Respected global technology leader will expand EstesGroup offerings to include full IT enablement & integration of critical systems.
LOVELAND, CO – April 5, 2017 – EstesGroup, a leading Epicor ERP partner and managed services provider, today announced the appointment of Ben Nixon to the new post of Vice President of Enterprise Technology.
Nixon brings 17 years of Epicor ERP consulting experience and a strong background in complex business and technology environments. He’s recognized internationally as a value-added advisor to Epicor clients and his peers.
EstesGroup utilizes a proprietary 5-step PEAK methodology to provide best-in-class EPR services to more than 500 clients worldwide. EstesGroup has expertise in the manufacturing, distribution, medical and services industries and provides implementation, support, optimization, training and integration solutions for Epicor, NetSuite, IQMS, and Microsoft ERP.
“EstesGroup has been my go-to implementation partner for many years and the organization I would rely on to resurrect failing ERP implementations,” said Nixon. “Their staff is 100% certified, to the highest levels of ERP systems, often to a higher level of certification than even the publishers themselves. It’s tremendously exciting to now join the company and help expand their offerings to include database management, performance management, virtualization and disaster recovery planning.”
Before joining EstesGroup, Nixon served in a variety of technical leadership roles spanning 17 years at Epicor Software Corporation, a leader in industry-specific business software. Nixon’s experience includes ERP technical consulting and management consulting. He is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in systems and database management.
“Ben is a respected global business and technology leader with strong cloud, SaaS and on-premise expertise,” said Bruce Grant, CEO, EstesGroup. “Ben’s solutions-focused approach and creative problem-solving skills have established him as a go-to expert in the ERP industry. Ben and his team will provide solutions to allow customers to remain on the leading technology edge and be competitive in the global marketplace. As a virtual CIO to EstesGroup’s clients, Ben will drive value-added IT infrastructure solutions from the planning stage, through implementation, and ongoing support.”
About EstesGroup
EstesGroup helps businesses run better. We provide solutions to industry-specific verticals including the needs of manufacturing, distribution, medical, retail, and service industry customers. With our own PEAK methodology and over 12 years of experience, our clients enjoy the highest level of professional support in the industry―in the cloud, hosted, or on premises – for their ERP or Managed Services needs.
“Focus on what you do best, and let us handle the rest!”
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Media Contact: Jeff Klaubert EstesGroup Inc. Phone: 603-860-6078 Email: [email protected]
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Contemporary systems theories frequently explain application implementations using the paradigm of structures. A structure can be thought of as a pattern of behavior implicitly used to govern a business process, be it system-driven or manual in nature. From the structuralist perspective, an organization consists of multiple overlapping structures, which guide the way it does business. An ERP system similarly consists of structures, which guide its functionality. ERP implementation strategy thus constitutes a situation in which the structures inherent in an organization’s business process need to be brought into harmony with the structures provided by the implemented package. The familiar Venn diagram is helpful in representing the challenge of integrating or “overlapping” enterprise package-embedded structures and company structures:
Adapted from Soh and Sia, 2005
Ideally when implementing the system, a perfect overlap can be identified between the ERP structure and the company structure—that is, the capabilities of the system perfectly address the business requirements of the implementing company. Using the Venn diagram, this would be depicted by the two structure-circles perfectly overlapping. In reality, this rarely occurs—even when the best possible system is selected for a given implementation, misalignments between company structures and package-embedded structures inevitably occur. Veteran project managers do not panic when misalignments are identified, as they understand this inevitability. The goal of an ERP implementation strategy is to maximize the overlap between the company and the package, understanding that misalignments will occur.
Adapted from Soh and Sia, 2005
Given the inevitability of misalignments between ERP structure and company structure, it comes as no surprise that successful implementation projects surface misalignments early, and identify them clearly. Once identified, work can begin to resolve the misalignments and “close the gaps.” According to some theorists, organizations have one of two options when closing the gaps created by structural misfits: organizational adaptation or package modification.
Adapted from Soh and Sia, 2005.
As part of an Epicor ERP implementation strategy, organizational adaptation may involve additional prototyping with the system’s standard configuration and master file settings, in order to identify alternative means of addressing the businesses requirements. It may also involve the creation of manual processes or “workarounds” to address business needs. Within an Epicor context, package modification may involve the creation of custom queries, dashboards or reports to address information requirements, or the customization of a given form to allow the entry of custom data fields. It also may involve the use of BPM’s to provide specific validation or automation functionality. It may further involve a Service Connect workflow to interface with an external payroll or Engineering system. Quite often, addressing misalignments between ERP structure and company structure involves a combination of configuration, workarounds, and customization. The overall goal of these activities is to minimize the degree of customization required while supporting the company’s strategic core competencies.
