Driving Change: The Shift to SaaS by Motor Vehicle Agencies

The article outlines the digital evolution of motor vehicle agencies, highlighting the transition from custom-built IT solutions and Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software to adopting Software as a Service (SaaS). Today, SaaS solutions offer a more flexible, scalable, and economically viable way to meet increasing public demand for digital services, including adopting AI and GenAI technologies, marking a significant shift towards cloud-native applications for improving customer satisfaction and service delivery efficiency.

Evolution of DMV Solutions from Custom to COTS to SaaS

As computer systems evolved during the early 1980s and 1990s, public sector agencies expanded their IT resources and infrastructure to develop in-house solutions specifically designed to meet their unique business needs, regulatory requirements, and customer service perspectives.

This expansion relied on IT computing services to achieve success early on, as it dealt with providing large-scale batch processing for more efficient customer service delivery instead of the traditional manual processing data entry business model.

New ideas and technology innovations presented challenges in leveraging evolving technologies rapidly. From the business side, questions about developing and implementing business process improvements grew into a requirement as customers demanded better and quicker ways to process their transactions.

This area of innovation was not lost on motor vehicle agencies (MVA). The MVA was a large, state-run regulatory agency that state residents had little choice but to interact with to receive state-required vehicle credentials. As the demand for improved efficiency built from internal and external pressures, the IT systems had to respond quickly and develop innovative business solutions, which at that point in time was predominantly mainframe-based technology, which was cumbersome.

Business systems were built in silos; data was segregated, consisting of varying data constructs and collection rules, and collecting the same data in differing formats, although used for very similar purposes. Product development was lengthy, and integrating with newer technology was difficult. Large-scale modernization efforts fell short as we moved past Y2k and into the 2000s. A better way was needed to advance and more effectively serve the customer.

Motor vehicle agencies chose custom, off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions to address their business needs and provide the required regulatory functionality to support their core business processes. COTS software offered a cost-effective alternative to in-house development, cutting the development time and the need for a large, trained IT staff. However, agencies had to determine if a COTS solution reflected their business needs before purchasing it outright. COTS solutions tied the agency down to a single vendor solution, which may be expensive when introducing new business processes via change requests, integration capabilities of the COTS product, and the vendor's willingness to accept/incorporate new processes and workflows. COTS solutions may also be slower in upgrading their underlying technology foundation with newer, more advanced innovations. Agencies needed to either run a separate upgrade exercise and leave their business at risk or keep running applications in a system that slowly became obsolete.

Fast forward to today, cloud-based technologies have dominated the landscape, offering cloud-native business applications that take advantage of the cloud's elasticity, availability, and automation, as well as faster delivery and feedback cycles.

Software as a service (SaaS), a cloud-native solution, has become popular in recent years and offers several advantages over traditional delivery models, such as COTS. The SaaS solutions are appealing from a financial perspective because agencies are not saddled with the expense of purchasing and maintaining expensive hardware and the overall IT infrastructure, including staffing. This allows agencies to scale their usage and costs to address their evolving business needs. Cloud-based solutions provide advantages for access and collaboration. They are internet-based, which promotes anytime, anywhere access, offering customer service availability without limitations, focusing on elasticity as opposed to traditional brick-and-mortar hours of operation. They offer accelerated business transformation, with the ability to rapidly release new functionality, sunset older and obsolete business processes, introduce new customer experiences and innovations through automation, and move quickly and easily to deploy new solutions and adjust based on customer interactions to expedite faster delivery and incorporate feedback cycles.

Leveraging SaaS-based motor vehicle solutions to accelerate digital transformation

Public sector organizations are facing increased demand from the public for digital-first services. According to a Center for Digital Government survey in August 2020, nearly 70 percent of respondents prefer accessing government services online. However, satisfaction with online government services is low, with only 11 percent of respondents reporting being very satisfied.

To address these challenges, motor vehicle agencies need to modernize their systems, particularly in areas such as driver licenses, vehicle registration, case management, and enterprise security. They should strive to create a cohesive and efficient system that provides a unified view of each customer.

Adopting a SaaS solution (a cloud-native approach) using established platforms like Salesforce can help motor vehicle agencies modernize their technology stack, create an integrated ecosystem, and leverage pre-built solution components for faster implementation.

This approach promotes collaboration and delivers a personalized, data-driven, scalable solution that integrates with legacy systems and other government applications. Additionally, a modular design methodology simplifies system maintenance and operations for agencies, allowing for easy adaptation to evolving needs and future requirements.

