Latest CRM Software Industry News

Create Adobe PDF Online Service Delivers Streamlined Document Processes to the Salesforce.com On-Demand Community

SAN FRANCISCO — January 17, 2006 — Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the technology and market leader in on-demand customer relationship management (CRM), today announced the availability of Create Adobe PDF Online for the salesforce.com AppExchange. The move brings simplified business communication and document processes using Adobe® PDF to the salesforce.com community, as customers now have the ability to integrate and deploy Adobe PDF creation capabilities along with any number of other on-demand applications via the AppExchange to an existing Salesforce implementation.

Making Create Adobe PDF Online available via the AppExchange delivers a powerful solution for managing data and information to salesforce.com’s on-demand community of 18,700 customers and 351,000 subscribers. Salesforce.com customers and subscribers can convert any document to Adobe PDF using Create Adobe PDF Online service, enabling business professionals to create, distribute, and exchange more secure and reliable Adobe PDF documents. Salesforce.com customers can quickly and easily deploy Create Adobe PDF Online via the AppExchange directly into their Salesforce implementation, for contract management, document and file sharing and improving business communication.

“Adobe’s delivery of its ubiquitous PDF solution as a service on the AppExchange is an impressive statement from one of the largest software companies in the world,” said Marc Benioff, Chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. “Given its stature as a de-facto standard for document processes, we are excited to have it among the vanguard of AppExchange partners.”

“Create Adobe PDF Online for AppExchange will provide instant, reliable and more secure business communication for salesforce.com customers and subscribers,” said Shantanu Narayen, Adobe’s president and COO. “We are excited to offer direct access to Adobe PDF to the salesforce.com on-demand community and look forward to continued work with salesforce.com in the software as a service industry.”

With AppExchange, salesforce.com customers now have access to new applications that bring the benefits of salesforce.com to an entire business, letting them manage and share all of their company information on-demand. Using AppExchange, companies can easily add any number of new on-demand applications to their existing Salesforce deployments, extending their success and making the full power and creativity of the salesforce.com customer, partner and developer community available with just a click.

Create Adobe PDF Online for AppExchange is one of more than 150 application listings created by salesforce.com, its customers and partners that are now available on the salesforce.com AppExchange, the world’s first on-demand application platform. AppExchange provides unprecedented ease of customization and integration for Salesforce deployments, as well as enabling a whole new generation of on-demand applications that go beyond CRM. Launched today, AppExchange enables all of these on-demand applications to be easily shared, exchanged and installed with one click into any salesforce.com account. AppExchange can be found at http://www.appexchange.com.

Fastest Growing Voice Communications Offering Worldwide Now Extended Quickly and Easily to All Salesforce.com Customers, Subscribers and Partners

SAN FRANCISCO — January 17, 2006 — Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the market and technology leader in on-demand customer relationship management (CRM), and Skype™, the global Internet communications company, today announced a Skype-Salesforce integration that will be available for free via the salesforce.com AppExchange. The move will voice-enable all applications that are available on the AppExchange. Customers will have the ability to integrate and deploy Skype along with any number of other on-demand applications via the AppExchange to an existing Salesforce implementation. The integrated offering empowers the salesforce.com community to be even more effective, productive and successful while using salesforce.com on-demand solutions.

Skype allows people everywhere to make free, unlimited voice calls, chat and share files. Skype is being used by people in almost every country around the world, and Skyping has become a global phenomenon. The latest version of the software has further simplified the Skype interface, making it even easier for people to see and speak with their family, friends and colleagues.

“Our work with salesforce.com extends the power of Skype to the on-demand business community,” said Niklas Zennström, Skype CEO and co-founder. “The availability of Skype within Salesforce enables salesforce.com customers and subscribers to make and receive free unlimited Internet calls worldwide to contacts directly within their Salesforce instance.”

“Just as salesforce.com has pioneered on-demand computing, Skype has changed the way people communicate worldwide,” said Marc Benioff, Chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. “The power of joining two disruptive computing forces such as Internet calling and on-demand software creates entirely new opportunities for businesses worldwide. In addition to integrated voice calls, the Skype presence feature gives the salesforce.com community the ability to call their contacts and colleagues knowing they are available, increasing productivity and fostering streamlined communication.”

Skype for AppExchange is one of more than 150 application listings created by salesforce.com, its customers and partners that are now available on the salesforce.com AppExchange, the world’s first on-demand application platform. AppExchange provides unprecedented ease of customization and integration for Salesforce deployments, as well as enabling a whole new generation of on-demand applications that go beyond CRM. Launched today, AppExchange enables all of these on-demand applications to be easily shared, exchanged and installed with one click into any salesforce.com account. AppExchange can be found at http://www.appexchange.com.

