Kategorie: Business

Bottom Line: Capitalizing on AI and machine learning’s inherent strengths to create contextual intelligence in real-time, LogicMonitor’s early warning and failure prevention systems reflect where AIOps is delivering results today.

LogicMonitor’s track record of making solid contributions to their customers’ ability to bring greater accuracy, insight, and precision into monitoring all IT assets is emerging as a de facto industry standard. Recently I was speaking with a startup offering Hosted Managed Services of a variety of manufacturing applications, and the must-have in their services strategy is LogicMonitor LM Intelligence. LogicMonitor’s AIOps platform is powered by LM Intelligence, enabling customers’ businesses to gain early warning into potential trouble spots in IT operations stability and reliability. LogicMonitor does the hard work for you with automated alert thresholds, AI-powered early warning capabilities, customizable escalation chains, workflows, and more.

Engineers who are working at the Hosted Managed Services provider I recently spoke with say LM Intelligence is the best use case of AI and machine learning to provide real-time alerts, contextual insights, discover new patterns in data, and make automation achievable. The following is an example of the LM Intelligence dashboard:

How LogicMonitor’s Architecture Supports AIOps

One of the core strengths LogicMonitor continues to build on is integration, which they see as essential to their ability to excel at providing AIOps support for their customers. Their architecture is shown below. By providing real-time integration to public cloud platforms, combined with control over the entire IT infrastructure structure along with over 2,000 integrations from network to cloud, LogicMonitor excels at unifying diverse IT environments into a single, cohesive AIOps-based intelligence system.  The LogicMonitor platform collects cloud data through our cloud collectors. These collectors retrieve metrics such as the cloud provider health and billing information by making API calls to the cloud services. The collector is a Windows Service or background process that is installed in a virtual machine. This collector then pulls metrics from the different devices using a variety of different methods, including SNMP, WMI, perf Mon JMX, APIs, and scripts.

Using AIOps To Monitor, Analyze, Automate

LogicMonitor has created an architecture that’s well-suited to support the three dominant dimensions of AIOps, including Monitoring, Analytics (AIOps), and Automating. Their product and services strategies in the past have reflected a strong focus on Monitoring. The logic of prioritizing Monitoring as a product strategy area was to provide the AI and machine learning models with enough data to train on so they could identify anomalies in data patterns faster. Their 2018/2019 major releases in the Monitor area reflect how the unique strength they have of capturing and making use of any IT asset that can deliver a signal is paying off. Key Monitor developers recently include the following:

• Kubernetes Monitoring
• Service Insight
• Topology
• Remote Sessions
• Netflow
• Configuration Monitoring
• Public Cloud Monitoring
• Applications Monitoring

LogicMonitor’s core strengths in AIOps are in the Anomaly Detection and Early Warning System areas of their product strategy. Their rapid advances in the Early Warning System development show where AIOps is delivering solid results today. Supporting the Early Warning System, there are Dynamic Thresholds and Root Cause Analysis based on Dependencies as well.

The Automate area of their product strategy shows strong potential for future growth, with the ServiceNow integration having upside potential. Today Alert Chaining and Workflow support integrations to Ansible, Terraform, Slack, Microsoft, Teama, Putter, Terraform, OpsGenie, and others.

Conclusion

LogicMonitor’s platform handles 300B metrics on any given day and up to 10B a month, with over 28K collectors deployed integrated with approximately 1.4M devices being monitored. Putting AI and machine learning to work, interpreting the massive amount of data the platform captures every day to fine-tune their Early Warning and Failure Prevention Systems, is one of the most innovative approaches to AIOps today. Their AIOps Early Warning System is using machine learning Algorithms to fine-tune Root Cause Analysis and Dynamic Thresholds continually. AIOps Log Intelligence is also accessing the data to complete Automatic Log Anomaly Detection, Infrastructure change detection, and Log Volume Reduction to Signal analysis.

Where AIOps Is Delivering Results Today is copyrighted by Louis Columbus. If you are reading this outside your feed reader or email, you are likely witnessing illegal content theft.

Enterprise Irregulars is sponsored by Salesforce and Zoho.

