Tuesday, 23 December 2008
More Cool Shopping
On-line this time (where I prefer to shop). My thanks to Lynette for introducing me to Moo, a London-based on-line print company with a difference. You can create and order your own highly personalised business cards, mini-cards, postcards, anything cards - which is pretty standard nowadays. How you do it, and the fun experience, is not. I created a pack of personal cards with some of my favourite photos on the back. You can have up to 100, all different - I chose boats and fish of course - and my details on the front. The whole end-to-end experience from creating the cards, being informed of my order progress to receiving the order was just...great. I can't think of a better word. To give you just a glimpse of what that was like, included in my pack of mini-cards was a New Customer welcome card which said: "Yay, you're our new best friend". Try it.
Sunday, 21 December 2008
In praise of shopping (really)
Like many chaps I am not a fan of shopping in shops (as opposed to on-line), but last week I had a shopping experience that was nearly transcendental. I went into...wait for it...an Apple Store. No, I have not gone over to the trendy side, but my daughter fancied an iPod in a cool colour for Christmas and I went in to buy one. What a brilliant experience. If all shops were like this we wouldn't have have the High Street problem we have now. Not only were all the products there, working and ready to fiddle with; there were highly knowledgeable guys walking around who actually knew a lot about the products. There were real demos, a tuition stand and a Genius Bar for real-life product support. The result was my daughter not only had her iPod in cool purple, we also bought two iPod alarm clock docks. Now for the best bit (I love technology that improves my life). We paid by credit card, standing in the middle of the store - no queuing for tills - as our helpful friend had one of those restaurant-style RF devices (only cooler, this is Apple remember). We had bought Apple products before, so of course our details popped up on his screen. And this is the bit that made my day - instead of printing out a silly curly receipt that would clog up my wallet like all the others, he simply said, "shall I email it to you?" Yo.
www.aspera.co.uk
www.aspera.co.uk
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Maslow's Hierachy of ERP Needs
If you have forgotten your basic human psychology course or don't know what I am on about, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs applied to us humans refers to the sequence of need satisfaction, where we have to have satisfied one need before we can become interested in another. We didn't bother with cave painting until we had the food and shelter thing sorted out, then when we organised ourselves into farming communities we had time for all sorts of cultural activities - and so on. I have grossly simplified it but I hope you get the idea.
The same can be applied to ERP. If you bring a system in to a disorganised company, the first thing they will worry about is stock accuracy, and try and get it from 80% to 90%. If you went round the corner to a World Class manufacturer with 99.8% stock accuracy and asked him what he was worried about, I bet it would be something like improving customer service levels. Of course inventory accuracy is important, but he's done that and moved his attention on.
My point, eventually, is that there is always something more you can squeeze out of the business and your systems are just waiting to be moved up a gear. Aberdeen Group have a great way of defining Best in Class and Laggards, and there is a huge gap in efficiency between them. I don't believe there is ever a point when "no more can be done". In my experience there is nearly always a lot more, you might need to upgrade the systems or get some outside help in, but where there's a will there's a way.
www.aspera.co.uk
The same can be applied to ERP. If you bring a system in to a disorganised company, the first thing they will worry about is stock accuracy, and try and get it from 80% to 90%. If you went round the corner to a World Class manufacturer with 99.8% stock accuracy and asked him what he was worried about, I bet it would be something like improving customer service levels. Of course inventory accuracy is important, but he's done that and moved his attention on.
My point, eventually, is that there is always something more you can squeeze out of the business and your systems are just waiting to be moved up a gear. Aberdeen Group have a great way of defining Best in Class and Laggards, and there is a huge gap in efficiency between them. I don't believe there is ever a point when "no more can be done". In my experience there is nearly always a lot more, you might need to upgrade the systems or get some outside help in, but where there's a will there's a way.
www.aspera.co.uk
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Wasteful buildings
Consider the average corporate office block and get your calculator out. It is usually only occupied five days out of seven, sometimes only 4. That is 71%. Each working day, it is occupied for at most 12 hours - 35.5%. I am told that the average desk is occupied 40% of the time. That is a staggering 14.2% of the total available hours - which is costing the company 100% in lease costs, rates, heating, security and infrastructure. Add to that the lost time and huge inefficiencies of moving people from their home to the workplace, and the resistance to job changes because of location changes, and the whole concept of going to work in an office looks highly questionable.
