How TomTom Drives Business in the Fast Lane
Chris Maxcer
For TomTom, intensely rapid international sales of its popular car navigation systems, coupled with a host of acquisitions, led the company on a whirlwind ride of organizational and process transformations — the business was changing almost as quickly as the roadmaps delivered to its portable GPS devices. To address this growth, TomTom turned to SAP for a robust ERP system, plus SAP BusinessObjects Access Control to help manage the increasing complexity of the company’s business processes and employee roles.
At the company’s inception in 1991, TomTom focused on creating business-to-business applications for mobile devices. However, within 10 years, a completely new consumer products category — GPS navigation systems for cars — took the world by storm, changing the way drivers navigate their cities and highways. And TomTom led this innovation by introducing the first portable navigation device.
TomTom, which had been a small company of 150 employees, wisely changed its business focus to car navigation and embarked on a worldwide adventure — picking up 3,000 employees and a nimble business plan that could adjust to the new era of digital maps, turn-by-turn directions, and a tech-savvy generation of drivers who expect to never get lost.
Along the way, TomTom became an international GPS navigation leader, racking up 1.5 billion euros in annual revenue. At this pace, the company soon outgrew its existing back-end systems, which were intended for small and midsize enterprises. To help move the company to the next level, TomTom turned to SAP software — specifically SAP ERP and SAP BusinessObjects solutions.
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July 01, 2010