Development
From the initial concept of the system through to the present day Concilium has strived to ensure that the working practices of those using the system are not essentially altered, merely made simpler and more efficient.
Since it's original planning back at the birth of the commercially aware internet in 1996, to it's initial launch in 1998 and right through to the current developments and enhancements to the system, every effort was made to keep Concilium's performance fast, firstly, by not using over engineered solutions and unneccesary client side scripting, and secondly by anticipating the requirements of the operation of the system itself by drawing on the expertise of the people actually using the system. Make no mistake, Concilium is not an ordinary IT solution dreamt up by computer programmers (however clever these chaps are, they don't know how the business runs do they?)
It was born from the working practices of Concilium's first two clients, whose procedures and practices replicate the majority of finance brokers operating procedures, the system simply and accurately automates the day to day occurances of the vehicle finance broker.
Detailed here is a breif but useful revision history of the system.
  • December 1996 - Concept for online vehicle pricing and ordering system born.
  • February 1997 - Initial meetings to gather system specifications.
  • August 1997 - Complete system specification launched and copyrighted.
  • September 1997 - Development of launch system begins.
  • December 1997 to February 1998 - Initial trials with dealer network.
  • May 1998 - System deployed with Neva Consultants PLC and Hawkins Fleet Management.
  • January 1999 - Added feature to allow dealers to add special offers. Upgrade operating database version.
  • September 1999 - Added print templates for finance proposal information, added CRM unit to allow full client information to be stored.
  • January 2000 - More finance agreement types added - printed output revised.
  • February 2001 - Redesigned user login structures, redesigned transaction pages.
  • May 2001 - Enhanced dealer database structure to allow multi franchise logins.
  • November 2001 - Added ability of brokers to control franchisee operations.
  • March 2002 - Enhancements to the franchisee software. Addition of renewals management module.
  • April 2002 - Enhanced transaction search facility, enhanced renewals reminder system.
  • January 2003 - Added new data feeds for car details - technical specifications etc...
  • December 2003 - Created self quotation system for key client access.
  • May 2004 - Complete restructure of dealer database, added ability to email alerts to and from the system, redesign of user interface.
  • Autumn 2004 - Redesign of main transaction pages - enhance user experience and simplify interface.
  • Spring 2005 - Enhanced web quotation interface with simplified lists and more vehicle data available for users.
While the above list only highlights the major changes, many other enhancements have occurred to fall in line with changes in the industry generally, such as adding CO2 emmmision values, altering road tax calculations based on CO2 values, compliance of data protection act regulations, etc...