If people were able to interact remotely as productively as they do face to face, we empowered and trusted them to work remotely, and most important of all we gave them the tools to do the job in the form of modern IT systems, think what an efficiency gain that would be. Hang on a minute, haven't we been here before? Wasn't I going on recently about the younger generation, who are already used to working this way? Watch this space.
www.aspera.co.uk
If people were able to interact remotely as productively as they do face to face, we empowered and trusted them to work remotely, and most important of all we gave them the tools to do the job in the form of modern IT systems, think what an efficiency gain that would be. Hang on a minute, haven't we been here before? Wasn't I going on recently about the younger generation, who are already used to working this way? Watch this space.
www.aspera.co.uk
Distrust at work
I was fortunate to hear futurologist Dr James Bellini present at the Epicor conference recently, and among the very many snippets that had us all thinking was a challenge to the typical organisational hierarchy. Apparently this is based on a lack of trust in the poor old workers at the bottom, who have charge-hands to mind them, supervisors to mind the charge-hands, foremen to mind the supervisors, and so on all the way up the the Board of Directors. You get the idea - think what a waste of resources that is. No wonder many corporates are taking out swathes of "middle management".
Compare that structure with one formed around a task - such as making a film. Specialists are brought together for the purpose of making a film - director, camera crew, actors, props men, caterers - then disperse once the task is complete. That is accepted practice in that industry - so why not elsewhere? When you implement an ERP system, why not bring in contractors and beef up the team for the duration of the project? When you develop and release a new product, why not bring in a team of technicians, engineers, marketeers and sales people? If we were used to moving from task to task, maybe the mass redundancies we are seeing would be not be necessary -nor would we care. We would just move on to the next project.
www.aspera.co.uk
Compare that structure with one formed around a task - such as making a film. Specialists are brought together for the purpose of making a film - director, camera crew, actors, props men, caterers - then disperse once the task is complete. That is accepted practice in that industry - so why not elsewhere? When you implement an ERP system, why not bring in contractors and beef up the team for the duration of the project? When you develop and release a new product, why not bring in a team of technicians, engineers, marketeers and sales people? If we were used to moving from task to task, maybe the mass redundancies we are seeing would be not be necessary -nor would we care. We would just move on to the next project.
www.aspera.co.uk
Water, Electricity - and Computing?
When electricity first came into widespread use in the home and in industry, there were no central power stations and no National Grid. Each country house, each factory and each small town had one or several generators supplying less than perfectly reliable DC electricity. Over time, AC was developed and larger power plants supplied electricity that could be sold on a meter. A grid of cables was installed to make it easy for consumers to buy as much electricity as they needed, with as little effort as turning on a switch. Why would we ever go back to generating our own electricity when it is so reliable, relatively cheap, we have a choice of suppliers and it is very Green?
So think about computing. The boxes are commodities, we can rack them up and most of us don't really care about the inner workings; we just want them to make our business applications function reliably and quickly. And while we are on that subject, why do we have to buy our own applications, why can't we tap into those as well? My crystal ball tells me that it won't be long before computing power is sold like electricity, and applications too. But hey, what is all that I'm reading about Cloud Computing, SaaS (software as a service), Utility Computing and Grid Computing? It's nearer than you might think.
So think about computing. The boxes are commodities, we can rack them up and most of us don't really care about the inner workings; we just want them to make our business applications function reliably and quickly. And while we are on that subject, why do we have to buy our own applications, why can't we tap into those as well? My crystal ball tells me that it won't be long before computing power is sold like electricity, and applications too. But hey, what is all that I'm reading about Cloud Computing, SaaS (software as a service), Utility Computing and Grid Computing? It's nearer than you might think.
Young People Today....
...brash, impatient, over-confident, ideas above their position. Hear that a lot from managers? There are going to be some very interesting changes in employment over the next ten years or so. (And ten years is the life expectancy of a typical ERP implementation so read on...)
We, as business managers in our forties and fifties started working in a very traditional hierarchical structure. We had not experienced mobile phones, the Internet, home PCs or even satellite TV in our youth. We went to work, started at the bottom, learned the ropes - just as we did at school and college. Our kids are different, and they are growing up and moving into the workplace just about now. They are used to instant access to information, and using the Internet to help with homework projects. They share games on their iPods, swap photos on their mobile phones, chat across the world with Instant Messenger, and think nothing of doing all these things at once.
