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
IRVINE, Calif. (March 13, 2007) – Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a
leading provider of enterprise business software solutions for the midmarket and divisions of the
Global 1000, today 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
their 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 professional’s 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 customer’s 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
Epicor’s 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).
Source: Epicor