Epicor Announces Support for Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 and the New Visual Studio Industry Partner Program (email this article)

NEW YORK, VSLive! New York 2003, July 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Epicor Software Corporation (Nasdaq: EPIC - News) (Company Profile, Past Stories, Case Studies), a leading provider of integrated enterprise software solutions for midmarket companies, today reaffirmed its support of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 and the new Visual Studio Industry Partner (VSIP) program. Most recently, Epicor leveraged Visual Studio .NET 2003 in the delivery of Epicor Internet Component Environment (ICE), its innovative Web services application development platform. Epicor ICE, built using Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 and running on top of the Microsoft .NET Framework, extends the value of Web services technology to midmarket businesses at a price point they can afford, and enables them to extend and customize Epicor solutions, like the new enterprise service automation (ESA) solution built for the .NET Framework, "Epicor for Service Enterprises."

"We're thrilled with Microsoft's announcement of an enhanced VSIP program, and the benefits it will bring to the Visual Studio .NET developer community," said James Norwood, senior director of product marketing for Epicor's Enterprise Group. "When we embarked on the development of next-generation enterprise solutions leveraging pure, granular XML Web services technology, we turned to the Microsoft .NET Framework. And, with Visual Studio .NET 2003 we've been able to quickly build the foundation for our Web services-based enterprise-class solutions and extend the benefits to our customers through quicker return on investment and lower total cost of ownership."

Epicor ICE utilizes Microsoft Visual Studio for Applications (VSA), an industry-standard method for customizing and extending Web services, as the backbone for its customizations tools, Epicor ICE VSA Workbench. Together they empower a company to carry out painless and cost-effective customization that extends the performance and capability of their business applications.

Epicor for Service Enterprises is an intuitive ESA application that manages and streamlines virtually every aspect of the midmarket service organization -- from bid management to engagement delivery and resource management to project accounting, portfolio management and beyond -- all within a single solution. Through Epicor's groundbreaking adoption of leading-edge Web services technologies, Epicor for Service Enterprises is the only ESA solution to offer enterprise functionality at a midmarket total cost of ownership (TCO) -- combining a rich user experience with total flexibility and intense performance.

"Microsoft is pleased by Epicor's support of the new VSIP program and its use of Visual Studio .NET 2003 in its development of enterprise-class solutions," said Prashant Sridharan, lead product manager for the Developer and Platform Evangelism Division at Microsoft Corp. "Both Epicor ICE and Epicor for Service Enterprises demonstrate innovative uses of Visual Studio .NET 2003 to deliver more-agile, scalable solutions that enable a lower total cost of ownership for midmarket businesses."

Epicor enjoys a long history as a technology leader and innovator in enterprise software, leveraging Microsoft technology. Epicor was one of the first enterprise application providers to have 1,000 customers running Microsoft SQL Server, one of the first companies to be certified for Microsoft BackOffice, and was an early adopter of Microsoft VSA and the Microsoft .NET Framework. With the new Microsoft VSIP program enhancements, Epicor expects to significantly increase product distribution and awareness.

About Epicor Software Corporation

Epicor is a leading provider of integrated enterprise software solutions for midmarket companies around the world. Founded in 1984, Epicor has over 15,000 customers and delivers end-to-end, industry-specific solutions that enable companies to immediately improve business operations and build competitive advantage in today's Internet economy. Epicor's comprehensive suite of integrated software solutions for Customer Relationship Management, Financials, Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management, Professional Services Automation and Collaborative Commerce provide the scalability and flexibility to support long-term growth. Epicor's solutions are complemented by a full range of services, providing single point of accountability to promote rapid return on investment and low total cost of ownership, now and in the future. Epicor is headquartered in Irvine, California and has offices and affiliates around the world. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.epicor.com .

Epicor is a registered trademark of Epicor Software Corporation. All other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.