Hardly surprising then, when we have invested in progressive education to teach them how to think out of the box, work in teams and develop flexible approaches to problem-solving, that these collaborative young people don't find our traditional way of working, with legacy workplace tools, all that helpful. I think they want more, need more, and can give more. Our ideas will have to change, and any business systems they use will have to be as useful to them as their own gadgets are now. It will be well worth adding "Web 2.0" to the features list for your next ERP system, just for starters.
We, as business managers in our forties and fifties started working in a very traditional hierarchical structure. We had not experienced mobile phones, the Internet, home PCs or even satellite TV in our youth. We went to work, started at the bottom, learned the ropes - just as we did at school and college. Our kids are different, and they are growing up and moving into the workplace just about now. They are used to instant access to information, and using the Internet to help with homework projects. They share games on their iPods, swap photos on their mobile phones, chat across the world with Instant Messenger, and think nothing of doing all these things at once.
Hardly surprising then, when we have invested in progressive education to teach them how to think out of the box, work in teams and develop flexible approaches to problem-solving, that these collaborative young people don't find our traditional way of working, with legacy workplace tools, all that helpful. I think they want more, need more, and can give more. Our ideas will have to change, and any business systems they use will have to be as useful to them as their own gadgets are now. It will be well worth adding "Web 2.0" to the features list for your next ERP system, just for starters.
Monday, 15 December 2008
On-Line Policemen
My brother is a law lecturer with a specialisation in community policing. He is just back from a trip to study the way they do it in Canada, as the problem is international. Our Bobby, who you used to turn to if your cat was lost, you saw something funny going on or a traffic accident needed sorting out, is no more. Instead, we have numerous "Agencies" helping out with greater or lesser police powers. The "standard" Bobbies job is now mainly catching criminals - not even preventing crime. The problem for yer man-in-the-street is that although he may see a policeman, it may not be a "real" one, and in any case, there may be a special agency who has powers delegated to them to address our man's needs. If you think this is complex and confusing, it sure is. In the problem zone of cities, just outside the centre, crime and social misbehaviour is high and much of it is not dealt with because the right people are not on the spot.
Now here is an idea (remember you read it here first). In our on-line world, we have communities who get together on forums to discuss things we have an interest in (http://www.worldseafishing.com/ in my case), and those discussions can be very active. So active in fact, that sometimes on-line fights start and Something Has To Be Done. Forum etiquette is self-imposed by the communities through voluntary Moderators, who have certain powers to intervene, and Administrators who have greater powers. Anyone in the community can alert a Moderator, who can deal with it, with or without additional help. My idea is this. Why not extend this back to real-life? Set up Moderators and Administrators who can be alerted via text from our man-in-the-street community, they can have have a look via CCTV if necessary, and request on-the-spot assistance from the relevant agency. We can even grade these community alerts according to credibility based on previous alerts. If old ladies can switch on street lighting in German villages late at night using their mobile phones (see Dial a Street Light), surely my policing idea could be worth a try?
Now here is an idea (remember you read it here first). In our on-line world, we have communities who get together on forums to discuss things we have an interest in (http://www.worldseafishing.com/ in my case), and those discussions can be very active. So active in fact, that sometimes on-line fights start and Something Has To Be Done. Forum etiquette is self-imposed by the communities through voluntary Moderators, who have certain powers to intervene, and Administrators who have greater powers. Anyone in the community can alert a Moderator, who can deal with it, with or without additional help. My idea is this. Why not extend this back to real-life? Set up Moderators and Administrators who can be alerted via text from our man-in-the-street community, they can have have a look via CCTV if necessary, and request on-the-spot assistance from the relevant agency. We can even grade these community alerts according to credibility based on previous alerts. If old ladies can switch on street lighting in German villages late at night using their mobile phones (see Dial a Street Light), surely my policing idea could be worth a try?