Mobile devices are popular with hackers because they’re designed for quick responses based on minimal contextual information. Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) found that hackers are succeeding with integrated email, SMS and link-based attacks across social media aimed at stealing passwords and privileged access credentials. And with a growing number of breaches originating on mobile devices according to Verizon’s Mobile Security Index 2020, combined with 83% of all social media visits in the United States are on mobile devices according to Merkle’s Digital Marketing Report Q4 2019, applying machine learning to harden mobile threat defense deserves to be on any CISOs’ priority list today.

How Machine Learning Is Helping To Thwart Phishing Attacks

Google’s use of machine learning to thwart the skyrocketing number of phishing attacks occurring during the Covid-19 pandemic provides insights into the scale of these threats. On a typical day, G-Mail blocks 100 million phishing emails. During a typical week in April of this year, Google’s G-Mail Security team saw 18M daily malware and phishing emails related to Covid-19. Google’s machine learning models are evolving to understand and filter phishing threats, successfully blocking more than 99.9% of spam, phishing and malware from reaching G-Mail users. Microsoft thwarts billions of phishing attempts a year on Office365 alone by relying on heuristics, detonation and machine learning strengthened by Microsoft Threat Protection Services.

42% of the U.S. labor force is now working from home, according to a recent study by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). The majority of those working from home are in professional, technical and managerial roles who rely on multiple mobile devices to get their work done. The proliferating number of threat surfaces all businesses have to contend with today is the perfect use case for thwarting phishing attempts at scale.

What’s needed is a machine learning engine capable of analyzing and interpreting system data in real-time to identify malicious behavior. Using supervised machine learning algorithms that factor in device detection, location, user behavior patterns and more to anticipate and thwart phishing attacks is what’s needed today. It’s a given that any machine learning engine and its supporting platform needs to be cloud-based, capable of scaling to analyze millions of data points. Building the cloud platform on high-performing computing clusters is a must-have, as is the ability to iterative machine learning models on the fly, in milliseconds, to keep learning new patterns of potential phishing breaches. The resulting architecture would be able to learn over time and reside on the device recursively. Protecting every endpoint if it’s connected to WiFi or a network or not is a key design goal that needs to be accomplished as well. MobileIron recently launched one of the most forward-thinking approaches to solving this challenge and its architecture is shown below:

Five Ways Machine Learning Can Thwart Phishing Attacks 

The one point of failure machine learning-based anti-phishing apps continue to have is lack of adoption. CIOs and CISOs I’ve spoken with know there is a gap between endpoints secured and the total endpoint population. No one knows for sure how big that gap is because new mobile endpoints get added daily. The best solution to closing the gap is by enabling on-device machine learning protection. The following are five ways machine learning can thwart phishing attacks using an on-device approach:

1.    Have machine learning algorithms resident on every mobile device to detect threats in real-time even when a device is offline.  Creating mobile apps that include supervised machine learning algorithms that can assess a potential phishing risk in less than a second is what’s needed. Angular, Python, Java, native JavaScript and C++ are efficient programming languages to provide detection and remediation, so ongoing visibility into any malicious threat across all Android and iOS mobile devices can be tracked, providing detailed analyses of phishing patterns. The following is an example of how this could be accomplished:

2.    Using machine learning to glean new insights out of the massive amount of data and organizations’ entire population of mobile devices creates a must-have.  There are machine learning-based systems capable of scanning across an enterprise of connected endpoints today. What’s needed is an enterprise-level approach to seeing all devices, even those disconnected from the network.

3.    Machine learning algorithms can help strengthen the security on every mobile device, making them suitable as employees’ IDs, alleviating the need for easily-hackable passwords. According to Verizon, stolen passwords cause 81% of data breaches and 86% of security leaders would do away with passwords, if they could, according to a recent IDG Research survey. Hardening endpoint security to the mobile device level needs to be part of any organizations’ Zero Trust Security initiative today. The good news is machine learning algorithms can thwart hacking attempts that get in the way making mobile devise employees’ IDs, streamlining system access to the resources they need to get work done while staying secure.

4.    Keeping enterprise-wide cybersecurity efforts focused takes more than after-the-fact analytics and metrics; what’s needed is look-ahead predictive modeling based machine learning data captured at the device endpoint.  The future of endpoint resiliency and cybersecurity needs to start at the device level. Capturing data at the device level in real-time and using it to train algorithms, combined with phishing URL lookup, and Zero Sign-On (ZSO) and a designed-in Zero Trust approach to security are essential for thwarting the increasingly sophisticated breach attempts happening today.

