Epicor 9 gives manufacturers reasons to think out of the box

Unusually, that slogan is important because, like some of the others that have acquired big systems with big followings over the years, Epicor is making it clear that it’s looking after that client base, and not forcing a wholesale upgrade. So, at the event, John Hiraoka, Epicor senior vice president and chief marketing officer (who has been with the company since the Dataworks days) made the point that ‘protect and extend’ together mean that existing users of any of its systems – mostly Vantage, Avante and iScala – will be looked after in terms of support, regulatory upgrades and performance-enhancing upgrades. They can, for example, buy into its templated Productivity Pyramid tools – Information Worker, Portal and Service Connect – improving business managers’ and information workers’ opportunities to get far more out of their core ERP data, while also enabling collaboration and business process automation. And all from the comfort zone of familiar Microsoft environments – including set-up, which, says Hiraoka, is much the same as working with Excel or SharePoint. “We are the largest ERP company outside Microsoft itself that’s focused entirely on Microsoft, and that brings big benefits to users and developers,” he said. Key to all this, however, is Epicor’s True SOA (services orientated architecture), which effectively provides the middleware that is fundamental in enabling easy integration between the legacy systems and Eipcor’s new tools. And also, similarly, its convergent upgrade to its next-generation enterprise Epicor 9, due for general availability on November 26. Epicor 9 is a substantial rebuild of the company’s broadest ERP capabilities, taking the best of its various systems’ features and functionality in componentised form. That, says Hiraoka, is what allows users (new and old) to harness as little or as much of the new system as they need, and to know that they can expand or change it, as the need arises – providing the agility and flexibility tick in the box. It works precisely because of its SOA and what the company is calling its ICE (Internet Component Environment), which fuses modern Web 2.0 technologies with Epicor True SOA to provide an adaptable and collaborative business architecture. The vision: Epicor 9 will enable manufacturers to get ERP data and functionality virtually everywhere, using Web 2.0 concepts to provide “a collaborative and dynamic enterprise business application experience”, regardless of country, industry, or access device. “Epicor next-generation enterprise applications represent a game-changing opportunity for business”, says Hiraoka. “Epicor 9 is unparalleled because it is redefining ERP: it designed for the way people work today, is built for business and is ready for change. It’s about delivering business without barriers. With the launch of Epicor 9 we are looking at significantly enhancing our market leadership in the UK mid-market segment.” And beta user, print management firm Communisis, agrees, with business systems director Paul Beresford saying: “The new functionality and advanced technology looks impressive and I believe it will deliver us significant benefits when we upgrade next year.” One more point though: with Epicor’s close allegiance to Microsoft, cloud computing and Microsoft’s Azure initiative just had to be mentioned. Hjiraoka’s take: this is going to be another prime mover in enabling agility. By driving time, cost and effort out of enterprise infrastructure, it will enable users to think the unthinkable, and do the hitherto impossible. You get the clear synergy: the message is that, with Epicor 9 and Azure, you can just do it.