3 Signs It’s Time For a Server Upgrade
Is Your Server Seeing Stars? Sometimes called a "super computer" or simply a "computer bigger than yours," a server is a technological infrastructure that hosts a shared resource pool. Servers become more complicated as small businesses grow and require multiple...
3 Things to Consider When Upgrading From Epicor 905 to E10
People, Infrastructure, and Scope in an Epicor 905 Migration A customer on the front end of an upgrade from Epicor 905 to E10 asked me for advice on ERP upgrade planning. I’ve long reflected on some of the keys to a successful Epicor 905 upgrade to E10—the lessons...
Epicor Part & MOM Settings: Learning By Example
Epicor Cover: Lessons From the Trenches Sometimes the best way to understand the inner workings of an ERP system is to review examples of its activities and to trace them back to the underlying setup that generated the activities themselves. In the Epicor ERP context,...
SQL Server: Turning Tips and Playing Tricks
SQL Server Configuration, Tuning & Optimization The perspectivism of an ERP system shifts based on one’s point of reference. To an end user, an ERP system might simply be a series of screens from which one enters and extracts data. But to an ERP administrator, the...
On-Premise vs. Hosted vs. SaaS
Which is right for your business? On-Premise, Hosted or SaaS? Technology changes at such a rapid pace that it can be hard to keep up. Today we are going to dive into the key differences of on-premise vs. hosted vs. SaaS (software as a service) and provide some great...
IT & Managed Services vs. Healthcare
Managed Services vs. Healthcare: Similar Strategies, Similar Outcomes I would like to start with a little self-reflection. If we are all honest with ourselves, we’d admit that no one enjoys purchasing or paying for health insurance. The process is cumbersome. There...
How to Create a Strategic BDR Plan
The Right Data For Backup & Disaster Recovery For backup and disaster recovery (BDR) planning, you need more than a trusted solution. You need a data center that can’t fail. You need an IT team that won’t keep you up at night. Server room aside, you might want to...
Epicor Process Set Maintenance: Bundle Up
Scheduling ERP Processes Batch processes have been with us since the inception of business computing. You can complete a batch of tasks as a single process for sake of efficiency. The benefits of such processes are clearly time-saving for an Epicor administrator....
Epicor Server File Download: Serving the Process Server
The Pandora's Box of ERP Epicor processes can be a Pandora’s box of complexity. Rumbling under the surface, these processes perform innumerable tasks that allow an ERP system to function effectively. But when these processes fail to deliver the expected functionality,...
Epicor Data Fix Workbench: Balancing the Balance
The Weight of the ERP Data World My old friend Thanos was a big believer in the principle of balance. In an ERP context, data integrity is the epitome of balance. But sometimes unexpected issues corrupt data and throw this precious balance askew. Read further to...
After The Disaster Plan, The Disaster
What Happens After You Choose A Disaster Plan? If you've already settled on a backup and disaster recovery (BDR) strategy, you need to know that this is not a "set IT and forget IT" business solution. Yes, you now know that your backups are more reliable. Yes, you...
ERP Implementation Best Practices: Closing the Gaps
ERP Implementation Challenges Bridging functionality gaps in ERP is one of the great challenges in an Epicor implementation, or of any enterprise resource planning project. There are often visible gaps between a company’s business requirements and the system’s ability...
Backup Disaster Recovery: Saving Your Solution
The Aftermath of a Backup & Disaster Recovery Plan Backup, disaster recovery, business continuity. Are you ready? 2020 proved that every business needs a recovery strategy. Data loss occurs when there's an unexpected event (like a pandemic). A natural disaster,...
How to Move Your Business to the Cloud
How to Choose a Cloud for Your Business Companies are moving to the cloud in droves, swift to flock to new IT solutions. Fortunately, there are a lot of birds wise to the server sky. When you're choosing to put your data on a remote server ("the cloud"), you'll need...
Cyber Verify “A” Risk Assurance Rating
The MSPAlliance Cyber Verify rating gives customers of cloud & managed services the assurance their provider is using the most current cyber security practices. EstesGroup Receives Cyber Verify "A" Risk Assurance Rating Loveland, Colorado - EstesGroup has...