5.    Cybersecurity strategies and the CISOs leading them will increasingly be evaluated on how well they anticipate and excel at compliance and threat deterrence, making machine learning indispensable to accomplishing these tasks. CISOs and their teams say compliance is another area of unknowns they need greater predictive, quantified insights into. No one wants to do a compliance or security audit manually today as the lack of staff due to stay-at-home orders makes it nearly impossible and no one wants to jeopardize employee’s health to get it done.  CISOs and teams of security architects also need to put as many impediments in front of threat actors as possible to deter them, because the threat actor only has to be successful one time, while the CISO/security architect have to be correct 100% of the time. The answer is to combine real-time endpoint monitoring and machine learning to thwart threat actors while achieving greater compliance.

Conclusion

For machine learning to reach its full potential at blocking phishing attempts today and more advanced threats tomorrow, every device needs to have the ability to know if an email, text or SMS message, instant message, or social media post is a phishing attempt or not. Achieving this at the device level is possible today, as MobileIron’s recently announced cloud-based Mobile Threat Defense architecture illustrates. What’s needed is a further build-out of machine learning-based platforms that can adapt fast to new threats while protecting devices that are sporadically connected to a company’s network.

Machine learning has long been able to provide threat assessment scores as well. What’s needed today is greater insights into how risk scores relate to compliance. Also, there needs to be a greater focus on how machine learning, risk scores, IT infrastructure and the always-growing base of mobile devices can be audited. A key goal that needs to be achieved is having compliance actions and threat notifications performed on the device to shorten the “kill chain” and improve data loss prevention.

5 Ways Machine Learning Can Thwart Phishing Attacks is copyrighted by Louis Columbus. If you are reading this outside your feed reader or email, you are likely witnessing illegal content theft.

Enterprise Irregulars is sponsored by Salesforce and Zoho.

As Red Door Interactive expanded over the past 18 years, tasks like time tracking, revenue recognition based on percent completion, and quarterly headcount budgeting became increasingly complex and cumbersome. Additionally, in the agency world, high turnover rates and new client contracts create constantly fluctuating headcount needs, so visibility into personnel forecasts is crucial. 

Red Door Interactive previously used a mix of Microsoft Dynamics SL, along with several other disjointed applications, causing the finance team to struggle with duplicate data entry and error-prone invoicing. After evaluating several financial management software options, including Oracle NetSuite, Red Door chose Sage Intacct for its flexibility and seamless connectivity.

By upgrading to a modern, cloud-based system, the agency improved profitability by 6%, sped up budgeting and planning by 85%, and saved over 55 hours on monthly workflows and reporting. 

“Visibility is where we’ve recognized the biggest gains from switching to Sage Intacct—its drill-down capabilities are night and day compared with Dynamics, and we love Sage Intacct’s permissions-based dashboards,” said Natalie Bonczek, controller at Red Door Interactive. “I save days of report preparation each month because we’ve created helpful self-service dashboards where our executives, client services team, and department heads can find relevant, timely business insight on demand.”

After implementing Sage Intacct, Red Door Interactive realized significant organizational benefits, including:

• 33% improvement in finance team productivity: Sage Intacctslashed tasks that used to take hours or days down to just minutes—including new project creation, expense report processing, invoicing, revenue recognition, A/P, and reporting. Intuitive workflows, such as improved timesheet entry and multi-level approvals, helped boost overall finance team productivity by 33% while increasing invoice accuracy for clients.

• Reduced A/P processing time by 83%:  Utilizing Sage Intacct’s Marketplace Partner Stampli, the team was able to substantially reduce AP processing time, to include time and effort of non-finance team members responsible for reviewing & approving AP invoices. The seamless two-way communication between the two platforms enables a nearly effortless process.

• Sped budgeting and planning by 85%: Sage Intacct Budgeting and Planning allowed the finance team to replace quarterly budget and re-forecasting cycles that previously involved entering data, making adjustments, and re-creating five different master Excel worksheets with tabs for each of the agency’s 20 departments and separate office locations. By automating this, the finance team gained powerful functionality that eased the budgeting workload 85%.

