Epicor 9, unveiled in October at Epicor’s annual customer conference (see Oct. 20, 2008 news release: Epicor Announces Epicor 9 Redefines the Enterprise Application Software Experience), combines Web 2.0 concepts with Epicor True SOA™, an adaptable and collaborative business architecture that satisfies the needs of any enterprise regardless of country, industry or access device—making “business without barriers” possible. The solution’s end-to-end features provide a dynamic user experience and real-time, in-context business insight. Leveraging over 20 years of experience designing and implementing ERP solutions, Epicor 9 marks the convergence of a comprehensive product suite into a flexible, unified solution. The culmination of several years of development and participation from more than 80 customers in focus groups and the beta program, Epicor 9 provides new avenues of opportunity for customers to successfully grow their businesses in the face of an increasingly linked and volatile global business climate.
Cindy Jutras, vice president and group director at Aberdeen, wrote in a recent Market Alert, “While other ERP vendors have announced similar strategies, Epicor is the first to deliver on its promise of convergence while also extending functionality and promising ‘ERP Everywhere’ and ‘Business without Barriers’.”
Jutras added, “An important aspect in Epicor’s ability to deliver on its convergence strategy is the support of its customer base-Epicor customers seem to have historically viewed migration to new technology as an opportunity rather than a hindrance-evident by the vendor’s claimed 94% customer retention rate, which our data surveying over 1,400 business executives also supports.”
First customers go live with Epicor 9
“Today, we are proud to announce general availability of Epicor 9, a truly game-changing solution for business,” said Thomas Kelly, president and CEO of Epicor. “This milestone launch brings together an extensive, proven product offering with unparalleled business architecture. Given the unique economic challenges companies are facing today, business agility is increasingly vital. We’re pleased to have a number of customers already live on Epicor 9 and reaping the unprecedented flexibility and opportunity the solution brings to the global midmarket.”
Independent Components Corp., a leader in aftermarket air compressor parts, was among the first manufacturers to go live on Epicor 9. “We’ve successfully run our business on Epicor solutions since 1992—first with Manage 2000, we then migrated to Vantage 8, and now Epicor 9,” said Dan Sirow, vice president of ICC. “The data conversion to Epicor 9 was very smooth, and the Epicor support team has been fantastic to work with throughout our go live process. We anticipate Epicor 9 will help drive greater efficiency throughout our operations as users are able to access the information they need, when and where they need it.”
“Initially we were involved in the Epicor 9 focus group to assist in the design of specific features our company wanted to see in the next-generation solution,” explained Peter Volkert, director of information systems with Symetrics Industries—a Florida-based corporation that specializes in the design, manufacture and testing of electronic systems for the Department of Defense, NASA, and prime contractors. “After beta testing, we were the first company to go live on Epicor 9. We are anxious to make good use of the many new features available in Epicor 9, like the BAQ designer, Enterprise Search and the Epicor Everywhere™ Framework.”
JV Precision Machine Co. a second generation family owned manufacturer offering precision CNC machining services to a wide variety of US industries is another customer live on Epicor 9. “The move to Epicor 9, with its comprehensive functional footprint was a natural progression for us,” said Josef Visinski, vice president of JV Precision Machine. “As a manufacturer, the breadth and depth of the Epicor 9 solution, coupled with the real-time visibility it provides across our operations are among the benefits we’re realizing today.”
Customers like what they see in Epicor 9
Diane Williams, CFO and VP of Finance for Companion Systems, the leading provider of ATM surround, kiosk, enclosure, topper, solutions for branded ATM environments for the financial services industry, said of Epicor 9, “Participating in the beta program gave us the opportunity to impact product development, and Epicor really took the time to understand our needs and business requirements. We believe there is enormous potential in the new features that Epicor 9 affords – we look forward to leveraging the collaborative nature of its business architecture in the future.”
“We have been working with Epicor solutions for many years and are now testing Epicor 9. The new functionality and advanced technology looks impressive and I believe it will deliver us significant benefits when we upgrade next year,” added Paul Beresford, Business Systems Director at UK-based Communisis PLC.
“We believe there is tremendous value in the new features available with
Epicor 9,” said Fred Pierce, director of management systems for
GEMCITY . “We expect the transition will be relatively easy and will
enable us to further grow our business. Another anticipated benefit for
us is that integration with third party solutions will be easier,
leveraging Epicor Service Connect as the central point for business
process orchestration and integration.” GEMCITY Engineering and
Manufacturing is a leading global specialized equipment provider and
product manufacturer serving the aerospace and defense, industrial,
medical and semiconductor industries.
