CDK Global wants dealers to oversee what the company believes is one of their most important parts of their businesses.

This week, the automotive retail software provider unveiled what it dubbed, “Data – Your Way.” The announcement came at its second annual CDK CONNECT, an event that brings the industry together and showcases how CDK connects dealers, manufacturers, software developers and consumers.

According to a news release, the new initiative will provide dealers the tools to securely import and export data from CDK software at no charge and empower them to work directly with their choice of independent software vendors for a growing number of specialized solutions available in the market.

In a keynote address, chief executive officer Brian MacDonald and chief product and technology officer Mahesh Shah discussed the waves of changes impacting the industry and described the ways CDK continues to partner with dealers to help them remain the dominant channel for vehicle sales, and deliver simple and convenient experiences for consumers.

“We believe in the importance of the connection dealers bring to the automotive industry, and CDK is on the forefront of helping them operate their businesses,” MacDonald said. “The introduction of ‘Data – Your Way’ ushers in a new era by giving dealers the tools to access data securely and the choice of which software vendors to share it with. This is a paradigm shift in how we do business with our customers and a significant step forward for both dealers and automotive retail.”

While CDK has a host of data access tools available and used by thousands of dealers every day, CDK pointed out that it’s investing to bring additional enhancements to their usability, scalability and security, while eliminating license fees associated with their use starting in March.

As part of this initiative, CDK will transition away from the CDK Partner Program and begin giving dealers and vendors the option to work directly with one another or take advantage of CDK’s innovative managed services programs.

At CDK CONNECT, CDK also previewed CDK Sales Express, a solution designed to streamline the in-store sales process that could take as long as four hours to as little as 30 minutes by bringing together all data, tasks and users into a unified experience for consumers and the dealership.

A recent study done by CDK showed that while most dealers report having a digital retailing solution to simplify the online buying experience (85%), they still see process bottlenecks once the deal enters their physical dealership.

The study also determined 86% of dealers are focused on improving the car-buying experience but have friction points in the process that make it difficult to improve, including low inventory, duplicate leads, rekeying information and systems integration.

The company said CDK Sales Express will be available to dealers early next year.

For more information about CDK CONNECT, including access to on-demand recordings of the keynote and breakout sessions, visit CDKGlobal.com/CDKCONNECT.