Extending the SaaS (cloud-native) system with data and AI

The primary advantage of developing this cloud-native SaaS motor vehicle solution is the ability to enhance it with constituent-centric and generative AI and solutions. These solutions aim to revolutionize interactions with citizens and ensure compliance with state regulations. Agencies can implement prescriptive solutions to integrate business rules, data analytics, and strategic priorities into a low-code, no-code business environment with optimized workflows that prioritize an AI-first approach. An extra benefit is integrating third-party API services such as case management, inventory management, and AAMVA interfaces into the solution architecture. This can help agencies realize additional benefits such as:

• Intuitive Citizen Portal: Built on the Salesforce platform with Lightning Web Components, the portal provides a user-friendly interface for self-service applications and renewals, reducing wait times and citizen frustration.
• Streamlined Workflows: Automated workflows and optimized processes empower staff with intuitive tools for faster service delivery and reduced costs.
• Case Management: Centralized case management simplifies citizen interactions and tracks transaction history with efficient data analysis, empowering staff to resolve inquiries and manage tasks effectively.
• Security & Compliance: Robust role-based access control, multi-factor authentication, and industry-leading security features safeguard sensitive citizen data, nurturing trust and compliance.

A dynamic digital solution becomes user-friendly, transparent, flexible, scalable, and secure. It also establishes an all-encompassing data model that enables more advanced analytics and makes adopting AI or GenAI technologies easier.

An AI-first approach can be applied to various motor vehicle services and serve as the focal point for tactical deployment of these services built on the existing business framework, offering technological innovations. AI and GenAI have the potential to transform the motor vehicle experience by automating routine tasks, personalizing communication, and providing valuable insights for a more efficient, customer-centric, and secure system. Integrating Generative AI models across a SaaS-based solution exemplifies a strategic move to address various enterprise service opportunities and AI challenges. For example:

Customer Service:

1. AI-powered Virtual Assistants: These intelligent systems can handle frequently asked questions, schedule appointments, process basic requests (such as address changes), and even route complex inquiries to human agents. Doing so frees staff to focus on more intricate issues and reduces customer wait times.
2. GenAI for Personalized Smart Video: Imagine a system that tailors appointment reminders or sends targeted driver safety information based on an individual’s driving record. GenAI can personalize communication to meet specific needs.
3. AI-powered Sentiment Analysis: By analyzing customer interactions (calls, chats), AI can identify satisfaction levels and areas for improvement. This allows for proactive intervention and better staff training to address customer pain points.
4. GenAI Remote Drive Tests: This forward-thinking approach addresses safety concerns and streamlines the driver license testing processes, offering an alternative to traditional road testing methods.

Back Office Operations:

1. AI for Data Processing and Automation: Automating tasks like data entry, document verification, and form processing using AI reduces human error, improves processing speed, and frees up staff for more complex responsibilities.
2. GenAI for Personalized Communication: Use GenAI to send proactive outreach messages to at-risk drivers. Automated and interactive messages can remind drivers about license renewals, highlight road safety campaigns based on location data, or offer guidance on navigating new traffic regulations.
3. AI for Predicting Driver Behavior: Leverage AI to analyze driving records and identify patterns that could indicate risky behavior. This can be used to develop targeted interventions, such as educational outreach or defensive driving courses, before accidents occur.
4. Transforming Cashiering Management: A Salesforce-based modern, interoperable cashiering system will support the motor vehicle core transaction management functions and integrate into the state agencies' fiscal management systems and third-party POS services.

Conclusion: Why MVAs Should Shift to SaaS

A cloud-native SaaS driver and vehicle platform can provide a complete, multi-channel business landscape and technical framework for optimizing motor vehicle services associated with driver licensing, vehicle services, enforcement actions, operator control activities, and integrated customer 360° view that enables the overall management of the driver and vehicle ecosystem.

As motor vehicle agencies move to transform and reimagine their service offerings, realizing this with minimal service disruptions is a significant advantage that can position government agencies to be more successful. By leveraging secure, scalable, and sustainable SaaS-based development and AI solutions, agencies can build and reimagine their operations to provide a more cost-effective and responsive series of government services to their constituents.

Authors Details

Kannan Rajagopal

Kannan is an Associate Partner and Heads the DMV practice for Infosys Public Services. He is an experienced Digital Transformation Executive with a track record of connecting Strategy, Business and Technology to drive enterprise value. Kannan is skilled in Product and Services Marketing, Design Thinking, Consultative Selling with focus on Customer Experience Applications, Data Science, and Cloud Computing technologies.

Nicholas Demetriades

Nick is a principal consultant with Infosys Public Services’ Transportation sector and has over 35 years of experience in the DMV domain. Prior to joining Infosys Public Services, Nick served as the Director of Information Technology at the Connecticut DMV and Director of IT Operations at the Connecticut Bureau Enterprise Systems and Technologies. He has led numerous business process improvement projects, designing and developing innovative business solutions that help motor vehicle agencies become more customer-centric and agile.