Case scenario: BUSINESS CASE

Pep Boys' IT Planning Process

Pep Boys (pepboys.com/) is a $2 billion publicly held company and the only aftermarket retail and service chain in the U.S. capable of serving all four segments of the automotive aftermarket: the do-it-yourself, do-it-for-me, buy-for-resale, and replacement tires. The company operates 582 stores in 35 states and Puerto Rico, is headquartered in Philadelphia, and has approximately 18,000 employees. Budget Process Supported by Adaptive Planning Software Pep Boys used Adaptive Planning (adaptiveplanning.com/) to prepare the budgets for its 580-plus automotive-service stores for its 2009 and 2010 fiscal years. The company previously had its budget information on Excel spreadsheets, which were sent to the store owners for changes, then to area directors for review, then back to headquarters for more changes, and, ultimately, a consolidation. "It was an administrative nightmare to create all those files, get them out there, follow up on their status, and collect them," according to Phil McAllister, director of budgeting and internal reporting.

With all users now accessing a single system running on top of a relational database and thus able to view updated information in real time, Pep Boys is saving 600 person-hours of effort per budgeting cycle compared with its former cumbersome procedure. Selection Criteria Pep Boys selected Adaptive Planning because it didn't need the largest vendors' more-sophisticated software for purposes of its individual store budgets. McAllister notes, it hasn't even come close to using all of the software's features. A shorter implementation time frame was also appealing, since the decision to seek a more collaborative budgeting process was made too late in 2008 to accommodate a drawnout installation of an on-premise system. It took about six weeks for Adaptive Planning to create templates incorporating all the store-budget information and get the service up and running. Adaptive Planning service's list price is $600 to $800 per user per year. Pep Boys has about 650 users, including the stores, area directors, division vice presidents, and administrators.

Questions: 1. Diagram the process by which Pep Boys had collected data during its budget planning process.

2. View Adaptive Planning's pre-recorded online demo at adaptiveplanning.com/demo_recorded.php/. This demo covers Expense Planning, Personnel Planning, Sales Planning, Reporting, and Administration. How does this software improve the various planning processes?

3. Evaluate Pep Boys software vendor selection process? The outcome was successful, but given the selection process, what risks did they take?

4. In your opinion, why did the Adaptive Planning company provide Pep Boys with excellent service and support?