Tom Matula, director of administration for DMSi customer PMC Building Materials, is featured in a ProSales Magazine article about innovative IT executives. Matula emphasizes the need to include technology in business development goals.
PMC uses cloud-based solutions for much of its operation including DMSi’s Agility in the hosted environment. “The cloud is getting very big for us,” says Matula. Agility in the hosted environment provides PMC with real-time data about things like available inventory and order statuses. It also relieves them of the cost and risk of maintaining their own server.
PMC’s long-term goal is to launch an e-catalog to allow contractors to make online purchases, but they are taking a cautious approach. Matula is laying the groundwork with a series of smaller steps. Search engine optimization (SEO) is increasing visits to PMC’s company site, and analytics tools identify untapped marketing opportunities.
Matula is aware of the challenges and potential risks of e-commerce, but sees a greater danger in entrenching the company in old technology. The wide number of LBM dealers and distributors who still use outdated operating systems such as Windows XP is “scary.”
PMC has been a DMSi customer since its founding in 2008. In a follow-up to the article, Matula touched upon PMC’s go-live experience when launching Agility.