Lotte Rental extends Rimini Street deal to cut costs

Lotte Rental has extended its partnership with Rimini Street for support of its Oracle and SAP systems under a new multi-year agreement.

The South Korean vehicle rental group expects the arrangement to cut annual software support spending by more than 50 per cent, freeing funds for technology projects including artificial intelligence, cloud systems and mobility services tied to environmental, social and governance goals.

Lotte Rental has operated in the rental market for more than 40 years. It runs 300 branches in South Korea and subsidiaries in Thailand and Vietnam. Its business also includes car sharing and used car sales, giving it a broad presence in the region's mobility sector.

The renewed agreement follows an initial one-year Oracle support contract signed in 2024. Lotte Rental has extended that deal by three years and signed a separate three-year support contract for its SAP estate.

Cost shift

The savings will support a wider IT restructuring effort aimed at cutting costs and removing pressure on profitability. Lotte Rental has been reviewing its internal systems as it seeks to support growth without taking on large upgrade projects.

Under the support model, the company no longer faces pressure from software vendors to carry out expensive upgrades simply to remain under support. That gives it more freedom to keep existing systems in place while investing in other projects.

This approach is becoming more common among companies with large enterprise software estates, especially those seeking to extend the life of core finance, logistics and human resources platforms while directing budgets to newer digital tools.

Lotte Rental has already introduced robotic process automation, improved SAP ERP interfaces and brought marketing, logistics, finance and human resources onto one platform. It expects those changes to save more than 100,000 work hours over five years.

The efficiency gains should also improve productivity and employee satisfaction. The changes are part of a broader effort to modernise internal processes while keeping critical systems stable.

Management view

Changgeun Park, Head of IT, Lotte Rental, linked the support deal to the company's wider mobility strategy.

"Ensuring that our foundational enterprise systems are secure, flexible, and primed for innovation is essential to achieving our vision to lead the mobility industry," said Changgeun Park, Head of IT, Lotte Rental. "Our partnership with Rimini Street provides us with a level of savings and quality of service unmatched in the industry," said Park.

"Our growing partnership with Rimini Street reflects a shared commitment to advancing Lotte Rental's capabilities and growth, empowering our ability to deliver greater value and innovation in an ever-changing consumer market," added Park. "In this highly competitive environment, speed to market is critical, and Rimini Street helps us realise our vision to remain South Korea's number one rental car brand, and beyond," added Park.

Market context

For Rimini Street, the deal adds a well-known South Korean customer in the transport and mobility market. The company provides third-party support for enterprise software from vendors including Oracle, SAP and VMware as an alternative to vendor maintenance contracts.

Rimini Street says its model gives customers access to support engineers while avoiding the cost and disruption that can come with major software upgrades. Third-party software support has drawn interest from companies looking to keep legacy or long-running enterprise systems operating for longer.

Kevin Kim, GVP and Regional General Manager, Rimini Street Korea, said the partnership would help fund Lotte Rental's digital projects.

"Lotte Rental's vision to lead the mobility industry relies on a strategy rooted in stability, agility and innovation around core systems," said Kevin Kim, GVP and Regional General Manager, Rimini Street Korea. "With Rimini Street, Lotte Rental has a roadmap that allows for immediate investment in AI-driven initiatives, digital transformation and operational excellence, fueling their journey to industry leadership," added Kim.