Malvertising Rising and Malware Mayhem
What is Malvertising? Malvertising is a pet name for malware that’s delivered through online advertising techniques. The ads look authentic. Often, legitimate third-party marketing companies distribute them to reputable websites. Cybercriminals circulate this malware...
Epicor ERP Database Upgrade Considerations
Technical Considerations for an Epicor Upgrade As more and more Epicor users moved from Epicor 905 to E10, the new world of upgrade challenges leveled off into old world reflection. As a customer, I once watched my company implement Epicor’s Vantage 803 platform and...
Epicor System Monitor: Canceling a Hung Task
Epicor’s System Monitor is a handy ERP tool that can be used for one of many purposes in working with the background processes and reports that Epicor’s Task Agent orchestrates. The Epicor Task Agent handles all server-side tasks for a given application server. These...
Benefits of Managed IT Services For Your Business
Is IT at the heart of your company? Imagine your company is a heart, and managed IT services provide the health benefits to sustain your entire business system. You do the work you love, and your customers, your employees, and your products keep the beat. Technology...
How to Stop Social Engineering Attacks
Cybersecurity in the Ballot Box, the Bistro and the Bedroom October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a time when organizations across America join together to educate the public about cyberthreats like social engineering (especially phishing attacks). This...
What is Disaster Recovery as a Service?
A DRaaS Solution For Drastic Measures A look at word origins surrounding business continuity can help answer the question, “What is disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS)?” The word “disaster” contains the ancient weight of misfortunate heavens. As history goes,...
How to Update Multiple Tables in Epicor DMT
Multi-table updates for Epicor implementation and beyond As part of Epicor ERP's overall implementation and optimization toolset, the Data Management Tool (DMT) is a fundamental aspect of a successful implementation strategy. It gives you the ability to load, update,...
Cloud Business Solutions for the Virtual Office
Virtual offices become the business solution of the now The term “cloud” is a term as elusive as it is enormous, and a virtual office these days often appears to be anything you want it to be. The sky, after all, is a big place. And fitting lightning in a bottle is no...
Epicor Supplier Relationship Management 2020 Trends
In March 2020, before the shutdown, I traveled to a few customers and had an opportunity to talk supply chain with some of their commodity managers. Given the centrality of China-based supply chain sourcing, I wondered if pending restrictions on material movement...
Epicor ERP Event: EstesGroup Fall Summit 2020 (Video)
An Epicor ERP Event to Begin a New Season Are you ready for change? In June, we gathered friends and strangers together at an Epicor user event covering everything from master file setup to security to embedded customization. To further support this ERP community,...
How to Manage Epicor Part Replacement
One area of Epicor consulting that we frequently get asked about spins around engineering change orders. Engineering updates to the part master once the company is live has been likened to working on a car’s engine while speeding down the freeway. This is especially...
5 Ways to Secure Remote Workers & Keep Your Data Safe
Cybersecurity: On-site and Remote Cyberattacks can't stop us from developing new technology solutions. As a result of the pandemic, 2020 increased the demand for ways to secure remote workers, devices, and networks. The numbers aren't in yet, but some reports are...
Epicor Administration & Helpful Tools of the Trade
A Day in the Life of an Epicor Admin One of the best parts of working as an ERP consultant is the opportunity to work with so many smart people, and you'll find many working in Epicor administration. Companies are successful for a variety of reasons, and the...
Social Engineering Techniques: How Hackers Come Home
WELCOME HOME, MALWARE TIME TO MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME Human manipulation fuels social engineering techniques, and basic security measures, like anti-virus software, often can’t prevent innocent behaviors, like trust, from compromising your data. Hackers...
Epicor DMT: Data Management Tool Tips & Tricks
The Magic of Epicor DMT Licensing A common user challenge over the years with Epicor’s Data Management Tool (DMT) relates to the licensing of the actual module. Epicor DMT came from a very different evolutionary thread than the main application, and when trying...