Oct/Nov 2006

Hosted software, already familiar in telematics, has been expanding into general transport management. Now Deltion, one of its champions, is adding mobile features

If you want to track your vehicles, these days there's a good chance you'll pick an online system. In other words, details on the vehicles' location will be captured in real time, fed to a host computer somewhere, then transferred to the Internet for you to access via a Web browser. You won't actually install any software on your own computers.

This is essentially a hosted service, and you probably wouldn't bat an eyelid at the idea. Yet in the world of transport management, until recently it was pretty revolutionary. However, a few determined systems providers have been working away to get the idea more widely accepted, and there are signs that they're beginning to make some headway.

One of them is Deltion, which launched its original collaborative transport management software suite early this decade. Although it started to find some acceptance, it was only when the company launched a hosted, Internet-based version called CarrierNetOnline that it really started to take off.

Founder and chief executive Piyush Shah describes it as "software as a service", adding: "There are no hardware or setup costs; you simply pay per use." He points out: "The concept is not new in other fields. Microsoft and IBM use this approach, which is sometimes called 'on-demand service'. We just had to establish it in the transport and logistics market."

One of the attractions is that the system is very quick and easy to set up. That explains why it has found early appeal among pallet network operators, where individual members can be brought into the system easily and without fuss. One of the company's flagship users is the Fortec network.

From Deltion's point of view this is good news, because networks such as this are likely to draw their own subcontractors into the system. It proliferates almost of its own accord.

Now the wheel is coming full circle: a mobile, telematics dimension is being introduced into CarrierNetOnline, taking it into the territory where the hosted concept first found widespread acceptance in the transport market.

To be strictly correct, a wireless service element was always built into the system, ensuring that users could access it from a mobile phone. But now the wireless integration has been beefed up and made two-way. Staff in the field can log in and have job information or instructions delivered to them on a standard Java-based mobile phone. Transport or work management information assembled by other parts of the system can be passed to and from mobile worker. In effect, CarrierNetOnline has become (among other things) a real-time mobile job management tool.

Shah says it takes only five to ten minutes to set up a new user on a mobile phone. Once installed, each phone adds just £5 per month to the ongoing cost. "It really takes the heat out of the operation," he says. There is no problem upgrading to a different phone or a PDA/phone hybrid unit later, he adds.

There's a lot more to it than just job management. For instance, once a driver accepts a job, the system can work out the implications for the rest of his or her working day, and juggle further jobs accordingly. If there is likely to be a delay, it can flag this up on the operator's screen, or even initiate an email alert to a customer.

So what is the underlying system, and how much of this kind of thing is it capable of? In a sense, this depends on you. All along, the Deltion has laid emphasis on the ability of its software to integrate with users' existing systems; and the online version is no different. You don't have to set up an new traffic management system or warehouse management system to take advantage. Shah is emphatic on this point. "The ability to integrate is the key to the whole system," he says.

But can you really do this when your own software is run in-house, and CarrierNetOnline is hosted externally? Ah, yes: that's where the magic lies. It uses resources such as Web services to provide the essential links between systems. This approach is sometimes described as a "mash-up" in IT jargon. Deltion calls the feature Interconnect, and it includes all the prerequisite features such as data mapping (ensuring that a "customer" or an "order" means the same thing to each bit of software).

The task of data mapping, or cross-referencing fields in different data systems, is often harder to do reliably than suppliers make out, but Deltion has developed what Shah considers a robust policy here. "In the early days, we published a data standard for our systems, and asked third-party developers to output their data accordingly. But we soon realised that wasn't going to work."

Instead, the company has now developed its own "adapters" for given third-party systems. These include all the likely transport management candidates (Road Tech, Vigor, Mandata, Traderman and so on), plus related systems such as DPS routing and scheduling. Additional adapters are developed as required, and the company says it should take no longer than a day or two to set up an new user, even if a new adapter has to be written.

Binding all this together is an Oracle database hosted by Deltion. Information is pooled here, and Deltion's software uses it to mediate on behalf of the user, sending and receiving instructions and data as required.

Whilst Deltion has remained faithful to its systems-agnostic approach to integration, the mobile portfolio has brought with it some signs that the company is willing to add components of its own to the mix. It may not develop them in-house, but it can recommend and supply them when there is an evident need.

One example already in place is a link with DPS for routing and scheduling capability. The DPS scheduling engine is dynamically linked to CarrierNetOnline, and is used where the system needs to recalculate journeys in the light of delays or other events. The system re-computes the journey as the day progresses, either by extrapolating on the existing schedule, or by re-optimising seamlessly in the background.

Another function in which Deltion can incorporate third-party applications is satellite navigation. Already it can integrate with TomTom satnav systems, and the company aims to widen the net to include other suppliers.

Now Deltion has taken a significant step forward in the mobile market by adding telematics and tracking functionality. "We don't actually supply the on-vehicle hardware," Shah says, "but we would acquire it on behalf of the user." Currently Fleetwood systems are used, but Shah suggests this arrangement is not set in stone.

The software that handles the telematics functionality, however, is Deltion's own, and is integrated into the rest of the system. Though it might seem to be overstating the point, in effect CarrierNetOnline has become not only a mobile job management tool, but also a vehicle tracking system.

It can even incorporate the basic elements of transport management functionality - appealing for users who may be using an outmoded or inadequate system. There is also a stock location system, which amounts to a simple form of warehouse management.

The message appears to be that although Deltion is more than happy to integrate with users' existing systems, ensuring that they maximise the value of their past investment, it can also appeal to users who want to start afresh, and may not have all these systems in place.

What all this seems to spell is increasing convergence. The willingness of suppliers such as Deltion to provide deep-level integration with other systems introduces a new level of fluidity into the market. Whatever your starting point, systems like CarrierNetOnline are making it possible to add a mobile dimension more easily than ever before. And best of all in this case, you only pay for what you use.