Systems 2000, Inc., located along Central Florida’s I-4 high technology corridor in the city of Altamonte Springs, was founded in December 1984. Systems 2000’s early focus started with automotive accounting. Starting with one account, a local Ford dealership, Systems 2000 completed its MS-DOS accounting system and then initiated development work on both Finance & Insurance and Parts & Service modules to meet the dealership’s growing needs.

In 1986, a major RV dealership approached Systems 2000 with a request to provide it with a dealer software solution. Recognizing a relatively open market in the RV and Marine industries, Systems 2000 centered its marketing efforts on the opportunity.

The RV and Marine industries presented new challenges. At first, few dealerships wanted to purchase a fully integrated system. Content with purchasing one module at a time, dealers had little loyalty to any single computer software company. The result was a dealership with a mixture of different hardware and software brands. Another key issue was the lack of trained and PC-proficient personnel. Dealership employees were slow to grasp the concepts of computerization and needed multiple training sessions - an expense the dealerships felt they could not afford.

Systems 2000 envisioned the development of a dealership management system that would be “self-installing,” thus eliminating the need for dealerships to employ installation technicians. The system would have to be “user-friendly” so that data entry would involve little more than filling in the blanks. It would have to run in both stand-alone and networking environments, thus simplifying system support. During this time Microsoft was touting the multimedia capability of Windows®, therefore Systems 2000 implemented this feature to assist with basic training of dealership personnel. By marketing a self-installing software application coupled with live technical support, employee training needs were addressed in a cost-effective manner.

Ten years later, Systems 2000 was contracted to develop an interface to link its MS-DOS application to the Ford Motor Corporation’s new communications satellite known as FordStar. Ford recommended that Systems 2000 use IBM's OS2 operating system. The decision was made to contact Microsoft and inform them of the project. This resulted in an immediate invitation by Microsoft to collaborate with Systems 2000 and use the company as a beta site for Windows 95. Due to its greater market potential, Systems 2000 selected Windows 95 as its sole operating system. Incidentally, the FordStar project would inspire the selection of the name Galaxy for the new Windows® software application. In February 1995, Systems 2000 ceased selling its DOS product and began full development of Galaxy for Windows®. In August of 1995, Windows 95 was released to the public and over a million copies were sold. In February of 1996, Systems 2000 shipped Galaxy to dealers anxiously awaiting its delivery!

In June 1996, Coachmen Industries evaluated Galaxy for Windows® and selected it as the system of choice for its corporate-owned stores. This endorsement lent substantial credibility to the system.

In 1998, both General Motors China and DaimlerChrysler’s North American Setra division selected Galaxy for Windows® for use in their corporate stores. GM China selected Systems 2000 after a lengthy international evaluation of four major automotive software providers worldwide. Some of the key factors in GM China’s selection of Galaxy included Systems 2000’s primary focus on software development, its willingness to customize its product to meet the specific needs of the automotive and East Asian markets, and its timetable for completion of such customizations. Whereas other companies offered to customize a Windows® package for General Motors in 2-4 years, Systems 2000 completed the customization and Chinese translation project in six months.

Currently, Systems 2000 handles over $2 million in parts inventory for DaimlerChrysler’s North American Setra divisions. The German executives of the new DaimlerChrysler Company successfully urged Systems 2000 to consider actively marketing Galaxy to the automotive market. As part of this continuing expansion into the North American automotive market, Systems 2000 installs GM certified DCS communications including Parts Rapid, EDS Integration, 2500 Common Used Parts, Required Stocking Guide, Price Updates, Warranty Integration, FACTS Financial Statement, Sales Reporting, NC Stock Ordering and Credit Bureau.

Galaxy was also interfaced with DaimlerChrysler’s DIAL system including NVDR, Vehicle Inventory Download, ACE-Integration, W.R.O., Recall Claims, Service Contract Claims, GPOP Parts Orders, 5300 series transactions and extracts, financial statements and StarParts EPC Parts List integration. As DaimlerChrysler phased in the Internet-based DealerConnect system, Galaxy transistioned from DIAL to all available DealerConnect applications.

Galaxy became interfaced with Ford’s DCS system including Ford BCM, ACES II, CONCEPS, DOES II, ICSE, OASIS, Certificate of Vehicle Origin Entry (COVE), Dealer Financial Statement Entry (DFSE), Dealer Warranty Entry (DWE), Electronic Parts Return Entry (EPRE) & Price Protection Entry (PPE) and Parts Order interface. Galaxy also became Ford Motor Corporation certified.

Systems 2000 continued to fulfill its role as a technological pioneer in the industry through the development of driver’s license scanning technology in 2003. This technology allows the capacity to scan a license from any state within the U.S., automatically populating all of the prospect’s information into the system.

In the fall of 2004, Wireless inventory scanning technology was made available to all Systems 2000 customers. As a result, dealer physical inventory times were decreased cycle counts could be conducted with ease any time throughout the fiscal year. In 2005, the booming PDA/Pocket PC market prompted Systems 2000 to develop a portable inventory browsing system using a Dell Axiom Tablet PC.

Currently, Systems 2000 has seamless interfaces to Parts Smart, MercNet, Bell Industries and Stag Parkway for convenient parts lookup and ordering capabilities. The recent addition of Coast Distribution interface for parts availability and online electronic ordering in 2001 allowed Systems 2000 to add these Retail Connection dealers to its existing client base.

At various points throughout the history of its software systems, Systems 2000 has enhanced its Windows-based application through dynamic links to Microsoft Word and Excel, data download capabilities to handheld devices and utility features that allow dealerships to define the types of screens that are available for viewing for either full dealership or individual level access.

In 2006, Systems 2000 released the first phase of the Infinity Software System written in Microsoft’s .NET language with a SQL database backend. This release included Infinity CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and Vehicle Inventory modules which both are seamlessly integrated with the other modules of Galaxy. Infinity is revolutionizing the industry with its CRM capabilities and its ability to provide a push-and-pull link to almost any third-party vehicle advertising site. This allows dealers to save time posting their units to the Internet and provides a fail-safe lead tracking system, ensuring the ability to properly pursue each and every lead. Website development is also now available, offering Systems 2000 dealers an all-in-one software solution. The new website team provides dealers with optimized, clean, and crisp websites which are flexible to fit their individual needs.

Recently, in 2007, Systems 2000 released the second phase of its Infinity Software System. This release included Parts, Service, and Deal Desking modules. These new modules are integrated to the remaining Galaxy modules and are able to easily handle multiple locations and thousands of transactions at one time accommodating any size dealership.

The future will entail significant changes in the way software is delivered to the dealership community. Accordingly, Systems 2000 is dedicated to maintaining its primary mission to deliver a high-quality software alternative to current Pick and UNIX products for the 650 RV, Marine and Automotive dealerships it serves worldwide. Systems 2000 will continue to develop its application in a Windows® environment to meet the needs of both its current and future customers. The company is committed to offering its dealers the latest emerging technologies in accordance with the increasingly fast-paced, technology-oriented environment in which they do business.