Therefore, Epicor 9 is also touted as the best of both worlds, i.e., a converged uber-product on one side (a la Oracle Fusion Applications), while on the other side offering the “protect, extend, and converge” approach of catering to its existing client base on current individual product lines, without forcing a wholesale “big bang” upgrade. “Protect” denotes continued investment in current products and solutions (in terms of periodic enhancements), while “extend” means standardization of key solutions and infrastructure (e.g., enterprise portal, enterprise performance management [EPM], workflow automation, Microsoft Office integration) across all existing product lines.
“Protect and extend” together mean that existing users of any of Epicor’s mature systems (e.g., Epicor Enterprise, Epicor Avante, or Epicor iScala) will be looked after in terms of support, regulatory upgrades, and system performance enhancements. These users can already, for example, leverage the consituent Epicor Productivity Pyramid tools: Epicor Information Worker, Epicor Portal, and Epicor Service Connect.
This three-part user experience (UX) solution will be detailed in a separate article, but for now it suffices to say that the Productivity Pyramid provides business users (managers and information workers) with opportunities to get more out of their core ERP data and processes (without the help of the IT department), by also enabling collaboration and business process automation (BPA).
Thus, the first two parts of Epicor’s three-prong approach somewhat resemble Infor’s “extend, enrich, and evolve” or “Three E’s” approach). Having already mentioned the similarity with Oracle’s fusion strategy on one hand, Epicor’s evolutionary principle of protecting customers’ existing assets is along the lines of Oracle’s Applications Unlimited pledge (of each existing principal ERP and CRM product being continually enhanced in the future) on the other hand.
But the crux of the matter here is the convergence of Epicor products into a next-generation product suite, or “fusion” in Oracle’s lingo. Logically, “converge” stands for the ongoing evolution of applications to a superset product, offering the best of all Epicor solutions within one suite. The users who want to upgrade to Epicor 9 (i.e., according to the “converge” part) will be able to harness as little or as much of the new system’s footprint as required. They will be able to expand or change the functional scope as the need arises, with a system configuration agility and flexibility tantamount to selecting a tick in the box.
To recap, in addition to protecting users’ investments and extending their systems’ functionality through enhancements and new tools, there is also now a user-friendly convergence path in Epicor 9. For example, existing users of Epicor’s Vantage ERP products that are on active maintenance contracts can upgrade, at their discretion, to Epicor 9’s equivalent functional footprint (which incorporates all of the existing Vantage functionality and more, given the underlying modernized technology and tools) free of charge. Some differential license fees might still be applicable in cases of a customer deciding to use significant new functionality or new modules in Epicor 9 (which the current product in use has never had), on an individual case by case basis.
I should also note here that Epicor 9 does not currently entail Epicor Retail Management solutions. This is a division within Epicor (contributing to about 30 percent of the company’s revenues), and its product portfolio is on a slightly longer-term development track to convergence. For more information on Epicor Retail, see my previous three-part blog series entitled “Is Epicor Poised to Rule the Mid-Market Retail Sector?”
“Protect and extend” together mean that existing users of any of Epicor’s mature systems (e.g., Epicor Enterprise, Epicor Avante, or Epicor iScala) will be looked after in terms of support, regulatory upgrades, and system performance enhancements. These users can already, for example, leverage the consituent Epicor Productivity Pyramid tools: Epicor Information Worker, Epicor Portal, and Epicor Service Connect.
This three-part user experience (UX) solution will be detailed in a separate article, but for now it suffices to say that the Productivity Pyramid provides business users (managers and information workers) with opportunities to get more out of their core ERP data and processes (without the help of the IT department), by also enabling collaboration and business process automation (BPA).
Thus, the first two parts of Epicor’s three-prong approach somewhat resemble Infor’s “extend, enrich, and evolve” or “Three E’s” approach). Having already mentioned the similarity with Oracle’s fusion strategy on one hand, Epicor’s evolutionary principle of protecting customers’ existing assets is along the lines of Oracle’s Applications Unlimited pledge (of each existing principal ERP and CRM product being continually enhanced in the future) on the other hand.
But the crux of the matter here is the convergence of Epicor products into a next-generation product suite, or “fusion” in Oracle’s lingo. Logically, “converge” stands for the ongoing evolution of applications to a superset product, offering the best of all Epicor solutions within one suite. The users who want to upgrade to Epicor 9 (i.e., according to the “converge” part) will be able to harness as little or as much of the new system’s footprint as required. They will be able to expand or change the functional scope as the need arises, with a system configuration agility and flexibility tantamount to selecting a tick in the box.
To recap, in addition to protecting users’ investments and extending their systems’ functionality through enhancements and new tools, there is also now a user-friendly convergence path in Epicor 9. For example, existing users of Epicor’s Vantage ERP products that are on active maintenance contracts can upgrade, at their discretion, to Epicor 9’s equivalent functional footprint (which incorporates all of the existing Vantage functionality and more, given the underlying modernized technology and tools) free of charge. Some differential license fees might still be applicable in cases of a customer deciding to use significant new functionality or new modules in Epicor 9 (which the current product in use has never had), on an individual case by case basis.
I should also note here that Epicor 9 does not currently entail Epicor Retail Management solutions. This is a division within Epicor (contributing to about 30 percent of the company’s revenues), and its product portfolio is on a slightly longer-term development track to convergence. For more information on Epicor Retail, see my previous three-part blog series entitled “Is Epicor Poised to Rule the Mid-Market Retail Sector?”
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