“Sage Intacct Budgeting and Planning changed our process from a headache that took at least two days every quarter, to a simple two-hour task every six months,” Bonczek remembers. “Now, my team can better monitor headcount dynamics and easily run complex calculations and models to understand the potential impact of changing salaries or start dates. Since we create forecasts for leadership in half the time, we’re able to run more scenarios, and can distribute final budgets a week before the period starts, rather than after the fact.”

For more information on how Red Door Interactive uses Sage Intacct, view the full case study.

The post Growing Advertising Agency Improves Profitability by 6% and Reduces Accounts Payable Processing Time by 83% With Sage Intacct appeared first on ERP News.

Kanban and Scrum are both Agile project management frameworks that can be applied to various situations. While they do have some points in common, they are largely different and were born to serve different functions. This can be seen in every part of their DNA, which can either make them great complementary tools or simply unfit for your particular operation.

Let’s take a closer look at what each of these project management tools involves. We’ll also try to spot the major differences between Kanban and Scrum and how they can be used together in certain scenarios.

What
Is Kanban?

The Kanban system is about visualizing your workflow
and limiting work in progress. The system was introduced in 1940 by industrial
engineer Taiichi Ohno. It was first used by the Toyota company to keep track of
processes and for asset management purposes as well.

Another goal of Kanban is to maximize flow or system
efficiency. Kanban teams tend to focus on reducing choke points or cycle time.
The key metrics used in Kanban are work in progress or WIP, cycle time, and
lead time.

It’s a highly visual system that uses a series of note
cards assigned with tasks that move through various columns until they are
completed. This allows team members and outside stakeholders to see the
progress of tasks in real-time.

Kanban’s main workflow stages are to do, in progress, in review, blocked, and done. The goal is to move everything from doing to do. You don’t start anything new until the work in progress level is below a predetermined threshold.

What
Is Scrum?

Scrum is primarily a software development methodology
and is different from Kanban in many ways. With scrum, a given problem or
feature is usually identified first. The software development
team works in intervals called sprints and the whole team
will need to go through daily briefings. If they don’t complete the work on
time or issues are found with the existing solution, they go back for another
sprint.

Scrum teams have specific roles in each spring, though
they may change roles with each iterative improvement of the design or software
application. The goal is to keep things moving forward. The key metric in scrum
is velocity.

The
Differences Between Scrum and Kanban

Kanban is a continuous process
improvement methodology that is ideal for
manufacturing. It is made for teams who want to have more control on single
items instead of large overarching projects where whole teams need to be
involved.

Scrum was intended for software development and is
quite frankly perfect for it. In fact, scrum will ideally end with the release
of a software package. Kanban keeps going as they try to make the continually
flowing process better and better.

One of the major differences between Scrum and Kanban is how change is managed. Change in scrum is tightly controlled. No one should make changes to the production software application until after the new software is thoroughly tested and approved by the customer. In Kanban, change can happen at any time, so it’s much more fluid and a better option for teams who may need to pivot fast or drop tasks altogether. It also allows us to quickly identify bottlenecks and assign resources in real-time.

Another thing that separates the two is how roles are
assigned. Scrum assigns roles like product owner, scrum master, and development
team, though everyone is considered equal. Kanban doesn’t assign roles, and
also allows for much more independence. Kanban doesn’t have fixed delivery
dates either, while scrum sprints are supposed to have a fixed length interval
which is normally two weeks.

How
Do Scrum and Kanban Complement Each Other?

Kanban and Scrum can
be used with each other to fill the gaps either one of them has. For example, Scrum
teams may use Kanban to track the tasks they’re doing during a given sprint. It
provides greater visibility into the Scrum project,
but more importantly, makes teams even more Agile.

If you want to learn more about Kanban or advice on setting up Agile teams, Kanbanize has an informative piece on it. It teaches how to set up and manage Agile teams. It discusses using a Kanban tool and a network of interconnected Kanban boards to help everyone visualize and track their work. It also touches on the need to structure a team’s work in progress so that they can easily manage the flow of work from team to team.

Scrum and Kanban can both be managed with project
management tools. Some project management applications allow you to choose
either scrum or Kanban from their list of dedicated project types. You also
have hybrid project management models that combine Kanban and Scrum.

