CHANNEL OUTLOOK 2018
Over the past 12 months, Epicor has made substantial changes to the channel partner programme to ensure that partners are enabled and ready to cater to the various transformations that are expected during 2018, including cloud, digital, mobility and Industry 4.0.
Scorecard
The changes have centered around answering one fundamental question: What skillsets and resources do partners need to possess in order to add value for the customer. To this end, everything from partner selection criteria, sales and technical training, to the way Epicor incentivises and evaluate our partners, has been focused around changing the partner business model to a value selling approach, where value and the customers’ growth defines the sale. Based on feedback from partners and customers, over the course of the year, Epicor believes they have crossed a bridge from having resellers to value added partners.
With the slump in regional economies, organisations are having to find new and innovative ways to improve their efficiency and grow their bottom line. Faced with this reality, businesses will be looking to adopt the latest technologies in cloud, analytics, and customer experience, as they respond to the new digital challenges of tomorrow while achieving a competitive advantage right now.
Landscape
In response to customer requirements, in December 2017, Epicor introduced the latest version of Epicor ERP. This release includes powerful new functionality to enable manufacturers to grow, innovate, and compete in today’s ever-changing global landscape. Marquee capabilities include new business intelligence and visual analytics capabilities delivered via Epicor Data Discovery, a completely redesigned home page, Active Home Page, Smart Inventory Planning and Optimisation, as well as new country and industry-specific functionality.
Forecast
#1 Due to the current economic climate and the credit crunch that we saw in 2017, there will be consolidation and general reduction of resellers in the market.
#2 In response to change in customer buying behavior, Epicor expects there will be a major shift from old school partnering models to new ones that are purely value based or consultancy led.
#3 As a result of the transformation in the way that partners will be required to do business and operate, with a focus on value selling, Epicor feels new and unlikely candidates will emerge as key players in the region. This will take away market share from the established partners.