Part II of this blog topic analyzed Epicor’s forays into the attractive retail sector via the CRS Retail acquisition two years ago. Most recently, with the acquisition of NSB Retail Systems, Epicor has further expanded its functional footprint, market share and geographic presence in the sector. Namely, NSB added over 200 specialty retail logos, thereby more than doubling Epicor’s retail install base.

While many analysts like Gartner, AMR Research or Aberdeen Group have quickly come up with their customary brief alerts, the usual-suspect bloggers have not seemed that interested in this event, with the notable exception of Frank Scavo in his Enterprise Systems Spectator blog post.

I concur with the assertion coming from both Epicor and the above analysts and bloggers that the retail sector is much more promising and with many more “greener pastures” than Epicor’s traditional overcrowded manufacturing and distribution sectors. The retail applications market is indeed large (AMR Research is predicting its size to be over US$10 billion by 2011 from US$8 billion today), growing (at an estimated 7.1 cumulative annual growth rate [CAGR]) and quite fragmented (whereby Top 5 vendors accounted for only 33 percent of the market in 2006, and no vendor currently has over 10 percent market share).

Epicor also cites some favorable trends in the sector, such as that (as with other industries) the adoption of packaged software will become the common technology approach, and that retailers too have become more interested in acquiring an integrated set of applications from a single vendor. Read the rest of this entry »

Part I of this blog topic introduced SYSPRO and its traditional vertical solutions. It also analyzed the vendor’s PragmaVision strategy to provide to pragmatic (yet visionary) technology buyers’ need.

Towards the end of offering proven technology to pragmatists, SYSPRO’s fully-integrated solution suite [evaluate this product] connects to disparate systems via Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) technologies. All the above-mentioned modules are based on standard Extensible Markup Language (XML) formats for information exchange, and Web service technologies for enhanced interoperability between disparate systems and for collaborative commerce. SYSPRO’s thoughtful approach to adopting new technology, such as Web services and SOA platforms, again reflects the desires of its sensible buyers, who are driven by business needs rather than by the latest headlines. Read the rest of this entry »

Part I of this blog topic  introduced Epicor Software and its traditional vertical solutions. It also analyzed Epicor’s forays into the attractive retail sector via the CRS acquisition two years ago. Designed for integration and scalability, the  Epicor/CRS Retail Suite can support a wide variety of retail enterprises’ requirements.

These environments range from the rapidly expanding regional retailer requiring point-of-sale (POS), store operations and merchandising, to the large, global retailer requiring central management, visibility and control over hundreds or thousands of distributed stores and outlets.

Epicor/CRS  customers include leading retailers such as Aéropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, Ann Taylor, Cache, Chico’s, Coach, Eileen Fisher, Factory Connection, Foot Locker, GNC, J.Crew, Stage Stores, Trans World Entertainment, Tuesday Morning, Inc., Yankee Candle Company and Zumiez, among others. The retail division employs more than 360 employees based in Newburgh, New York, the United States (US), with regional offices in Seattle, Washington, US and Bracknell, the United Kingdom (UK). Read the rest of this entry »

One renowned vendor seems to have contributed to the 2007 holiday shopping season. That would be Irvine, California, the United States (US)-based Epicor Software Corporation (Nasdaq: EPIC). With over 2,500 employees worldwide and with projected 2007 revenues of $414.5 million (not including the pending acquisition), Epicor is the global leader in the mid-market, serving over 20,000 customers worldwide.

With more than 20 years of operating history (since 1984, including a number of acquisitions and name changes), Epicor today delivers comprehensive enterprise software solutions with a sophistication and maturity that competes with Tier One vendors, but typically at a fraction of the cost associated with these bigger brethren solutions. Namely, these large enterprise systems, though highly functional, have traditionally also been quite complex and expensive to purchase, install, integrate, and maintain. Read the rest of this entry »