An interview with Epicors CMO John Hiraoka

Global

Epicors Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer John Hiraoka recently took the time to outline the scope of his companys business software solutions for the manufacturing, distribution, retail, hospitality and service industries.

Text Jim Larkin ~ Photography Epicor

BUSINESS INTEGRATION

solutions
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picors global reach is built on collaboration and providing efficiency-optimisation solutions for more than 20,000 customers in over 150 countries. TIEs EDI and Data Synchronization is a major component of Epicors broad portfolio of business software solutions, which includes integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM), and enterprise retail software solutions. Epicor is currently seeing a return to growth in spite of the challenges presented by a struggling economy, and has been positioned as a Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Midmarket and Tier 2-Oriented ERP for Product-Centric Companies. This honour showcases the strength of Epicors advanced business technology and the importance of its newest release, Epicor 9. TIE: John, can you tell me about your newest offering, Epicor 9, and its role in enabling business on a global scale? Epicor 9 is a revolutionary, next-generation ERP solution. Its a brand-new platform that allows us to provide manufacturers and distributors with a solution that is worldclass in terms of functionality and technology. Although evolutionary, it is effectively an all-new product: very much what we would call a game-changer. The industry analysts also saw it as a game-changer in the market, with Gartner positioning Epicor as a visionary in its Magic Quadrant, largely due to the architecture and technology. Aside from its technology and functionality, Epicor 9 is a truly global solution, currently shipping to almost 50 countries in approximately 20 languages. It is designed to support many different languages across many different localities, and in facilities, plants and sales offices that may span many different countries. Epicor 9 fulfils a need for a software solution that can run businesses end-to-end and help them grow as they move into new and emerging markets.

Epicor 9 is integrated with TIE solutions, helping us to market in tandem with other products that the customer may have

TIE: Where in the marketplace is Epicor 9 particularly resonating, and how do you see the TIE partnership as a part of that? Because of Epicor 9, we have experienced strength in several key and emerging markets in what has obviously been a very difficult market for everyone. We had great momentum at the end of the year, and in the fourth quarter of 2009 in particular. We closed the year with strength across all geographies, and across all product lines and verticals manufacturing, distribution, professional services and business-services-focused solutions, as well as in our retail focused offerings that serve some of the worlds largest retailers. Epicor 9 is integrated with TIE solutions, helping us to market in tandem with other products that the customer may have. This helps them integrate to their own customers, and enables them to do business more effectively. A significant part of our solutions and our partnership with TIE focuses on providing collaborative tools - tools that provide increased supply-chain efficiency, so that customers can react more quickly to market conditions, and meet the needs of their customers. One of the keys to our partnerships is a focus on global partners that not only understand the pressures and requirements of a particular

John Hiraoka, CMO Epicor.

region or locality, but also what it takes to be able do business globally. We want to partner with companies strategically so that we can offer a solution that will work anywhere in the world. TIE fits into that strategy very well because of the global nature of its customer base, its development focus and its desire to increase its business in these areas. Our strategies are well aligned. TIE: How do you see the future of providing enhanced global supply-chain capabilities to industry leaders in North America and internationally? We have a long relationship with TIE that dates back to 1998. We realized early on that TIE could be a global partner, enabling a large part of our supply-chain efficiency and focus on collaboration. We certainly want to continue our partnership and help our joint customers to be more successful. We think there are additional opportunities for both of us as we continue to expand further into global markets. We appreciate the successful partnership between TIE and Epicor.
TIE ~ 2/2010 ~ P19