Epicor Announces Support for Latest Microsoft Releases: Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk Server 20

Epicor Solutions to Support New Microsoft Technologies for Greater Security, Flexibility and Integration Capabilities

IRVINE, Calif., November 7, 2005 – Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of integrated enterprise software solutions for midmarket companies, today announced its support for the product launch of Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006. A Microsoft Gold Partner, Epicor will utilize these high-performance solutions to deliver enhanced integration capabilities and greater security, extensibility and flexibility across its solutions offering for the global midmarket.

“Early on, Epicor identified that utilization of the Microsoft Server and Tools platform would enable its customers to gain business insight and deliver faster results by connecting people, processes and information,” said Nick Abbott, group manager in the .NET Developer Product Management Group at Microsoft Corp. “By adopting Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006, we are pleased that Epicor continues to rely on Microsoft solutions as the foundation for the innovation of its midmarket enterprise solutions.”

Each of the recently released Microsoft solutions delivers business enhancing capabilities that will be leveraged by Epicor to improve productivity and further improve the customer experience.

Greater Productivity with Visual Studio 2005

In building its next generation solutions leveraging a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Epicor first began utilizing  the Microsoft .NET Framework in version 1.0 and will continue with .NET Framework 2.0; part of the Visual Studio 2005 release. Epicor has adopted Visual Studio 2005 for use in the development of all future Epicor solutions and as the customization platform for its current SOA solutions.

Visual Studio 2005 provides a highly-productive application development system to help customers improve speed to market and decrease development costs and development cycles. Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System (VSTO) offers enhanced integration of Epicor applications within the Microsoft Office System enabling greater productivity at the end-user level and across the enterprise. 

Superior Security and Reporting with SQL Server 2005

Striving to provide optimum security in its integrated enterprise solutions, Epicor is utilizing SQL Server 2005 to provide increased security and password policy management across each of the its product families – Enterprise, Manufacturing and iScala.  SQL Server 2005 also provides proactive performance monitoring and tuning with SQL Dynamic Management Views which simplifies database management, making the process more straightforward.           

Epicor is also leveraging SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services and SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services to provide improved decision support for users. Furthermore, the introduction of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services provides Epicor customers with straight-forward gauges and graphics and increased visibility of overall corporate performance.  

Greater Integration Capabilities through BizTalk 2006

As part of the Windows Server System, BizTalk Server 2006 reduces complexity in the enterprise by efficiently, effectively and quickly integrating systems, employees and trading partners. Through integrated innovation, BizTalk Server 2006 further simplifies the management of business processes, enabling Epicor customers to focus on value-added and strategic tasks.  BizTalk 2006 will be supported in Epicor’s business process management (BPM) solutions – Service Connect, BPM Director and iScala Connectivity – as well as Epicor Procurement. 

Leveraging Leading-Edge Technologies for a Competitive Advantage

At the core of Epicor’s award-winning integrated enterprise solutions is a strong application platform - built by Microsoft - that provides Epicor customers with optimal reliability and performance.  A long-time innovator on Microsoft technologies such as the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 and Visual Studio .NET 2003, Epicor will employ the latest solution releases from Microsoft to infuse enhanced productivity, security, scalability and connectivity into its solutions. 

“We are excited about the possibilities available to Epicor and its customers with Microsoft’s release of SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006,” said James Norwood, vice president of product marketing for Epicor. “Utilization of these solutions will help Epicor continue to deliver on its commitment to providing secure, highly-scalable and powerful solutions that drive business performance while maintaining a low total cost of ownership.” 

About Epicor Software Corporation

For 20 years, Epicor has been a recognized leader dedicated to providing integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) software solutions to midmarket companies around the world. With the acquisition of Scala, Epicor is a global leader in the midmarket serving over 20,000 customers in over 140 countries. Epicor leverages innovative technologies like Web services in developing end-to-end, industry-specific solutions for manufacturing, distribution, enterprise service automation, and hospitality that enable companies to immediately drive efficiency throughout business operations and build competitive advantage. With the scalability and flexibility to support long-term growth, Epicor's solutions are complemented by a full range of services, 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.