Friday, 12 December 2008
Epicor 9 Press Release (Translated)
Wow. Why do some writers of press releases feel they have to shroud IT news (even good news) in such corporate mumbo-speak? Epicor have just released a brilliant new version of their ERP system - a new product, almost - but you would struggle to understand the announcement. Here’s my take on it (translation beneath each paragraph)…
Next-Generation Enterprise Resource Planning Solution Featuring Epicor True SOA(TM), Uniquely Configurable Global Engines, and Far-Reaching Functionality LAS VEGAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)
–Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of enterprise business software for the midmarket and divisions of Global 1000 companies, unveiled today to nearly 2,000 attendees at its annual customer conference, a unique solution for business with the launch of its next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution Epicor 9. Leveraging more than 20 years of experience designing and implementing ERP solutions, Epicor is introducing a new approach to the way ERP systems are designed, built, and used.
Epicor is a very big company and has just released a new version of the Epicor ERP system
Expected to be generally available before the end of the year, Epicor 9 will virtually put “ERP everywhere,” utilizing Web 2.0 concepts to provide users with a truly collaborative and dynamic enterprise business application experience. Epicor 9 raises technology to a level that delivers unprecedented business management and supports continuous performance improvement through real-time, in-context business insight. At the core of Epicor 9 is an adaptable and collaborative business architecture that satisfies the needs of any enterprise regardless of country, industry, or access device, enabling business anywhere — business without barriers.
You will be able to use the cool features of modern web sites in your own ERP system
“With Epicor 9, Epicor continues its proven history of innovation with Microsoft technology by working to redefine the enterprise application software experience,” said Walid Abu-Hadba, CVP, Developer & Platform Evangelism for Microsoft Corp. “We applaud Epicor for its deep utilization of the Microsoft platform to deliver its next-generation service-based business solutions. These applications offer users tremendous choice for interacting with their enterprise information - through the 2007 Microsoft(R) Office system (Office Outlook(R) 2007, Office Word 2007, and Office Excel(R) 2007), Microsoft Office SharePoint(R) Server 2007, Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007, Windows Mobile and more. We expect that the combination of Epicor and Microsoft software will enable companies to drive greater efficiencies and create new business value as users are empowered to work smarter and faster.”
Microsoft thinks it’s good too
Business Management
With proven success in developing and delivering service-oriented enterprise applications used by thousands of companies around the world today, Epicor has converged the best of its offerings into this next-generation superset release. Encompassing the robust functionality, global footprint and industry expertise of Epicor’s existing ERP suites, the release takes business management and control to the next level by extending reach, synergy, and visibility to the organization and its trading partners.
Epicor are combining their several ERP products into one, and this is the first step. (Actually it replaces Vantage and brings in the excellent financials from iScala but it doesn’t say that). This is something even Microsoft have not acheived (it doesn’t say that either).
Specifically, Epicor features numerous essential embedded capabilities that manage the flow of processes right across the enterprise. This approach to core functionality, typically provided in other systems through after-the-fact integration or third party add-ons, includes customer relationship management (CRM), supplier relationship management (SRM), advanced planning and scheduling (APS), business process management (BPM), governance, risk and compliance (GRC), product configuration, field service and more. Additionally, integral support for master data management (MDM) and what Epicor terms Global Business Management lets businesses virtualize their enterprise across plants, warehouses, sites, trading partners, companies, countries, and hardware, keeping everything synchronized in real time.
Very integrated, very comprehensive and also suitable for multi-unit organisations
Business Insight
Epicor has responded to the needs of today’s businesses, who finding that it is no longer enough to respond retroactively to trends uncovered by complex business intelligence tools all too often removed from the point of decision and managed and used by a select few, are seeking better solutions.
Today’s information workers require decision support in real time, and they want it deployed in the tools they already use, day in and day out. Epicor Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) removes the barriers to better business insight through a combination of intuitive enterprise search-based user experiences, user-driven key performance indicators (KPIs), role-based interactive dashboards, and pre-packaged analytics delivered in context that have real meaning to the user and add real value to the business.
Built-in workflow and business intelligence that provide instant alerts to managers. Information is displayed in a familiar way (which means it looks a lot like a Microsoft product).