Skype for AppExchange:
Skype for the AppExchange delivers enhanced communications features, including global outbound one-click voice calling, integrated inbound calling, presence, instant-messaging and multi-chat, directly within Salesforce. Skype for AppExchange delivers an advanced real-time communication solution directly in a customers’ Salesforce instance, including:

Outbound one click calling. Integrated via one click to SkypeOutâ„¢, this service provides an inexpensive way to call out from Skype to landlines and mobile phones within Salesforce. It can be customized for telemarketing, workflows and other tailored activities.
Inbound integration with screen pops. SkypeInâ„¢ provides users with a traditional phone number that their contacts can call and connect to the user via Skype, regardless of location. This functionality is joined with computer telephony integration (CTI) within Salesforce and Salesforce Service & Support to identify which contacts are calling, bring up their records and perform other customer service functions.
“Presence.” The presence feature indicates whether colleagues in the network are online and logged-in. Presence will be an important tool for initiating contact with customer and prospect contacts knowing that they are already online and available.
With AppExchange, salesforce.com customers now have access to new applications that bring the benefits of salesforce.com to an entire business, letting them manage and share all of their company information on-demand. Using AppExchange, companies can easily add any number of new on-demand applications to their existing Salesforce deployments, extending their success and making the full power and creativity of the salesforce.com customer, partner and developer community available with just a click.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — January 10, 2005 — Salesforce.com [NYSE: CRM], the technology and market leader in on-demand customer relationship management (CRM), today announced that its Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff will speak at the Winter ‘06 launch being held on Tuesday, January 17, 2006 at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco. A webcast of the formal presentation will take place from approximately 10:00 a.m. — 11:30 a.m. PST and will be available on the salesforce.com Investor Relations website at http://www.salesforce.com/investor.

The company will also host a product-focused Deep Dive session on the same day which takes place from approximately 12:00 p.m. — 1:00 p.m. PST. An audio webcast will be available on the salesforce.com Investor Relations website at http://www.salesforce.com/investor.

IRVINE, Calif., June 5, 2006 — Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of enterprise business software solutions for the global midmarket, today announced it has been named to Business 2.0 Magazine’s 2006 ranking of the fastest-growing technology companies, hailed as the B2 100 list.  Epicor marks its first appearance on the prestigious B2 100 as the only enterprise resource planning (ERP) software provider to make the list this year, and ranked at number five among the software companies on the list.  The magazine, published by Time Inc., selects winners based on past three years of growth in revenue, profit and operating cash flow, in addition to 12-month stock return.

According to Business 2.0, “during the past three years, public companies in the tech sector have increased sales by an average of 33 percent a year, stoked profits by 86 percent, and raised cash flow from operations by 83 percent. Wall Street has taken notice, sending the B2 100’s shares up an average of 38 percent in 2005. “

“We’re truly honored to be recognized in this prestigious ranking by Business 2.0 magazine,” said George Klaus, chairman and CEO of Epicor.  “Our debut on this year’s list is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our employees to deliver innovative enterprise business software solutions that help our customers achieve success, and in turn bring value to our shareholders.”

Epicor has received a number of notable accolades during 2006 including being named “Company of the Year” by the Software Council of Southern California for the second consecutive year,  a Member’s Choice award for “Best After Sales Support” from ContactCenterWorld.com, and a Stevie® Award for “Best Customer Service Organization” from the International Business Awards program.

During the 2006 search for the B2 100, Business 2.0 screened a universe of more than 2,000 tech companies that have been publicly traded on a U.S. stock exchange for at least three years, have a market capitalization of at least $50 million, and have had a positive operating cash flow over the past 12 months. Zacks Investment Research of Chicago ranked the resulting list using four financial criteria: growth in revenue, profit, operating cash flow during the past three years, and 12-month stock return as of December 31, 2005. Cash flow growth counts for 40 percent of a company’s ranking. Each other criteria counts for 20 percent. For the complete 2006 B2 100 list, visit the publication’s Web site hosted on CNNMoney.com at the following link: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/b2fastestgrowing/.

IRVINE, Calif., June 1, 2006 — Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of enterprise business software solutions for the global midmarket, today announced that ACE Clearwater Enterprises has been recognized as a Laureate by the Computerworld Honors Program for its implementation of Epicor Vantage, the industry’s first manufacturing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution based on a 100-percent service-oriented architecture (SOA.)  Adopted by the world’s leading manufacturers, Vantage is designed to meet the needs of make-to-order and mixed-mode manufacturers.

