also emphasizes on remaining flexible so as to be able to configure, integrate and deploy the software in highly challenging business contexts. There is an innate flexibility to integrate the software in any application landscape and then evolve as the client business grows and scales. Changes can be made to the software mostly while it is running and this is done without disrupting the existing operations.

"Excellon has developed an Excellon Cloud Portal to enable seamless integration with back-end OEM software"

The customer centric company is also committed to ensuring that its customers are at ease when using these products. The company has an extensive and comprehensive roll-out program that is the best-in-its-class. The program is customized to varied dealer locations, time-zones, cultures and mindsets which ensures that clients find the solutions easy to deploy or use. “Just like our products are designed to help our clients deliver improved customer experience; we as an organization work tirelessly to help our own customers and provide them a delightful user-experience,” summarizes Vishnu.

Innovation at the Heart of It All

Excellon has come a long way since its inception in 2000. For it's committed, transparent and futuristic Cloud services, in the year 2014, Excellon Software was lauded with 'Cloud Conqueror Award' for Bajaj Auto's Implementation by the CIO Magazine. Vishnu believes that the key to the company’s success has been the teams unwavering commitment to innovate. Excellon has always strived to stay ahead of the technology curve by embracing the advances in technology and making them work for its customers. A relentless pursuit to innovation & excellence requires continued investments in research & development – something that Excellon has always worked towards. The company employs and nurtures the best talents and promotes a culture of inculcating excellence. “We have a culture of risk taking and experimentation that allows the R&D team to push the existing boundaries of innovation to find unique solutions that address real business challenges,” explains Vishnu. Additionally, the company has always moved with the tide of time and technology.

Having stayed relevant and competent over the years the company now aims to be a leader not just in India, but in other geographies such as Pan Asia, Middle-East, Africa and Latin America. There is also a need for technologically advanced products like Excellon in other allied industries. The company aims to render its software to these verticals. “We are aiming to build our clientele across 50 countries and 5 continents. After the breadth, we would focus on depth in selected countries. Our go-to market strategy is through two business Channels, Direct – Which is Business Transformation team and through Our Partners -Which is Value Solution team in various geographies. This will help to quickly scale up for meeting Customer Demands.” elaborates Vishnu. The team is also focused on taking the company public in the next three years. The Excellon team is investing heavily in R&D and Sales & Marketing to enable future growth. The company is now poised for organic and inorganic growth.