Epicor Software Corporation

Epicor Creates Compelling Portal Solution Using Products in ISV Royalty Program

Epicor Software Corporation is a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner that has built a global business supplying companies in over 140 countries with a wide range of solutions for tasks such as supply chain management, professional services automation, enterprise resource planning, retail management, and IT services. To help enhance its offerings, Epicor participates in the Microsoft ISV Royalty Licensing Program, which allows ISVs to embed Microsoft products into unified solutions. An example is Epicor Portal, which incorporates Microsoft software that is fully supported by Epicor. Through participation in the program, Epicor can provide its customers with compelling solutions that allow Epicor to attract greater numbers of new customers and support existing customers.

Situation

Epicor is a leading independent software vendor that provides a broad array of solutions and services to small and mid-sized businesses and Global 1000 companies. Based in Irvine, California, Epicor operates in more than 140 countries, with solutions for supply chain management, enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, governance and compliance, retailing, and IT services. The company has more than 3,000 employees and about 20,000 customers.

We try to promote the concept of one-stop shopping to our customers. If they buy from Epicor, we take care of them, and the Microsoft ISV Royalty Program is instrumental in allowing us to do that.      Dan Whelan Senior Vice President, Worldwide Support, Epicor

One of the ongoing needs of Epicor customers is for portal solutions that can help them use their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems more efficiently. But sales and demand for portal solutions have historically been low due to the difficulties in deploying and managing portal technology. For years, Epicor provided its own portal solutions. These used proprietary technology, however, requiring considerable development work by Epicor along with pricing and support issues that put the solutions out of reach for significant market segments.

Solution

With the release of Microsoft® SharePoint® Products and Technologies, Epicor made the decision to take advantage of the Microsoft expertise in portal software by ending its own portal-specific development, and focusing instead on solutions that add value to the Microsoft SharePoint products. As part of this effort, Epicor took advantage of the Microsoft ISV Royalty Licensing Program, which Epicor has participated in for years to provide customers with complete solutions built on products such as Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Project Server, Microsoft Commerce Server, and Microsoft BizTalk Server. The ISV Royalty Program enables ISVs to easily integrate Microsoft-licensed products into their software business applications, replicate the business solution, and then distribute a fully licensed solution to their customers.

To address its customers’ portal needs, Epicor took advantage of the Microsoft ISV Royalty Program to provide customers with a complete solution in Epicor Portal. Designed on top of Microsoft technology, including Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and SQL Server 2005, Epicor Portal enables a wide range of enterprise-wide collaboration, helps enhance business decision making, and provides a rich end-user experience. The solution also supports Windows SharePoint Services 2003 and earlier SQL Server products already deployed by Epicor customers.

“Our philosophy is to build on standard Microsoft technologies whenever possible,” says James Norwood, Vice President of Product Marketing for Epicor. “By transferring the portal infrastructure to Microsoft products, Epicor was able to focus on what it does best, which is providing rich role-based and industry specific pre-packaged portal content.”

Epicor Portal provides enterprise customers with “content packs” that deliver specific functions, such as managing customer or supplier relations, reviewing budget and financial data, and managing order and shipment information. Because it uses XML technology, Epicor Portal works with a wide range of other applications, including other Epicor products.

Epicor Portal also supports specific industry needs, such as common information and metrics required, for example, by professional services firms. Additionally, Epicor Portal provides a management console for maintaining roles and security settings, which ensures that a customer or supplier accessing the portal only sees information that is relevant to them. It also includes a data visualization tool that allows end users to intuitively create views of information without any knowledge of the underlying database or querying language. A variety of external data sources can also be incorporated into Epicor Portal to provide an integrated view of a business.

 

Benefits

Using the benefits of the Microsoft ISV Royalty Licensing Program, Epicor was able to provide its customers with a single solution supported by a single vendor. Epicor Portal provides a comprehensive solution for customers seeking to implement an enterprise portal that includes all of the required technologies, licensing, and support. Epicor also participates in the Microsoft Partner Advantage, which, in conjunction with the ISV Royalty Program, provides Epicor technical staff with access to fast, up-to-date help from Microsoft in the event that they need assistance with customer support issues. The ISV Royalty Program also provides a way for Epicor to ensure that the Microsoft products included in the Epicor Portal solution are tightly integrated and work seamlessly with all solution components.

