Epicor Unveils Product Strategy And Roadmap For Midmarket Manufacturing Industry
N/A (March 03, 2004) – Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of integrated enterprise, eBusiness and collaborative commerce software solutions for midmarket companies, today announced its new strategy and product roadmap for the midmarket manufacturing industry.
Development efforts for Epicor’s manufacturing software solutions will focus on supporting discrete, mixed-mode manufacturers, a sector that encompasses the majority of Epicor’s 6,000 manufacturing customers today. With integrated end-to-end enterprise suites designed to help manufacturers increase collaboration with suppliers and customers, and improve operations throughout the value chain, Epicor’s manufacturing software solutions are uniquely suited to support the needs of today’s global manufacturers.
Epicor’s manufacturing solutions have historically consisted of separate products architected for the lower, mid, and upper tiers of the midmarket. The company announced today it plans to develop a single business framework that would support multiple user interfaces that could be tailored to companies of different sizes and within different industries. This next generation of solutions will be operating system and database independent to accommodate virtually any technology environment and any size manufacturing operation. This will offer customers new capabilities and new levels of application reliability, scalability, system interoperability and flexibility, combined with a rich user experience and low cost of ownership.
“Our new strategy and product roadmap is designed to allow Epicor to deliver the only manufacturing solution a midmarket manufacturing company will ever need,” said Rick Borg,senior vice president and general manager of Epicor’s Manufacturing Solutions Group. “With our many years of experience delivering manufacturing solutions and the thousands of successful implementations completed, Epicor is in a unique position to build a comprehensive manufacturing solution that delivers the high functionality required at a cost that is affordable.”
Additionally, Epicor’s product roadmap will provide manufacturers with an easy migration path to leverage Microsoft .NET and Web services. While the manufacturing industry has been slower than some to adopt Web services, the technology is gaining popularity. In fact, some analyst firms show that 50-60 percent of manufacturers have one or more Web services projects underway. Epicor’s product roadmap enables manufacturers to adopt Web services on their own timeframe and while protecting their technology investment.
A Strategy that Provides Choices
Going forward, Epicor’s next generation manufacturing solution will deliver a single technology and business logic infrastructure to its entire range of customers, optimized for the .NET Framework. The solution will provide for different interface and workflow layers designed to fit the size and scope of manufacturers from the lower to upper midmarket. A critical component of the strategy is to provide choices to customers. Customers may choose from a number of database platforms, including Progress RDBMS, Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle 9i. And, the new product architecture will also allow a manufacturer to deploy the product on a number of operating systems including Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Unix and Linux.
This approach offers several benefits to customers. Rather than purchase and deploy multiple solutions, large manufacturers can deploy a single solution that meets the needs of their small, medium and large divisions. Also, customers can move seamlessly between solutions as they grow or their needs change.
Epicor Executes on Strategy with First Deliverables
Executing on a critical milestone of its product roadmap, Epicor has incorporated a single application framework across two of its existing manufacturing solutions, Vista 6.0 and Vantage 6.0. This is being supported through the company’s alliance with Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS), announced last November (see Nov. 18, 2002 press release: Progress and Epicor Announce Microsoft .NET Strategy for Manufacturing Customers). While Vista and Vantage now share a common framework, their user interfaces and workflow are unique to the markets that they serve.
Vista 6.0 was introduced in February (see Feb. 3, 2003 press release: Epicor’s Vista 6.0 Delivers Tighter Integration and Technology Choices to Small and Midsize Manufacturers). The newest version of Epicor’s software tailored to the unique needs of the small to midsize manufacturer, Vista 6.0 provides an affordable and proven solution that easily manages scheduling, job tracking and integrates accounting functions to increase efficiency and productivity. The new version of Vista offers support for both Microsoft SQL Server and Progress RDBMS (Relational Database Management System), enabling customers to choose the technology that best fits their business.
The company also announced availability of Vantage 6.0, Epicor’s comprehensive integrated manufacturing solution that addresses the needs of larger midmarket make-to-order (MTO) and mixed-mode manufacturers with fully integrated relationship management applications that enable users to better manage interactions with customers and suppliers. (See March 4, 2003 press release: Epicor’s Vantage 6.0 Delivers an End-to-End Solution to Manage the Global Manufacturing Enterprise).
Epicor’s .NET Manufacturing Solution
Early next year, Epicor will be introducing its .NET manufacturing solution, which will feature an n-tier architecture that has been architected from the ground up to support Microsoft .NET and Web services. The platform will deliver unrivalled flexibility and performance for both developers and customers, and allow for the development of applications based on Web services that have either a smart client or browser-based user interface. The solution will enable Epicor’s manufacturing customers to leverage Web services technology for maximum ease of use, integration, and lower total cost of ownership (TCO), without complex or costly migration headaches.
This will be delivered through a combination of the Progress OpenEdge platform and a .NET-based presentation architecture, which offers Epicor customers the combination of one of the most powerful and reliable business processing engines on the market today, with the extensive collaborative capabilities offered by .NET and Web services. The Progress OpenEdge platform supported through a native Microsoft .NET user interface enables Epicor to deliver back-end business logic, a user interface and workflow support geared to the size and type of a company’s manufacturing operation.
“At Epicor, we understand that manufacturers need to deploy new technology to remain competitive at a pace that minimizes risk and maximizes value,” said Borg. “Epicor’s evolutionary product roadmap allows manufacturers to protect their existing technology investments, and capitalize on technology advances when the timing best fits their business.” About Epicor Software Corporation Epicor is a leading provider of integrated enterprise and eBusiness software solutions for midmarket companies around the world. Founded in 1984, Epicor has over 15,000 customers and delivers end-to-end, industry-specific solutions that enable companies to immediately improve business operations and build competitive advantage in today’s Internet economy.
Epicor’s comprehensive suite of integrated software solutions for Customer Relationship Management, Financials, Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management, Professional Services Automation and Collaborative Commerce provide the scalability and flexibility to support long-term growth. Epicor’s solutions are complemented by a full range of services, providing single point of accountability to promote rapid return on investment and low total cost of ownership, now and in the future. Epicor is headquartered in Irvine, California and has offices and affiliates around the world. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.epicor.com.
Source: Epicor