Kanban and
Scrum were originally set up as two very different approaches to
managing processes and projects. However, they can
complement each other or be combined if you have the right tools and understand
the strengths and weaknesses of each.

The post Kanban and Scrum Compared appeared first on ERP News.

Digital transformation has been a critical journey for businesses over the past few years. This path, which every business that wants to move its business into the future has to go through, often contains difficult obstacles and question marks. In recent years, it has become extremely difficult for companies to choose among the increasing amount of alternatives in the software industry. Choosing the right software for your digital transformation journey is an intensely challenging process, but the advantages of using the right software for your company are countless.

Business Management is one of the most important areas where firms feel the lack of digital transformation. Every business that wants to be one step ahead of its competitors is looking for the right technological tool to get ahead by saving time, and money. If you’re on a similar quest right now, it’s time to meet Axelor Business Management!

Control Your Business with a 360° vision!

When the business processes of your company are not under control, you will not be able to make decisions about the future. You should monitor all of your business processes so that you can take more robust steps into the future. Especially, the digital monitoring of all business processes has become more critical than ever. Business Process Management, which you can only perform with the right technological tools, can negatively affect the future of your business if the wrong tool is selected.

With Axelor Business Management System, you can automate your business management processes and control all your projects. From sales to billing, you can track your business in real-time and save time. Axelor Business Management System, which gives your business a 360° vision, enables you to calculate your profitability, ensure the correct distribution of your resources and use time more effectively, which is the most valuable factor for every business today.

An Integrated Staffing module to ease your team’s workload

The Axelor staffing module can help you optimize the workload of your employees and predict
which profiles are available to work during peak periods. Using your workforce efficiently not
only gives your business an advantage in terms of cost but also contributes positively to your
business culture. The personnel module, which allows you to effectively manage your teams,
offers a complete vision for your business. With the personnel module;

* You can see details by month/week/day
* You can create your teams.
* You can assign the most accurate personnel to a project or individual job.

Invest in the Future with Axelor

Today, for most businesses, investing in the future means increasing the number of deals they
close. Any business that wants to make this investment today and wants to bring efficiency to
its sales processes should consider its digital transformation as the main agenda item. Taking
into changing customer expectations and the impact of customer experience, you can bring
efficiency to all your sales processes with Axelor, which makes a noticeable difference in your
business management.

Axelor’s CRM module is designed to give you an advantage at each step of the sales process. This process starts with creating prospective customers in CRM and allows you to assign tasks for your team so that you can control every stage of the entire sales process. During this process, which lasts until your agreements are closed, your sales team can work independently of time and space thanks to the system running in the cloud. After each deal you close, you can also perform the invoicing phase from within the module.

With the reports you receive after each sales process, you can measure the performance of both your employees and your business and take your next step cautiously.

For more information, if you want your business to save both times and cost with Axelor products, which have a design that takes care of the user experience; https://www.axelor.com/

Call for Local Partners

Axelor Open Suite is ready to help you as an integrated system for unique businesses, where
you can use unique applications together! If you are looking for an open-source, developable,
flexible, and reliable software, you can reach Axelor and start the digital transformation journey
of your customer, by becoming a partner with them.

If you are interested, you can contact them: contact form

The post Manage All Your Business Processes Effectively with Axelor appeared first on ERP News.

 SAP announced a new research study, in partnership with Oxford Economics, designed to discover how businesses are incorporating a holistic management approach into everyday business strategy and operations.

This approach, known as systems thinking, requires that every part of an organization, including its external partners and customers, uses real-time insights from high-quality data.

The survey was conducted with 3,000 global business executives across 10 industries* during the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Key findings include:

• Among respondents, 25 percent of organizations said their communication, data-sharing, and process management were fully integrated, in contrast to 21 percent that said these functions are somewhat or completely siloed.
• An integrated approach pays off, with organizations realizing an array of benefits as a result of business function integration:
  • 47 percent of organizations that have integrated business processes in at least some functions cite reduced cost and spend as a benefit.
  • 38 percent of organizations that have integrated talent and workforce strategies cite increased employee retention as a benefit.
  • 53 percent of organizations that have integrated data collection and analysis tactics cite improved ability to make informed decisions as a benefit.
• Prioritizing the employee experience is a must, as 72 percent of executives say their corporate culture has a positive impact on their ability to provide best-in-class products or services.

