IRVINE, Calif., June 30, 2008 press release excerpt — Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC) today announced a collaborative agreement with IBM to deliver a comprehensive, integrated retail system management product for specialty and department store retailers. As part of the expanded relationship, the two companies will develop and market a total offering to centrally manage and support point-of-sale (POS) hardware and software via IBM’s Remote Management Agent (RMA).
“Our expanded relationship with Epicor demonstrates our joint commitment to providing retailers fully integrated retail management products—hardware, software and services—with a one-stop shopping experience,” said Juhi Jotwani, vice president of marketing and strategy, IBM Retail Store Solutions business. “Retailers will benefit from lower total cost of ownership and a central point of contact for service and support.”
RMA is part of an end-to-end systems solution that empowers retailers to manage their store environments more competitively, enabling them to perform remote configuration, software distribution, proactive remote monitoring, asset tracking, diagnostic and problem determination down to the device level.
The combination of the IBM RMA and Epicor retail store products provides specialty retailers the ability to remotely monitor, configure and track hardware, software and applications in one store or multiple store locations, from a central point. The offering gives retailers the tools they need to run their operations more efficiently and effectively, resulting in an enhanced customer shopping experience.
According to Gartner, “The current global economic slowdown is signaling that now, more than ever, retailers must focus on executing as well as they can on in-store consumer service basics to attract consumers and to sustain repeat spending. Retailers must also balance and align their strategies and capabilities with customer priorities for the segments they service and the type of goods they sell.”
For a number of specialty retailers, the combination of Epicor Retail POS solutions and IBM hardware is already the solution of choice. Hudson Group, a privately held corporation that operates more than 500 newsstands, bookstores, cafes and premier specialty retail shops in 70 transportation terminals and airports throughout North America is one such customer. “We believe there will be significant value add to our company as IBM and Epicor align more closely in delivering software, hardware and services as a complete package,” said Gary MacRae, vice president and CIO of Hudson Group.
“Epicor and IBM are both committed to serving the needs of specialty retailers—from regional chains to multichannel global brands,” said David Henning, executive vice president and general manager of Epicor Retail. “Expanding our existing alliance demonstrates the added value that Epicor and IBM bring to the specialty retail market, with tailored software, hardware, services and support that provides a solid technology platform for retailers to streamline operations, enhance the customer experience and improve the bottom-line.”
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