Business Architecture
Epicor’s breakthrough enterprise business solution has been designed for growing companies in domestic and global markets, and is built on a second-generation service-oriented architecture (SOA) which Epicor announced earlier this year, Epicor Internet Component Environment (ICE) 2.0. The backbone of Epicor’s next-generation ERP solutions, Epicor ICE, fuses modern Web 2.0 technologies with Epicor True SOA(TM) to deliver an enabling business architecture that offers new levels of flexibility, usability, and agility in support of application-to-application integration and business-to-business collaboration.
Redesigned and rebuilt under the bonnet to support all the new stuff, rather than patching up old technologies
What makes Epicor True SOA(TM) different is the way that all client code, as well as application business logic, is delivered as self-describing business services, offering a tremendous step forward in the creation of productive user experiences. Part of Epicor True SOA(TM) is the Epicor Everywhere(TM) Framework, a unique technology that stores all user interface attributes as XML metadata. This permits Epicor applications to run as smart clients or Web clients or on mobile devices, all from the same source code. Because it all starts from the same metadata, customization and user personalization remains intact, whatever the user interface.
which means it is easier to manage and customise, and use on different devices
Business Anywhere
The tools that people use to conduct business today have changed. Business is everywhere, business is real-time, and business is always online. Epicor understands that the Internet and ubiquitous mobility play an essential part in the daily lives of the information-hungry global economy. The world has changed and with Epicor 9, ERP has too.
Clouding the point slightly. Not everyone is rushing about the globe, but many companies are setting up global relationships so an international, web-based product like this is what they need.
Featuring a unique global engine design approach, Epicor 9 offers a comprehensive configurable ERP platform and global footprint that’s ready for deployment anywhere. The initial release is expected to support over 20 languages and countries, with rapid expansion planned to the world’s principle markets in more than 40 countries in the Americas, EMEA, and the Asia Pacific Rim.
Epicor 9 is or will be available in all the main languages world-wide
Enabled by the Epicor Everywhere(TM) Framework and targeted use of modern consumer Web concepts, Epicor next-generation applications can be accessed via a range of mobile devices, such as Windows Mobile(R), Symbian, BlackBerry(R), and the Apple iPhone(TM) for wireless business. Additionally, Epicor Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) can also be deployed direct to mobile devices and includes full search capabilities to rapidly find and drill down to applicable data.
A bit more about what was said earlier. I’m not sure our Blackberry-toting international executives are ready for this yet but when they are…
Securing IT Investments - Protect, Extend, Converge
For both existing and prospective customers, this is just the next step in Epicor’s “protect, extend, and converge” strategy, enabling them to leverage the latest technology at their own pace. The next generation will expand on the Epicor solutions that customers have trusted to run and grow their businesses for many years. Because Epicor next-generation solutions are based on componentized business architecture, Epicor ICE, customers are able to leverage extended applications like Epicor Information Worker, Epicor Portal, and Epicor Service Connect today with their existing Epicor solution, enabling them to start taking advantage of service-oriented applications before they move up to the next-generation release.
A wise move, enabling existing customers to migrate over time but take advantage of some of the brand new stuff right now
Epicor 9 is the culmination of a well-defined strategy, which at the same time supports current customer investments while keeping the technology moving forward. Bruce Richardson, chief research officer of AMR Research, commented in a recent article that “getting to one brand obviously offers the potential for greater efficiencies in sales, marketing, consulting and services, and product development.”
A pat on the back for Epicor
Keeping Pace with Business Requirements
Epicor will empower companies to select the fundamental options that are right for their business–choosing whether to deploy on-premise, single-tenant hosted, or multi-tenant Software as a Service (SaaS), Windows-based or Web-based, centralized or decentralized, end-to-end or individual suites. Customers can also choose how to configure the application suites to best fit and improve business processes. End users can choose several options for interacting with their ERP system: using the standard application forms, through Microsoft(R) Office applications, through Internet and intranet portal pages or composite applications, using a search engine, taking RSS feeds, and from mobile devices.
Future-proof, it will be the same product however you choose to deploy it now or later.
“Epicor next-generation enterprise applications represent a game-changing opportunity for business,” said Thomas Kelly, president and CEO of Epicor. “Epicor 9 is unparalleled because it is designed for the way people work today, is built for business, and is ready for change. Our strategy is to provide both new and existing customers with unprecedented flexibility and choice. It’s about delivering business without barriers.”
This is the best (and most relevant) bit, and sums it up nicely: “it is designed for the way people work today, is built for business, and is ready for change.” It is staggeringly good too, I have seen it.