“We found that a majority of respondents have taken some steps to integrate business processes in specific parts of their organizations, but they have more work to do enterprise-wide,” Oxford Economics Editorial Director Edward Cone said. “Taking that step toward complete interconnectivity will go a long way toward helping businesses respond quickly to evolving challenges and position for future growth.”

The post Oxford Economics and SAP Study Explores Businesses’ Use of Data to Manage During the Pandemic appeared first on ERP News.

IT and contract management industry veteran Kevin Niblock joins Agiloft’s leadership team to help accelerate growth and scale the organization

 Agiloft, the global standard in contract and commerce lifecycle management, today announced the appointment of Kevin Niblock as chief revenue officer (CRO). Niblock will lead Agiloft’s global sales team, manage strategic partnerships, and help expand the company’s vertical and geographic market presence.

Niblock brings over 30 years of sales and leadership experience in the IT industry. Most recently, he worked as senior vice president (SVP) of Strategy and Operations at Zuora and in the same position at Apttus. His previous leadership roles include president and chief operating officer (COO) at Software AG North America and vice president at TIBCO Software.

“Kevin is an outstanding strategic leader with a proven track record of building and managing high-performing sales teams,” said Eric Laughlin, CEO of Agiloft. “He will play a central role in executing our growth strategy.”

“I am thrilled to join Agiloft at such an exciting moment in the company’s history,” said Niblock. “I look forward to executing a sustainable growth strategy that builds on Agiloft’s outstanding reputation for customer success and innovation.”

Niblock’s appointment is part of Agiloft’s strategy to build on its leadership position in the rapidly growing enterprise contract and commerce lifecycle management (CCLM) space. With a recent $45 million growth equity investment from FTV Capital, Agiloft plans to accelerate its AI-based product development as well as its growth in international sales. Niblock’s hiring comes on the heels of the appointment of Eric Laughlin as CEO.

About Agiloft

As the global leader in contract and commerce lifecycle management (CCLM) software, Agiloft is trusted to provide significant savings in purchasing, enable more efficient legal operations, and accelerate sales cycles, all while drastically lowering compliance risk. Founded in 1991, Agiloft’s adaptable no-code platform ensures rapid deployment and a fully extensible system. Using contracts as the core system of commercial records, Agiloft’s CCLM software leverages AI to improve contract management for legal departments, procurement, and sales operations. Visit www.agiloft.com for more. 

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Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, KKR, and Epicor Software Corporation today announced a definitive agreement whereby CD&R funds will acquire Epicor, a global provider of industry-specific enterprise software to industrial-focused sectors, from leading global investment firm KKR.

The transaction represents an important milestone for Epicor, a leading enterprise software vendor delivering cloud-enabled services to more than 20,000 customers globally. Epicor’s flagship products are curated to support complex, vertical-specific workflows and provide mission-critical support to customers seeking to drive growth and profitability in their own businesses.  Epicor is an acknowledged leader in the industrial end markets it serves, including manufacturing, distribution, retail, and services categories.

Over the past four years under KKR’s ownership, Epicor’s executive team, led by CEO Steve Murphy, has driven growth through a combination of organic investments and strategic acquisitions.  A series of new product releases has led to a revenue mix comprising 73 percent recurring revenue, which includes an industry-leading SaaS business growth rate of 60 percent year-to-date. Epicor is well-positioned for its exciting next chapter under CD&R ownership.

“This is an exciting day for the entire Epicor family—employees, customers, and partners alike – and validates the company’s leadership position across markets we serve,” said Epicor CEO Steve Murphy. “We welcome this new partnership with CD&R, which shares our vision for growing the company, and I thank KKR for a highly successful partnership these past few years. We are excited to work with CD&R to increase investment in our market-leading product portfolio and to enhance our ability to support an ever-increasing range of customer needs.”

“Epicor’s reputation for quality and performance, and its impressive portfolio of next-generation cloud products, position the company well to accelerate growth in the coming years,” said Jeff Hawn, CD&R Operating Partner.  “We look forward to partnering with the Epicor management team to further expand Epicor’s product portfolio as well as make strategic acquisitions to meet customers’ evolving digital transformation needs.”