As we’ve noted, misalignments between ERP structure and company structure are a normal and expected occurrence in the course of implementing an enterprise system. Not surprisingly, successful projects are often defined not by the presence of misalignments, but by the project team’s reaction to them. When companies plan for misalignments as part of a normal implementation, they can focus on closing the gaps, without sending the company into a panic when they surface. In doing to, they improve their chances of successful implementation, and optimally using the package they’ve implemented.
While many small, single-facility companies find Epicor’s ERP offerings to be an appropriate fit for their businesses, Epicor offers extensive capabilities to larger companies seeking to implement across multiple locations or divisions. Epicor’s multi-site module allows customers with multiple geographically-dispersed facilities to configure individual sites to manage the activities in each facility. For customers who consist of multiple independent business units, each with their own financials, Epicor offers the ability to define individual companies for each business unit.
While these capabilities are fine in themselves, it sometimes occurs that Epicor’s multi-site and multi-company capabilities are interpreted as mere matters of licensing and configuration—of purchasing the additional licensing and configuring the additional companies and sites to run the various entities within the business. This sounds simple enough, but focusing exclusively on licensing and configuration can be problematic for a number of reasons. Firstly, Epicor provides various opportunities for collaboration between business entities that allow companies the ability to design new processes that cross traditional business boundaries in new ways. To ignore these capabilities would be on par with buying a dune buggy only to park it in the driveway. Secondly, implementing across multiple companies and/or sites introduces many complicating factors to an implementation project, which may be unapparent at the project’s onset. These factors can exponentially complicate implementations, if left unmitigated and need to be incorporated in to the implementation plan.
Epicor’s multi-site module offers many more capabilities that allow large or geographically dispersed companies to streamline their processes across disparate locations. As companies seek to structure their organizations for future success, implementations become opportunities for reengineering. In such cases, implementation projects can become complicated, as business process decisions and project implementation decisions supersede system configuration. Some of the decisions that companies encounter might include the following:
Does the company intend to go live on Epicor with all companies/sites at the same time or is the preference to implement in a staggered sequence?
What level of process consistency does the company intend to have between sites or companies?
As part of the implementation, are there processes that the company intends to centralize across plants or companies?
Are there internal supplier-customer relationships that you wish to leverage between plants or companies?
Answering these questions is no simple matter—it takes a combination of business acumen, project management experience, and Epicor knowledge. EstesGroup offers implementation methodologies tailored to different approaches—be it a staggered implementation (one site-at-a-time), or a big bang (all sites concurrently). EstesGroup also offers business process management methodologies to cater to various centralized or decentralized management approaches.
EstesGroup also offers a pool of experienced consultants and project managers, well-versed in large corporate implementations across multiple sites and companies. Not only can we help you set up your system to run smoothly—we can help you develop a business process management strategy that leverages best practices and process excellence across multiple locations, while working these decisions into the implementation plan, so you can set up your company for the future on-time and on-budget.
Matt Thompson will address the inaugural meeting of the Florida Epicor Users Group (EUG) on Thursday 1/21/16.
Mr. Thompson serves as Vice President of Enterprise Architecture for EstesGroup, the world’s leading consultancy in Enterprise Resource Planning, and is considered an expert in the fields of Business Process Review and Business Process Reengineering.
His presentation to the EUG will focus on the new feature set for Epicor ERP 10.1, as well as the many factors and strategies that companies should review when considering an upgrade to this solution.
The slogan for Florida EUG is “Users Helping Users.” The association is completely independent, with a primary mission to assist its community members in the study and practice of Epicor products, including Epicor ERP (9, 10, and 10.1); Vantage; Vista; Avante; DataFlo; Manage 2000; ManFact; Clientele; iScala; Enterprise; E4SE; Epicor Retail; Epicor HCM; Epicor CMS/VP (SolarSoft); AVP; BVP; HrMS (Packaging); Informance; BisTrack; Tropos; SLS; and Mattec.
The Florida EUG boasts an all volunteer leadership, a staffed office, monthly board meetings, a close and positive working relationship with Epicor management, and support for Regional User Groups. Membership dues are $360 a year, a worthwhile investment for industry members looking to secure the best possible Epicor product support at a reasonable cost.
Matt Thompson leads EstesGroup’s experienced, world-class ERP consulting team. His more than fifteen years’ experience with Epicor products include five years working as an Epicor employee, five years working for an Epicor customer, and more than five years at EstesGroup as Vice President of Services. He is a certified expert on Epicor technologies and leverages a deep background in technical and functional matters as they apply to the multi-faceted world of Project Management.
