Epicor Information Worker boosts productivity and collaboration by delivering improved access to business data through the 2007 Microsoft Office system.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO )
Built using service-oriented architecture principles with Microsoft .NET- based technologies, Epicor IW utilizes the Microsoft Office system to enhance the user experience of an Epicor application with familiar desktop productivity tools. Epicor IW users are able to synchronize Microsoft Office Outlook(R) 2007 contacts, appointments and tasks with an Epicor application along with other items such as customer information, sales history, inventory levels and production schedule for offline access. A simple matter of searching and dragging Epicor ERP information from the Epicor Task Pane to fields on a Microsoft Office Word 2007 document or Microsoft Office Excel(R) 2007 spreadsheet is all that is needed. Saving the document to Microsoft Office SharePoint(R) Server 2007 then initiates a workflow process to create a transaction in Epicor along with the link to the document managed by Office SharePoint Server 2007. Epicor IW increases productivity by enabling users to work smarter, incorporating line-of-business information directly in Microsoft Office.
"Epicor IW is an excellent example of the way in which the next generation of business applications will be delivered," said Sanjay Parthasarathy, corporate vice president of the Developer and Platform Evangelism Group at Microsoft. "By delivering its enterprise applications as an Office Business Application, Epicor ensures that its application functionality is accessible to its customers' employees through familiar and flexible productivity tools, enabling them to build their customer relationships, drive innovation and improve operations."
Epicor enjoys a long history of innovation, of which Epicor IW is the latest, based on Microsoft technologies. Based on this early and successful adoption of Office Business Applications, Epicor has been participating with Microsoft in the design phase, helping to shape the next generation of line- of-business applications.
In today's accelerating information workplace, the connection of the business worker to the right data at the right time represents a significant business opportunity for the software industry. According to Forrester Research, "As enterprises better understand the interrelationship between roles, collaboration, content, and business processes, the need to provide information within the context of an information worker's daily activities will drive the implementation of information workplaces."
Sixty percent of the respondents to a recent Forrester survey about the information workplace said, "providing content within the context of the business process is extremely important. By moving to contextualized information workplaces, workers will receive information seamlessly, and they no longer have to mentally and manually integrate disparate tools into their work environments."(1)
"Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for our mutual customers to use the information captured within Epicor applications effectively," said James Norwood, vice president of product marketing for Epicor. "The continued blurring of the lines between enterprise applications like Epicor and desktop productivity tools like Microsoft Office enables users to seamlessly interact with relevant and timely information wherever they need it and ensures continuity of information sharing and collaboration across the enterprise."
Epicor Information Worker is scheduled to be generally available in December 2006 and will be made available across all Epicor product families: Enterprise, Manufacturing, iScala and CRS Retail.
About Epicor
Epicor (NASDAQ: EPIC), named one of FORTUNE magazine's 100 Fastest-Growing Companies in 2006, is a global leader dedicated to providing integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM) and professional services automation (PSA) software solutions to midmarket companies and divisions of the Global 1000. Founded in 1984, Epicor serves over 20,000 customers in more than 140 countries, providing solutions in over 30 languages. Employing innovative service-oriented architecture (SOA) and Web services technology, Epicor delivers end-to-end, industry-specific solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail, hospitality and services that enable companies to drive increased efficiency, improve performance and build competitive advantage. Epicor solutions provide the scalability and flexibility to meet today's business challenges, while empowering enterprises for even greater success tomorrow. Epicor offers a comprehensive range of services with its solutions, providing a single point of accountability to promote rapid return on investment and low total cost of ownership. Epicor's worldwide headquarters are located in Irvine, California with offices and affiliates around the world. For more information, visit www.epicor.com.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
(1) Source: Forrester Research, "Context is King in the New World of Work," by Erica Rugullies, Connie Moore, Robert Markham (March 8, 2006)
Epicor is a registered trademark of Epicor Software Corporation. Other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners. The product and service offerings depicted in this document are produced by Epicor Software Corporation and/or Microsoft Corp. This document includes descriptions of product functionality that is not presently available. This document also includes many "forward-looking statements" regarding anticipated product functionality, targeted release dates, availability of technology and certain company initiatives that involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. Such forward-looking statements, which are not historical fact, involve risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially. Such risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, the company's ability to rapidly develop and introduce new products, reliance on third-party products, reliance on emerging technologies and markets, the timely availability and market acceptance of new products and upgrades, the impact of competitive products and pricing, and the discovery of undetected software errors and other factors discussed in the company's Quarterly report on Form 10-Q, for the period ending June 30, 2006, at pages 41-50. As a result of these factors the business or prospects expected by the company as part of this release may not occur. The company undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements.
Microsoft, Outlook, Excel and SharePoint are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/
