Epicor Delivers Complete IT Service Management Solution

Epicor ITSM 2007 Supports Compliance Initiatives and International Standards for Best Practices with Tools for Change Management and Workforce Optimization

Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of enterprise business software solutions for the midmarket and divisions of the Global 1000, has announced new functionality for IT Service Management (ITSM) that provides a complete IT service desk footprint - from critical issue tracking and resolution features to support for compliance initiatives.

Epicor ITSM 2007, a complete service desk management system that enables IT issues to be addressed quickly and efficiently by providing essential tools for IT teams, also includes new features for rapid creation and application of Service Agreements and bi-directional integration with Microsoft Office.

Compliance in IT Service Practices

Epicor ITSM 2007 supports the demand for global enterprises to remain transparent in its operations through the application of secure and strict rules for change management that depend on the state of a record and role of the user.  For example, when a support call is closed Epicor ITSM restricts the call from being edited unless it is reopened.  Standard roles for observer, change approval board member, creator, assigned user, owner and supervisor are applied to users with each role having individual authorization rules for acting on a request for change (RFC).  Epicor ITSM also documents activity using secure audit trails, enabling managers and decision makers to see when and where information was modified and by whom.

Driving Efficiency in the IT Center

Epicor ITSM includes new Service Agreement and Call Templates giving IT service teams the ability to define default values for common incidents, requests for change (RFC), and service requests making the registration process more efficient. Inclusion of multiple Holiday and Working Time Calendars in Epicor ITSM 2007 enables companies with advanced service level management and global needs to successfully configure service level agreements (SLA).

Additionally, Epicor ITSM has a bi-directional integration with Microsoft Office Outlook providing tools to make the IT service professionals job easier: creating and attaching documents, performing mail merges with Word, publishing to Excel, synchronizing contacts and converting emails to ITSM call records, and more.

Supporting the Global Enterprise

Epicor ITSM is used successfully by midmarket and large enterprise companies around the globe with implementations ranging from fewer than 500 up to 10,000-plus supported employees.

Skanska USA Building is part of the Skanska AB group of companies which combines global presence with local expertise to offer a broad range of services - from pre-construction services, construction management, general contracting and design-build services. Skanska serves a broad range of U.S. industries including life sciences, healthcare, education, aviation, sports and entertainment. Skanska uses Epicor ITSM to manage IT services for its 4,100 employees throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.

We chose Epicor ITSM as our solution for a number of reasons. First, it provides us with key functions for IT Service Management. Secondly, enhanced features of ITSM give us the flexibility to work within each customers business processes. For example, we now have the ability to easily set and monitor specific service levels promised to our customers, said Jason Geiger, director of IT for Skanska USA Building. As a company with global roots, transparency in all areas of the business is essential including IT Service Management. The enhanced change management functionality in the new version of Epicor ITSM provides controls for carefully tracking IT service records ensuring compliance.

Recently, Epicor itself completed implementation of Epicor ITSM internally to support its 2,200 employees worldwide. With 78 total users in 10 different countries, logged calls are routed to three different service desks and are then automatically passed to the correct queues for disposition within the Americas, Asia Pacific and EMEA.  Epicor ITSM provides an intuitive, globally capable solution that enables Epicor to provide its internal customers with excellent support, said Rick Parrish, vice president of Information Systems for Epicor.

Leading Technologies Support Industry Best Practices

Epicor ITSM 2007 is built from the ground up using the Microsoft .NET Framework, enabling a rich user experience and optimal flexibility.  Epicor ITSM earned ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) certification in Service Level Management, Incident Management, Problem Management, Change Management and Configuration Management from Pink Elephant, acknowledged worldwide as the ITIL experts.

ISO 20000 Central is the international standard for IT Service Management set by the International Standards Organization and designed to provide a range of information to support the standard. The compliance functionality in the latest release of Epicor ITSM will help companies obtain ISO 20000 Central certification.

Since first releasing its Web services-based help desk solution in 2005, Epicor has seen an increase of more than 100% in adoption by a combination of new customers and from within Epicors installed base of more than 20,000 customers.  The market for ITSM continues to be a buoyant one.  Epicor has already seen significant success, and this release - delivering robust support for industry best practices and compliance standards - helps ensure our competitive advantage, said James Norwood, vice president of product marketing for Epicor.  Because Epicor ITSM includes end-to-end service management capabilities including cost management and business intelligence, Epicor is able to differentiate itself from other IT service management vendors.

Epicor ITSM 2007 is available immediately worldwide. Future enhancements planned for Epicor ITSM include a purchasing module, support for mobile users and integration to Microsoft Project Portfolio Server (PPS). 

About Epicor Software Corporation

Epicor is a global leader dedicated to providing 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.  Epicors worldwide headquarters are located in Irvine, California with offices and affiliates around the world.