Two locally owned IT companies have combined their resources to introduce what it said is the “most complete fleet management system to the Philippine and South East Asian market.”

The new offering is a result of a “strategic tie-up” between IP Converge Data Center and Geodata Systems Technologies. IP Converge is the IT and telecommunications arm of local tech conglomerate IPVG Corp. while Geodata is a Filipino-owned company specializing in Geographic Information System (GIS) and mapping solutions.

Under the partnership, IP Converge brings together Convoy FMS and Geodata’s ArcLogistics and Archibus to create a comprehensive and end-to-end fleet management solution that “outperforms” existing fleet management systems in the marketplace.

In 2007, a Filipino-owned technology firm, StarComm, unveiled a similar fleet management tool for companies called 3rdEye. However, IP Converge and Geodata insist that their new solution is far superior to any product that has been launched in the market.

The GPS-based solution, officials said, is targeted at logistics or companies that operate a fleet of at least 10 vehicles.

Rene Huergas, president of IP-Converge, said the fleet management solution addresses the deficiencies of other fleet management systems and work way beyond than just merely tracking vehicles.

A major component of the solution is the Convoy FMS, a Web-based GPS fleet management system developed by Miami-based Lazer Technology Solutions that uses Google Maps as a platform.

Convoy FMS delivers detailed information on a vehicle’s activities to a laptop or Web-enabled mobile device in real time. The solution has a nationwide coverage and two-way communication is done between a device installed in the vehicle and the end-user through GPRS (General Packet Radio Service).

ArcLogistics, on the other hand, is a stand-alone management application created by Environment Systems Research Institute, a company engaged (GIS) and mapping solutions. The application is designed to solve vehicle routing and scheduling problems and set the optimum routes to maintain efficient use of resources such as time and fuel.

Another component, the Archibus Fleet Management, allows fleet managers to track every vehicle’s usage, availability, and maintenance schedules. This information improves management’s ability to control costs and assign resources.

Like most solutions nowadays, the new product is offered in a package consisting of different “modules.” A customer, however, can only avail of the module that it needs and just scale up as the need arises.

Geodata, whose top lady executive was former head of the digital mapping division of NAMRIA (National Mapping and Resource Information Authority), the mapping agency of the Philippine government, will be using their own digital map for the service offering since the country does not have a comprehensive map yet.

The map has a street-level view of Metro Manila, but the company expects to have a street-level map of the Philippines in 2010.