“We are excited to partner with Epicor and its talented management team to drive the business into a new phase of growth and profitability,” said Rick Schnall, CD&R Co-President. “Our long-standing industrial end-market experience and growing enterprise software expertise align well with Epicor’s value creation plan.”

“Four years ago, we embarked on an ambitious product modernization journey together with Epicor and are incredibly proud of the successes that the company has achieved to date, particularly with its recent cloud releases,” remarked John Park, Chairman of the Epicor Board and Head of Americas Technology Private Equity at KKR. “We are confident that CD&R will provide valuable support as the company continues these products- and customer-centric investments to accelerate growth in the cloud.”

CD&R Operating Partner Jeff Hawn will serve as Chairman of the Epicor Board upon close of the transaction, expected later this year. Mr. Hawn has more than 20 years’ experience across a range of senior executive roles in software and technology-related businesses, including serving as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Quest Software, Vertafore, and Attachmate.

UBS Investment Bank is acting as financial advisor and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP as legal advisor to CD&R. Barclays is acting as a lead financial advisor, BofA Securities, and Jefferies LLC as financial advisors, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP as legal advisor to KKR and Epicor.

About Epicor Software Corporation
For almost 50 years, Epicor Software Corporation has specialized in helping their customers grow their businesses, expand their capabilities, increase their productivity, and improve efficiencies.  A leader in Enterprise Resource Planning for medium-sized businesses, Epicor serves as a trusted partner for thousands of companies worldwide across key industries such as manufacturing, distribution, and retail.  Through its innovative services and unparalleled vertical knowledge, Epicor is creating a world of better business for their customers, building in their unique business processes and operational requirements into every one of their solutions―in the cloud or on-premises. For more information, connect with Epicor or visit www.epicor.com.

About Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Founded in 1978, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is a private investment firm with a strategy predicated on enhancing the value of the businesses it acquires by supporting long-term growth, productivity, capital efficiency, and related strategic measures. Since inception, CD&R has managed the investment of more than $30 billion in 93 companies with an aggregate transaction value of more than $140 billion. The Firm has offices in New York and London. For more information, visit www.cdr-inc.com.

About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, credit, and real assets, with strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside the capital it manages for fund investors and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

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Priority cited as a key differentiator in three distinguished ERP market sectors – large enterprise, midmarket, and small, for system agility, simplified user experience, and high-level customer satisfaction

Tel Aviv District, Israel, September 3, 2020 – Priority Software Ltd., a leading global provider of business management solutions, has been named a Major Player in three IDC MarketScape reports Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Large Enterprise ERP Applications 2020 (IDC #US45971820e, July 2020), Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Medium-Sized/Midmarket Business ERP Applications 2020 (IDC #US45972120, July 2020), and Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Small Business ERP Applications (IDC #US43690918, July 2020).

The IDC MarketScape reports provide detailed quantitative and qualitative assessments of worldwide SaaS and cloud-enabled midmarket and enterprise ERP software vendors, address current trends and market forecasts, especially in light of COVID-19, and list the criteria most important for companies to consider when selecting an ERP system.

According to Mickey North Rizza, IDC Program Vice President, Enterprise Applications and Digital Commerce, “Priority ERP is recognized for its system simplification and intuitive screens, system agility and extreme ease of use, and a notably high-level customer satisfaction, whereby organizations enjoy working with Priority’s friendly and overly accommodating team of employees. After a thorough evaluation of Priority strategies and capabilities, IDC recommends that both large enterprise and midsize manufacturers should consider Priority Software when looking for a SaaS ERP solution.”

Priority named Major Player; IDC Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled
Medium-Sized/Midmarket Business ERP Applications 2020

Priority Software provides flexible, end-to-end business management solutions for organizations of all sizes in a wide range of industries, from a fully-featured ERP platform serving multinational corporations to small and growing businesses. Powered by flexibility, system openness, and advanced cloud and mobile ERP applications, Priority supports operational business processes and workflows by delivering the necessary tools to achieve this flexibility, including Business Process Management (BPM), mobile application generator, user-level personalization, business rules generator, and more.

