TomTom 2005 Annual Report Download - page 19

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We฀have฀changed฀the฀organisational฀structure฀in฀almost฀
every฀department฀as฀we฀have฀grown.฀In฀software฀and฀
hardware฀development฀we฀are฀building฀our฀organisation฀
around฀development฀centres฀in฀several฀locations฀
including฀Taipei,฀London,฀Edinburgh,฀Leipzig฀and฀
Amsterdam.฀Logistics,฀Customer฀Support,฀Finance฀and฀
ICT฀are฀focused฀on฀efficient฀processes฀and฀systems฀and฀
are฀centralised.฀Marketing฀is฀also฀centralised฀and฀is฀
building฀our฀global฀brand.฀The฀sales฀and฀trade฀marketing฀
teams฀are฀decentralised,฀located฀as฀close฀to฀our฀
customer฀as฀possible.
As฀part฀of฀its฀commitment฀to฀improving฀internal฀
communications฀with฀its฀employees,฀TomTom฀
established฀a฀Sounding฀Board฀in฀its฀Dutch฀operations฀in฀
February฀2006.฀฀The฀composition฀of฀the฀Sounding฀Board฀
is฀broadly฀representative฀of฀TomTom’s฀work฀force.฀฀The฀
Management฀Board฀will฀consult฀the฀Sounding฀Board฀
before฀taking฀certain฀decisions฀with฀respect฀to฀the฀
enterprise.฀฀The฀Sounding฀Board฀functions฀de฀facto฀as฀a฀
Works฀Council฀and฀will฀be฀succeeded฀by฀an฀elected฀
Works฀Council฀in฀the฀course฀of฀2006.
At฀the฀end฀of฀2005,฀TomTom฀employed฀435฀people,฀of฀
whom฀191฀were฀in฀marketing฀and฀sales฀and฀123฀in฀
development.฀Within฀Europe,฀we฀have฀384฀employees฀in฀
seven฀countries.฀We฀have฀33฀people฀based฀in฀North฀Amer-
ica,฀14฀in฀Asia฀and฀four฀in฀Australia.฀The฀average฀age฀of฀our฀
employees฀is฀33฀and฀the฀male฀to฀female฀split฀is฀66%฀to฀
34%฀respectively.฀We฀employ฀over฀30฀nationalities฀which฀
gives฀us฀a฀diverse฀and฀dynamic฀culture.฀
Technology
TomTom’s฀success฀in฀the฀market฀is฀built฀upon฀strong฀
underlying฀technology.฀We฀have฀invested฀many฀hundreds฀
of฀man฀years฀in฀developing฀a฀scalable฀and฀cost฀effective฀
navigation฀platform.฀This฀platform฀has฀been฀built฀ground฀
up฀and฀entirely฀in฀house฀to฀minimise฀external฀
dependencies.฀This฀gives฀us฀an฀edge฀over฀most฀of฀our฀
competitors฀who฀rely฀on฀integrating฀elements฀of฀the฀
platform฀from฀different฀third฀parties.฀Our฀platform฀is฀also฀
extremely฀adaptable฀to฀different฀screen฀and฀user฀
interface฀environments.฀Using฀TomTom฀software฀on฀a฀
smartphone,฀PDA฀or฀personal฀navigation฀device฀will฀
be฀a฀consistent,฀friendly฀and฀familiar฀experience.
Software
The฀software฀developed฀by฀TomTom฀over฀many฀years฀
delivers฀impressive฀performance฀on฀modest฀hardware.฀
To฀offer฀the฀best฀possible฀navigation฀system฀we฀have฀
developed฀an฀innovative,฀platform-independent฀
architecture฀known฀as฀NavCore.฀Our฀NavCore฀software฀
framework฀enables฀us฀to฀provide฀users฀of฀all฀our฀
products฀with฀a฀consistent,฀high-quality฀set฀of฀options฀
and฀features.฀NavCore฀enables฀optimised฀and฀fast฀route฀
planning฀algorithms,฀real-time฀map฀rendering฀and฀
quick฀search฀methods฀to฀find฀locations฀and฀addresses.฀
The฀software฀is฀capable฀of฀functioning฀on฀any฀mobile฀
device฀with฀sufficient฀memory฀and฀processing฀power฀
and฀is฀compatible฀with฀all฀popular฀operating฀systems.฀
This฀inherent฀flexibility฀means฀our฀software฀can฀be฀easily฀
adapted฀to฀new฀devices.฀NavCore฀also฀ensures฀that฀all฀
our฀products฀have฀a฀similar฀look฀and฀feel,฀and฀offer฀a฀
similar฀ease฀of฀use,฀regardless฀of฀the฀platform฀on฀which฀
they฀operate.฀
Navcore’s฀inherent฀efficiency฀allows฀us฀to฀provide฀
navigation฀on฀affordable฀devices.฀Not฀surprisingly,฀
TomTom฀technology฀is฀recognised฀as฀both฀fast฀and฀
reliable฀by฀many฀external฀testers.฀
Quality
TomTom’s฀products,฀both฀hardware฀and฀software,฀have฀
been฀designed฀for฀stability.฀Operational฀reliability฀is฀a฀key฀
factor฀in฀all฀the฀company’s฀devices.฀TomTom฀has฀
sophisticated฀tools฀and฀processes฀in฀place฀to฀thoroughly฀
test฀all฀software฀components฀both฀in-house฀and฀
third-party฀sourced.฀Mapping฀data,฀for฀instance,฀is฀
systematically฀processed฀and฀error฀checked฀whenever฀
a฀new฀version฀is฀released.฀Advanced฀systems฀built฀up฀
over฀many฀years฀enrich฀the฀data,฀filter฀out฀errors,฀and฀
provide฀recovery฀options฀that฀prevent฀equipment฀failing฀
due฀to฀erroneous฀data.฀