In particular, Mr. Thompson has considerable expertise in marrying Enterprise Resource Planning solutions to the manufacturing, distribution, and professional services industries. He has led hundreds of successful implementations of Epicor products for businesses ranging from small job shops to large-scale distribution and manufacturing operations across a variety of sectors.
Mr. Thompson helped to pioneer the industry-renowned EstesGroup Business Process Review. As a spokesman for EstesGroup, he is considered a foremost expert in and the voice of company’s Five Stage ERP Implementation Methodology.
The agenda for Thursday’s inaugural meeting includes:
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. – Registration and Networking
9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. – Introductions and purpose
9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. – Upgrading to E10.1: Technical Tips – Ben Nixon
Customizations – If your organization has a multitude of customizations, integrations or modifications in place then you need to get organized around all of these with a plan that allows the time to implement them into the new environment. The magnitude of complexity goes up with each version of Epicor that you are leaping over to get to 10.1. So if you’re on Epicor 9.04, it’s not as bad as if you’re still on Vantage 8.03 and not as bad yet again as if you’re on Vantage 6.1.Catalogue your customizations in a spreadsheet. Make the business team force rank them as level 1,2 or 3. Level 1 – Business Critical Level 2 – Could work without for a period of time Level 3 – Functionality no longer needed or has been replaced with Out of the Box with 10.1
Once you have everything catalogued it’s easier to build a plan of action around them. Which ones will need hands on work to function in Epicor ERP 10.1? Which ones are critical to be included in the regression test plans.
Processes aren’t documented – If you don’t have your critical processed documented in your ERP then how are you going to systematically test them before you launch a new version of your ERP? In addition, moving to Epicor 10.1 should have other forecasted advantages for your business. What are those new processes and how will they impact the workflow for your organization?
Business Team Readiness – Just like in your original implementation the upgrade isn’t handled by just one individual. Besides, would you want to be the one guy with the weight of the business’ ERP on your shoulders if that upgrade doesn’t work out? You need your core team of business representation to establish the plan, set and perform the regression tests and ensure that they are ready for the new version. Multiple eyes on your project are always better than a single point of failure. On top of your core team making sure that you have the same level of involvement from the executive team is a must. Everyone needs to be on board with an upgrade.Granted, if you’re making a “dot” upgrade from Epicor 10 to 10.1 it should be much less invasive, there should be a lot fewer surprises and it should run smoother but this is no excuse for bypassing the fundamentals of project success.
If you take the time to organize your upgrade to Epicor ERP 10.1, you’ll be increasing your chances of success exponentially. Yes, it’s a little more ground work on the front end, but doing this work up front is a fraction of the time it will take if you skip it and get a surprise later on. I would love to continue our conversation and welcome you to…
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Epicor’s Company structure comprises the fundamental data elements, which underlie a customer’s configuration of Epicor’s ERP application. Epicor’s Company structure allows customers to configure their ERP system in a manner that mirrors their business structure and strategy. Moreover, proper Company setup ensures that the Epicor application will function as intended, allowing Epicor’s rich layers of functionality to be effectively utilized by an implementing customer.
The importance of Epicor’s Company structure cannot be understated—the setup at the company level affects every module, influencing or altering its behavior or functionality. Thus, an implementing customer must give strong consideration to its Company setup, as to maximize its ERP investment and avoid sub-optimizing its use of the application.
To get access to Version 10 Epicor features, the setup of Companies in an Epicor database involves three phases:
Companies are created through the Epicor Administration Console.
The base information for a Company is defined through the Company Maintenance form.
The detailed module-specific defaults for a Company are defined through the Company Configuration form.
As part of the installation process, or shortly thereafter, Companies are created through the Epicor Admin Console. Companies are database entities that are created through the Application Server nodes of the Admin Console. A right click on a given application instance allows a system administrator to add a Company:
When adding a Company, the Admin Console raises a configuration window, which allows the system administrator to define the basic Company elements:
The elements that can be defined at this time include the following:
The Company ID: This ID is a key field and cannot be changed once it is defined.
The Company Name: This represents the name of the company, as it will be viewed on forms and reports. This value can be later changed through the Company Maintenance form.
The Company Installation: This is the specific license file which will be used for this Company. This is a required field, and the value assigned is normally the same license file that was previously imported into the Admin Console at the time of installation.
Country Code: If the customer is using company-specific functionality, then the Country Code can be defined.
Base Currency Code: Most often, this is defined as US Dollars or “USD” for Companies whose work occurs primarily in the United States.
Number of Decimals: These can be defined according to the decimal required to support cost-related, price-related and general functionality. Quite often the defaults of 5-5-2 are sufficient for many businesses.
The above steps entail the mere beginnings of a Company configuration, but as a Company setup progresses, implementing customers work to become in good company with other successful Epicor 10 implementations.
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