Next-Generation Enterprise Resource Planning Solution Featuring Epicor True SOA(TM), Uniquely Configurable Global Engines, and Far-Reaching Functionality LAS VEGAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)
–Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of enterprise business software for the midmarket and divisions of Global 1000 companies, unveiled today to nearly 2,000 attendees at its annual customer conference, a unique solution for business with the launch of its next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution Epicor 9. Leveraging more than 20 years of experience designing and implementing ERP solutions, Epicor is introducing a new approach to the way ERP systems are designed, built, and used.
Epicor is a very big company and has just released a new version of the Epicor ERP system
Expected to be generally available before the end of the year, Epicor 9 will virtually put “ERP everywhere,” utilizing Web 2.0 concepts to provide users with a truly collaborative and dynamic enterprise business application experience. Epicor 9 raises technology to a level that delivers unprecedented business management and supports continuous performance improvement through real-time, in-context business insight. At the core of Epicor 9 is an adaptable and collaborative business architecture that satisfies the needs of any enterprise regardless of country, industry, or access device, enabling business anywhere — business without barriers.
You will be able to use the cool features of modern web sites in your own ERP system
“With Epicor 9, Epicor continues its proven history of innovation with Microsoft technology by working to redefine the enterprise application software experience,” said Walid Abu-Hadba, CVP, Developer & Platform Evangelism for Microsoft Corp. “We applaud Epicor for its deep utilization of the Microsoft platform to deliver its next-generation service-based business solutions. These applications offer users tremendous choice for interacting with their enterprise information - through the 2007 Microsoft(R) Office system (Office Outlook(R) 2007, Office Word 2007, and Office Excel(R) 2007), Microsoft Office SharePoint(R) Server 2007, Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007, Windows Mobile and more. We expect that the combination of Epicor and Microsoft software will enable companies to drive greater efficiencies and create new business value as users are empowered to work smarter and faster.”
Microsoft thinks it’s good too
Business Management
With proven success in developing and delivering service-oriented enterprise applications used by thousands of companies around the world today, Epicor has converged the best of its offerings into this next-generation superset release. Encompassing the robust functionality, global footprint and industry expertise of Epicor’s existing ERP suites, the release takes business management and control to the next level by extending reach, synergy, and visibility to the organization and its trading partners.
Epicor are combining their several ERP products into one, and this is the first step. (Actually it replaces Vantage and brings in the excellent financials from iScala but it doesn’t say that). This is something even Microsoft have not acheived (it doesn’t say that either).
Specifically, Epicor features numerous essential embedded capabilities that manage the flow of processes right across the enterprise. This approach to core functionality, typically provided in other systems through after-the-fact integration or third party add-ons, includes customer relationship management (CRM), supplier relationship management (SRM), advanced planning and scheduling (APS), business process management (BPM), governance, risk and compliance (GRC), product configuration, field service and more. Additionally, integral support for master data management (MDM) and what Epicor terms Global Business Management lets businesses virtualize their enterprise across plants, warehouses, sites, trading partners, companies, countries, and hardware, keeping everything synchronized in real time.
Very integrated, very comprehensive and also suitable for multi-unit organisations
Business Insight
Epicor has responded to the needs of today’s businesses, who finding that it is no longer enough to respond retroactively to trends uncovered by complex business intelligence tools all too often removed from the point of decision and managed and used by a select few, are seeking better solutions.
Today’s information workers require decision support in real time, and they want it deployed in the tools they already use, day in and day out. Epicor Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) removes the barriers to better business insight through a combination of intuitive enterprise search-based user experiences, user-driven key performance indicators (KPIs), role-based interactive dashboards, and pre-packaged analytics delivered in context that have real meaning to the user and add real value to the business.
Built-in workflow and business intelligence that provide instant alerts to managers. Information is displayed in a familiar way (which means it looks a lot like a Microsoft product).
Business Architecture
Epicor’s breakthrough enterprise business solution has been designed for growing companies in domestic and global markets, and is built on a second-generation service-oriented architecture (SOA) which Epicor announced earlier this year, Epicor Internet Component Environment (ICE) 2.0. The backbone of Epicor’s next-generation ERP solutions, Epicor ICE, fuses modern Web 2.0 technologies with Epicor True SOA(TM) to deliver an enabling business architecture that offers new levels of flexibility, usability, and agility in support of application-to-application integration and business-to-business collaboration.
