Epicor reported quarterly earnings today. Total license revenue was up 9% and George Klaus harped big on the "new name license" theme. He invoked the fact that Epicor 9 was doing well selling to new accounts - frequently.
The press really didn't follow up on this theme too much - instead mostly asking boring currency conversion and sales commission questions. Epicor didn't really have much to say about their retail software which apparently has undergone some management changes. They mostly mumbled through that portion of the call. I had the impression that retail is definitely lagging. They also seem to sell hardware as there was discussion of ($8 million I think) or hardware sales. If I remember correctly the margin was fairly tiny. They did harp on a 94% maintenance renewal rate -- which somewhat puzzled me because the quarterly comparative maintenance revenue is pretty flat. One analyst asked about this (about the only intelligent question asked) to which there was a very long Epicor pause. No real answer from Klaus on this. They claim well over 100 Epicor 9 are out "on evaluation" but Klaus quips - "don't quote" him (funny thing to say at an analyst press conference).... Earnings say over 140 Epicor 9 are ready to go live this year (as opposed to about 200 already installed). Early on they hit on three things that they thought were driving sales: 1. More prospects (I took this to mean people looking for niche software)2. More industries served with Epicor 9
3. More localization - they apparently are able to utilize Epicor 9 in another 20 languages/locales (unsure on this number exactly as I was connecting via cell to the call and not near a computer) The company made a clear point that sales to existing customers --- upgrades, new modules -- were relatively flat or down. This is another area they spent little time on though when questioned by an analyst of course the company expects to convert many of their install base to Epicor 9. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to ask any questions as it seemed to be softball analyst day. If I did I would have asked: A. What percent of sales are channel versus direct (I hear it's 85% direct with a goal of 60% - which sounds like being a little pregnant. Epicor has a mixed track record here so caveat emptor) B. Who are your three biggest competitors (because I believe Epicor is probably benefiting from a market shift to niche software) C. What effect will the new emphasis by Microsoft and Oracle on specialization for their channel have on Epicor's sales into market niches. (My guess is not a lot immediately but probably in 2 years quite a bit). That's all I remember -- I was connected by cell while out of the office so some of the specific numbers I'm stating from memory could be a little off but in general this was the tone of the call.