Providing an End-to-end Solution

Through its membership in the Microsoft ISV Royalty Program, Epicor can provide a complete source for the portal technology and all related licenses and support.

With the ISV Royalty Program, we provide the licensing and support for the Microsoft products included in Epicor Portal. That relieves our smaller customers from having to manage those things themselves. Karen Chastain Senior Manager of Alliance Marketing, Epicor

“We try to promote the concept of one-stop shopping to our customers,” says Dan Whelan, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Support for Epicor. “If they buy from Epicor, we take care of them, and the Microsoft ISV Royalty Program is instrumental in allowing us to do that. We manage all of the support issues so our customers don’t have to—there’s no finger pointing or telling them to go somewhere else when an issue arises. It’s one less thing for customers to worry about, reduces risk and enables a more complete and satisfactory customer experience.”

Karen Chastain, Senior Manager of Alliance Marketing for Epicor says participation in the ISV Royalty Program has also helped Epicor attract and retain a greater number of mid-sized and larger customers.

“With the ISV Royalty Program, we provide the licensing and support for the Microsoft products included in solutions such as Epicor Portal. That relieves our customers from having to manage those things themselves. Plus, our large strategic customers can use Epicor Portal to access all of their enterprise resource planning systems as one single resource,” Chastain says. “The ISV Royalty Program helps make Epicor a more attractive partner to work with because our customers know that we can take some of the burden off of them, letting them redirect their resources to other tasks. It makes our solution more compelling than what customers might find elsewhere.”

Helping Epicor to Help its Customers

Providing support for the Microsoft products embedded in a unified solution is an important feature of the ISV Royalty Program because the ISV understands best how to resolve any technical issues that may arise with a customer’s deployment. While Epicor’s staff has extensive training on Microsoft products such as SharePoint and SQL Server, there are times when the additional support provided by Microsoft is helpful.

“Because the Microsoft technologies that are part of Epicor Portal are so tightly integrated, our people are that much more knowledgeable about how all the components work together,” says Dan Whelan, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Support for Epicor.

Now customers get much speedier resolutions to their support questions because Epicor personnel usually have the answers. On the rare occasions when they have trouble finding an answer, they can get a rapid response from Microsoft support teams.

“Being part of the Partner Advantage Program really facilitates the process of getting through quickly to the key support people at Microsoft when we have a question,” Whelan says. “That fast response is a huge benefit for our support team. It helps create a compelling support strategy—and helps us deliver a total solution to our customers. We don’t just sell product. We sell the full life cycle of the product, which allows us to present a more complete solution.”

Delivering Tightly Integrated Technologies

The ISV Royalty Program enables ISVs to embed Microsoft products directly into an ISV’s unified solution, ensuring that all components work together seamlessly. With Epicor Portal, customers experience a product where it is difficult to distinguish between the Epicor technology and Microsoft products—it is all a seamless blend designed to address a customer’s portal requirements.

Our membership in the ISV Royalty Program allows us to offer more compelling solutions, which gives us a competitive edge. James Norwood Vice President of Product Marketing, Epicor

“The Microsoft ISV Royalty Program allows us to tightly embed Microsoft SharePoint technology into our Epicor Portal solution, take full advantage of SharePoint capabilities, and provide comprehensive application support,” says Chastain. “From the customer perspective, they get a technology-leading portal solution that is completely backed by Epicor.”

Norwood notes that the value of the complete solution is particularly important when Epicor sales staff are presenting to customers.

“Our sales representatives can tell customers that Epicor will provide all the licensing and support for the Microsoft products for the solutions we create through the ISV Royalty Program,” Norwood says. “Our membership in the ISV Royalty Program allows us to offer more compelling solutions, which gives us a competitive edge.”

Microsoft Partner Program

The Microsoft Partner Program is all about your success. The program is committed to helping you better connect with your customers through use of innovative tools, information, and services. Every day partners around the world are moving their businesses forward, increasing their market reach, improving their customers’ satisfaction, and reducing their cost of doing business. You create the path to your business growth through achievements like gaining a new skill, hosting your first product training event, landing an elusive client, or building a long-needed business collaboration. This is how your business moves, every day, in the direction that you desire.

For more information about the Microsoft Partner Program, please visit the Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/partner

For more information about Epicor products and services, visit the Web site at: http://www.epicor.com

2008 Microsoft Corporation. This case study is for information purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.