Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) claims that most of its IT systems and e-commerce platform are internally made, says a report from TechCrunch. With an in-house IT system, the electronic car maker has established the fact that it can build most modern electric cars without depending on others for its IT needs.
Available systems were not a good fit
CIO Jay Vijayan stated this position while speaking yesterday at the Constellation Research Connected Enterprise event. The reason Vijayan cited for making a customized IT system is that traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) did not meet the company’s needs, and thus they opted for a custom environment.
Vijayan said the speed and dexterity that Tesla needs in an ERP environment is hard to find in the market. He added that ERP technology by SAP was not fit for other cars as well, and he was aware of the consequences if Tesla implemented and updated the SAP environment. “Elon said this is not going to cut it,” Vijayan said.
Vijayan led a team of 250 to build a custom ERP system for Tesla in four months, and it now serves as the base of the electric car maker. Every department in Tesla is now working on the same system, and do not need to make custom connections, making different systems work together.
Customized system vital for sales model
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has an upper hand in designing the world class e-commerce system through which customers can buy a car smoothly.
Building a customized IT and e-commerce platform was vital for Tesla Motors as it deviated from the traditional practice of other car makers who sold their cars through local dealers. Tesla sells its cars through its own showrooms thus making it a mandate to build materials, features and processes to sell its car smoothly online.
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) exhibits an ongoing trend that young companies are following to reinvent the technology to suit their needs.
Biggest drop in October for Tesla
In October, Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) suffered its biggest monthly loss of market value owing to rising concerns that the unprecedented stock surge witnessed thus far might have outpaced the growth prospects. The electronics vehicle maker witnessed its first monthly decline since February. The shares lost 17%, which was the biggest drop since December 2010.