For almost two decades, Computerworld Honors has acknowledged those individuals and organizations that have used information technology to benefit society. This year’s honorees will be commemorated during the18th Annual Laureates Medal Ceremony & Gala Awards Evening on June 5, 2006 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C.

Each year, members of the Chairmen’s Committee, which Epicor CEO George Klaus was appointed to earlier this year, identify the organizations whose use of information technology has been especially noteworthy for the originality of its conception, the breadth of its vision and the significance of its benefit to society.  Nominations are evaluated by an independent board of CIO-level judges who select laureates, finalists and award winners, in 10 industry-related categories, to be honored at a Laureate Medal Ceremony.

Nominated by Epicor, ACE is a Southern California-based, family-owned manufacturer of sheet metal products, specializing in complex formed and welded assemblies for the aerospace, automotive, and power-generation industries.  ACE focused on streamlining processes, and through the use of innovative technology, such as SOA and Web services, has achieved that goal.  ACE employees have increased productivity, and the company has improved customer service, empowering customers to access information real-time to track the progress and compliance of orders.

“We’re extremely proud that our customer is receiving this acknowledgement for their achievements,” said John Hiraoka, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Epicor. “It is an honor to partner with companies like ACE, which share our focus on innovation and consistently deliver real value to customers, employees and partners.”

“Each year, the Computerworld Honors Program seeks to recognize organizations, from a variety of sectors, for their ongoing efforts to utilize technology in order to benefit society,” said Bob Carrigan, Chairman of the Computerworld Honors Program Chairmen’s Committee and President, IDG Communications. “We are proud to provide a platform to publicly acknowledge these contributions.”

IRVINE, Calif., June 1, 2006 — Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of enterprise business software solutions for the global midmarket, today announced that ACE Clearwater Enterprises has been recognized as a Laureate by the Computerworld Honors Program for its implementation of Epicor Vantage, the industry’s first manufacturing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution based on a 100-percent service-oriented architecture (SOA.)  Adopted by the world’s leading manufacturers, Vantage is designed to meet the needs of make-to-order and mixed-mode manufacturers.

For almost two decades, Computerworld Honors has acknowledged those individuals and organizations that have used information technology to benefit society. This year’s honorees will be commemorated during the18th Annual Laureates Medal Ceremony & Gala Awards Evening on June 5, 2006 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C.

Each year, members of the Chairmen’s Committee, which Epicor CEO George Klaus was appointed to earlier this year, identify the organizations whose use of information technology has been especially noteworthy for the originality of its conception, the breadth of its vision and the significance of its benefit to society.  Nominations are evaluated by an independent board of CIO-level judges who select laureates, finalists and award winners, in 10 industry-related categories, to be honored at a Laureate Medal Ceremony.

Nominated by Epicor, ACE is a Southern California-based, family-owned manufacturer of sheet metal products, specializing in complex formed and welded assemblies for the aerospace, automotive, and power-generation industries.  ACE focused on streamlining processes, and through the use of innovative technology, such as SOA and Web services, has achieved that goal.  ACE employees have increased productivity, and the company has improved customer service, empowering customers to access information real-time to track the progress and compliance of orders.

“We’re extremely proud that our customer is receiving this acknowledgement for their achievements,” said John Hiraoka, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Epicor. “It is an honor to partner with companies like ACE, which share our focus on innovation and consistently deliver real value to customers, employees and partners.”

“Each year, the Computerworld Honors Program seeks to recognize organizations, from a variety of sectors, for their ongoing efforts to utilize technology in order to benefit society,” said Bob Carrigan, Chairman of the Computerworld Honors Program Chairmen’s Committee and President, IDG Communications. “We are proud to provide a platform to publicly acknowledge these contributions.”

IRVINE, Calif., May 25, 2006 — Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of enterprise business software solutions for the global midmarket, today announced that George Klaus, chairman and CEO, and Michael Piraino, executive vice president and CFO, will be presenting at the Cowen & Co. 34th Annual Technology Conference on Thursday, June 1, 2006 at 6:20 a.m. Pacific/9:20 a.m. Eastern at The New York Palace Hotel.

A webcast of Epicor’s presentation will be available in the ‘Investors’ section on the corporate Web site at www.epicor.com.  The webcast will be archived on the site for thirty days.

IRVINE, Calif., May 25, 2006 — Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of enterprise business software solutions for the global midmarket, today announced that George Klaus, chairman and CEO, and Michael Piraino, executive vice president and CFO, will be presenting at the Cowen & Co. 34th Annual Technology Conference on Thursday, June 1, 2006 at 6:20 a.m. Pacific/9:20 a.m. Eastern at The New York Palace Hotel.