“The IDC MarketScape reports are a further testament to Priority’s
consistently strong investment in product innovation. We are honored to be
named a Major Player,” said
Andres Richter, CEO at Priority Software. “As a result of the COVID-19
pandemic, organizations the world over must rethink their operations, focus on
remote working, and adapt their processes and workforce to the new normal. It
is Priority’s agile ERP that continues to help our customers meet today’s unprecedented
challenges, maintain their business continuity, and mitigate future risks. The IDC
MarketScape’s recognition solidifies Priority at its core, helping companies to
better manage their business every day.”

Download
an excerpt of the 2020 IDC MarketScape Large Enterprise Report with Profile on
Priority Software

Download
an excerpt of the 2020 IDC MarketScape MidMarket Report with Profile on
Priority Software

SOURCE: IDC
MarketScape: Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Large Enterprise ERP Applications
Vendor Assessment, by Mickey North Rizza, Kevin Permenter, Frank Della Rosa,
July 2020, IDC #US45971820e; IDC MarketScape: Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled
Medium-Sized/Midmarket Business ERP Applications 2020 Vendor Assessment, by
Mickey North Rizza, Shari Lava, Kevin Permenter, Frank Della Rosa, July 2020,
IDC #US45972120

About IDC MarketScape
IDC MarketScape vendor assessment model is
designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT (information
and communications technology) suppliers in a given market. The research
methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative
and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of
each vendor’s position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear
framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and
strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and
telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also
provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and
weaknesses of current and prospective vendors.

About Priority Software
Priority Software provides flexible, end-to-end business management solutions for organizations of all sizes in a wide range of industries, from a fully-featured ERP platform serving multinational corporations to small and growing businesses. Recognized by top industry analysts and professionals for its product innovation, Priority improves business efficiency and the customer experience, providing real-time access to business data and insights in the cloud, on-premise, and on-the-go. With offices in the US, UK, Belgium, and Israel and a global network of business partners, Priority enables 75,000 companies in 40 countries to manage and grow their business. For more information, visit www.priority-software.com.

The post Priority Software Named a Major Player in WW IDC MarketScape 2020 Vendor Assessments: SaaS and Cloud-enabled ERP Applications appeared first on ERP News.

Are you in the market for a new ERP? Or frustrated with your current ERP system? The Lumenia ERP HEADtoHEAD™ event offers a unique opportunity to compare the leading ERP vendors and their products. Now taking place virtually on the 20^th /21st October, the leading ERP vendors will go head to head to demonstrate their ERP solutions. It is the perfect opportunity for senior finance or IT managers to efficiently review and compare the leading ERP systems.   

The virtual event takes place over two days and is facilitated by Lumenia Consulting. Collaborating with our event partners, this virtual event will feature live streaming, content-on-demand, live polling, and real-time networking. Our fully integrated event app will deliver a true event experience to our virtual attendees. The delegate platform will provide all the information needed about the event and the software being presented, it will also provide contact details for all of the ERP vendors, to allow for interaction pre and post-event.

Solutions suitable for various organization sizes, from large corporations to SME’s, will be represented. ERP solutions to be demonstrated include Oracle NetSuite, Epicor, Sage X3, Microsoft Dynamics 365, IFS, SAP Business ByDesign, Intact, QAD, and EFACS. 

At the start of Day 1, all vendors take part in an ‘Elevator Speech’.  During this recorded session vendors present a summary of their USP’s to convince delegates why it would be a good idea to attend their live on-line demo.  Delegates can then choose to attend live sessions focused on Finance, Production, Procurement, Supply Chain, Projects, or Sales. Each of these live demonstrations is based on defined high-level scripts which makes it easier to make system comparisons.

Over the two days, attendees can also hear thought-provoking, vendor-independent presentations from Lumenia Consulting on ‘Are you ERP Ready?’ and ‘Characteristics of Successful ERP Projects’. There is also a panel discussion on ‘Avoiding ERP Implementation Mistakes’.

Registration for the event will be limited to organizations that are potential buyers of ERP.

For further information and to register to check out the event website www.erpheadtohead.com or send an email to info@erpheadtohead.com

The post Compare Leading ERP Solutions at the Lumenia ERP Headtohead™ Virtual Event appeared first on ERP News.