Redesigned and rebuilt under the bonnet to support all the new stuff, rather than patching up old technologies
What makes Epicor True SOA(TM) different is the way that all client code, as well as application business logic, is delivered as self-describing business services, offering a tremendous step forward in the creation of productive user experiences. Part of Epicor True SOA(TM) is the Epicor Everywhere(TM) Framework, a unique technology that stores all user interface attributes as XML metadata. This permits Epicor applications to run as smart clients or Web clients or on mobile devices, all from the same source code. Because it all starts from the same metadata, customization and user personalization remains intact, whatever the user interface.
which means it is easier to manage and customise, and use on different devices
Business Anywhere
The tools that people use to conduct business today have changed. Business is everywhere, business is real-time, and business is always online. Epicor understands that the Internet and ubiquitous mobility play an essential part in the daily lives of the information-hungry global economy. The world has changed and with Epicor 9, ERP has too.
Clouding the point slightly. Not everyone is rushing about the globe, but many companies are setting up global relationships so an international, web-based product like this is what they need.
Featuring a unique global engine design approach, Epicor 9 offers a comprehensive configurable ERP platform and global footprint that’s ready for deployment anywhere. The initial release is expected to support over 20 languages and countries, with rapid expansion planned to the world’s principle markets in more than 40 countries in the Americas, EMEA, and the Asia Pacific Rim.
Epicor 9 is or will be available in all the main languages world-wide
Enabled by the Epicor Everywhere(TM) Framework and targeted use of modern consumer Web concepts, Epicor next-generation applications can be accessed via a range of mobile devices, such as Windows Mobile(R), Symbian, BlackBerry(R), and the Apple iPhone(TM) for wireless business. Additionally, Epicor Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) can also be deployed direct to mobile devices and includes full search capabilities to rapidly find and drill down to applicable data.
A bit more about what was said earlier. I’m not sure our Blackberry-toting international executives are ready for this yet but when they are…
Securing IT Investments - Protect, Extend, Converge
For both existing and prospective customers, this is just the next step in Epicor’s “protect, extend, and converge” strategy, enabling them to leverage the latest technology at their own pace. The next generation will expand on the Epicor solutions that customers have trusted to run and grow their businesses for many years. Because Epicor next-generation solutions are based on componentized business architecture, Epicor ICE, customers are able to leverage extended applications like Epicor Information Worker, Epicor Portal, and Epicor Service Connect today with their existing Epicor solution, enabling them to start taking advantage of service-oriented applications before they move up to the next-generation release.
A wise move, enabling existing customers to migrate over time but take advantage of some of the brand new stuff right now
Epicor 9 is the culmination of a well-defined strategy, which at the same time supports current customer investments while keeping the technology moving forward. Bruce Richardson, chief research officer of AMR Research, commented in a recent article that “getting to one brand obviously offers the potential for greater efficiencies in sales, marketing, consulting and services, and product development.”
A pat on the back for Epicor
Keeping Pace with Business Requirements
Epicor will empower companies to select the fundamental options that are right for their business–choosing whether to deploy on-premise, single-tenant hosted, or multi-tenant Software as a Service (SaaS), Windows-based or Web-based, centralized or decentralized, end-to-end or individual suites. Customers can also choose how to configure the application suites to best fit and improve business processes. End users can choose several options for interacting with their ERP system: using the standard application forms, through Microsoft(R) Office applications, through Internet and intranet portal pages or composite applications, using a search engine, taking RSS feeds, and from mobile devices.
Future-proof, it will be the same product however you choose to deploy it now or later.
“Epicor next-generation enterprise applications represent a game-changing opportunity for business,” said Thomas Kelly, president and CEO of Epicor. “Epicor 9 is unparalleled because it is designed for the way people work today, is built for business, and is ready for change. Our strategy is to provide both new and existing customers with unprecedented flexibility and choice. It’s about delivering business without barriers.”
This is the best (and most relevant) bit, and sums it up nicely: “it is designed for the way people work today, is built for business, and is ready for change.” It is staggeringly good too, I have seen it.
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