A webcast of Epicor’s presentation will be available in the ‘Investors’ section on the corporate Web site at www.epicor.com.  The webcast will be archived on the site for thirty days.

IRVINE, Calif., May 23, 2006 — Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of enterprise business software solutions for the global midmarket, today announced that it has won an International Stevie Award for Best Customer Service Organization in The 2006 International Business Awards (IBAs). 

Members of the Awards’ Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors and their staffs selected International Stevie winners from among the Finalists, which were determined by volunteer judges around the world during two months of preliminary judging.  Epicor was evaluated on its achievements and strong performance in providing support to its customers worldwide.  The Stevies judging panel considered customer feedback as well as metrics from Epicor’s quarterly surveys which rate the support team on six key performance factors: Attitude, Communication, Conclusion, Knowledge, Resolution and Timeframe.

“With a truly global customer base, Epicor aims to provide world-class customer service and sets this goal with full knowledge that this is difficult to accomplish in the enterprise software business,” said Dan Whelan, senior vice president, worldwide support for Epicor. “It is an honor to be recognized by the International Business Awards for providing high-quality support to our customers.”

With over 250 support representatives around the world, Epicor provides live support in 20 languages through more than 15 Global Support Centers around the world. In addition, Epicor offers its customers several leading-edge support tools and systems. 

Recipients of 82 International Stevie Award trophies were selected from more than 700 nominations received from companies and individuals in more than 30 countries.  “The growth in entries this year illustrates the increasing importance of The International Business Awards worldwide,” said Michael Gallagher, president of The Stevie Awards, presenters of the IBAs.  “We congratulate Epicor, and we look forward to honoring them for their achievements at our gala awards dinner.”

The International Business Awards are the only global, all-encompassing business awards program honoring great performances in the workplace. Nicknamed the Stevie for the Greek word “crowned,” the awards will be presented to winners at a gala dinner on Monday, June 26 in the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.  The ceremonies will be videocast live worldwide by HB Group, and will be broadcast live on radio in the U.S.A. by the Business TalkRadio Network.

In addition to its win of the Best Customer Service Organization award, Epicor was honored as a finalist in the Best Multinational Company category for the second year in a row and Epicor Portal, a server framework for self-guided, role-based access to Epicor applications that enables cross-enterprise collaboration, intuitive interfaces and an enhanced end-user experience, was named a finalist in the Best New Products category. A complete list of International Stevie winners and other details are available at www.stevieawards.com/iba. 

IRVINE, Calif., May 16, 2006 — Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), a leading provider of enterprise business software solutions for the global midmarket, today announced its strong results in a recent evaluation by Forrester Research of solutions for managing the end-to-end Order Management Cycle.  Epicor placed among the top three vendors for overall strategy.

The report, “The Forrester Wave™: Order Hubs, Q2 2006” (April 20, 2006), examined the opportunity-to-cash processes of the Order Management Cycle incorporating enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM).  Epicor was evaluated on 115 criteria in hands-on lab evaluation of Epicor Vantage, the industry’s first manufacturing software solution based on a 100 percent service-oriented architecture (SOA).

Authoring analyst R. “Ray” Wang, senior analyst with Forrester, writes, “Epicor’s decision to fully service enable Vantage and deliver it on the Microsoft set of Visual Studio .NET technologies provides a significant advantage in the midmarket. Among the 12 solutions evaluated, Vantage scores second highest in delivering the data and infrastructure required to achieve order hub status.”[1]

The report continues, “Vantage’s broad support for inbound order channels places it in the Top 5 of solutions evaluated.  Epicor’s framework brings to the table full right-click functionality, strong presentation framework in a single sign-on (SSO), internal controls, state and event management, business process management, and ease of use in administration and configuration.”

 “Epicor Vantage is well-suited to OMC, leveraging a service-oriented architecture that provides ease of use and flexibility to customers,” said Rodney Winger, director of product marketing for Epicor’s manufacturing and supply chain management solutions.  “The Forrester OMC Wave reinforces that we deliver to manufacturers today, a technologically advanced solution, out-of-the-box, that manages the entire order cycle,  enables real-time connectivity across the supply chain, and provides the scalability and agility required by midmarket companies, larger enterprises and divisions of the Global 1000.”

Epicor Enterprise, a comprehensive and industry-specific solution for the global midmarket business, was named a contender in the Wave, supporting core functionality in many areas of OMC, and well suited to companies that are in the services industry and/or are adopting Microsoft .NET technologies.