Epyx is piloting a ‘New Evolution’ version of its 1link Service Network after the biggest-ever rewrite of the widely used fleet platform.

The ‘New Evolution’ version of 1link Service Network represents a “far-reaching” revision

The original was launched 21 years ago and the current version is used to process almost 20,000 company car, van and truck service, maintenance and repair (SMR) job sheets every day from fleets totalling 4.9 million vehicles working with over 8,500 suppliers.

The ‘New Evolution’ version, which is being rolled out across 2025, represents a “far-reaching” revision that introduces a new cloud-based, event-driven architecture, bringing higher levels of stability, scalability and capacity.

It also gains a new underlying dataset for a series of innovations, including a refreshed user interface, a new job sheet journey and a new driver booking process, with work continuing on new rules management and new incident management capabilities.

James Thurtle, vice president – UK and international product management at Epyx, stressed: “We are not changing things for the sake of changing them, and much of the new platform will remain familiar to existing users. Instead, this is about bringing about enhancements that just wouldn’t have been possible using our existing technology, as well as creating the ability to deliver faster and more radical changes in the future, to continue to meet the needs of our customers.

“It is not an easy task and has been likened internally to fixing a plane while flying 30,000 feet in the air. It’s a question of keeping SMR processing of our finance, leasing and warranty customers fully operational while making these major changes. That’s why we are being considered in our approach, ensuring that our customers continue to receive a high quality of service.”

The new version of 1link Service Network is currently being piloted by a small core of fleets and their suppliers, including Pendragon Vehicle Management (PVM).

Paul Hickinbottom, head of operations at PVM, said the new platform has been positively received by the team and the changes made have helped to tighten the time taken for processing, as well as improving the decision turnaround experienced by its fleet customers and participating garages.

He went on: “Overall, our experience has been almost seamless so far and we look forward to further planned developments for the platform made possible by the new architecture.”

James Thurtle added: “The intention is to roll out this version of 1link Service Network across more of our users over the course of the year as we resolve any issues with the new technology. This is, we believe, the most widely used specialist platform in the fleet sector, so stability is crucial. We’re pleased to say that it has proven very solid so far while feedback from initial users has been overwhelmingly positive.”