Let me assure you they read everything. I would bet they have features in their CRM systems that categorize, rate, track and evaluate customers and their comments. I've had calls or emails (both very infrequently) in response to posts. They are very aware of posted sentiments. Whether they matter to them enough to do anything is a cost/benefit analysis someone at Epicor has made. I would suggest escalating concerns through the management levels but I suspect that has already been tried by most of the people thinkng of dropping the product without a satisfactory result. At which point I too would be thinking of dropping the company more than the product alone.
FWIW...I find the range of tolerance for system issues fascinating. There are sites like us that are reasonably happy (with 6.1) and really like the system....or are pretty forgiving of the bumps in the road. Then again there are others that apparently are not so laid back. Someone could do a PhD. dissertation on organizational dynamics and the level of tolerance. Actually it all sort of reminds me on a skit on one of the Saturday night comedy shows (Mad-TV or SNL, can't recall which one) about "Lowered Expectations". Perhaps we've just learned to expect less but we're still getting far more payback form the product than we originally anticipated. It's stable, easy to manage by one person, realitively easy to tailor to our needs. Then again we don't schedule, we don't do MRP and we don't have finished goods inventory (or costing issues) so we may be missing out on all the "fun" by being simple and not expecting more.
-Todd C.
________________________________
From:
vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:
vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Ted Kitch
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 10:49 AM
To:
vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Re: Plans to Drop Epicor
I had to throw in my 2 cents also.
I've been using Vantage since 2.12 and I've heard the same comments over the
years regarding support and development. Our original salesman promised the
moon and the product didn't deliver even close to what we were sold. What
really astounds me is that the upper management folks at Epicor don't read
some of these comments. Or, even worse, they do read these threads and
don't do anything about it. If I owned a company and the main group of
users have so many negative comments about my system and my company I would
be appalled. A few years ago I saw that Epicor started its own group and I
can only imagine that they did so to control what new users are going to
see. Look up in the archives, there was once a potential client that joined
the group and asked what we all thought of the product and if what the sales
folks were saying was true. After the responses that were given, they
didn't purchase the software.
I also spent some years consulting and every company that I went into had
serious issues with how they were using the software and how they were shown
to do it by Epicor consulting. Many times I just couldn't believe what I
was told that Epicor consulting had told them to do. It seemed as if they
had no idea as to what really happens in a real company. I always had to
work with customers that were on their last leg and ready to lynch someone.
Epicor could go a long way by hiring someone to upper management that knows
how to deliver a good product and keep customers happy. The IT landscape is
littered with the graves of once unsinkable (Ashton-Tate, Wordperfect,
Lotus, etc.) companies that didn't always pay attention to what they put
their customers through and as soon as something better came along customers
would flock to it. I would hate to see the same happen to Epicor.
I wouldn't recommend the company to anyone, which is funny as working with
Vantage has been my livelihood since the early 1990's.
Ted Kitch
Information Technology Manager
Astro Machine Corporation
www.astromachine.com
From:
vantage@yahoogroups.com<mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:
vantage@yahoogroups.com<mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com>] On Behalf Of
Kersten MacLennan
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 10:09 AM
To:
vantage@yahoogroups.com<mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Re: Plans to Drop Epicor
I was hired to get the Vista installation fully implemented. The company
was on 6 and a few months before I started the upgraded to 8.0. We are
now on .404. The system before I started was used for financials and
order entry but not much more than that. While we are not fully
functional yet we have come a long way. My primary problem with the
system is the overall support received from Epicor. I can manage the
customizations on my own for the most part, but when I have an issue, it
can be weeks before I get a response. If something has to go to the
development team, it is even worse. In April I submitted a problem that
affects order entry. We cannnot modify order line items for sets
correctly. I explained the urgency of the situation...if I can enter
orders into my system I have a real problem. I received a response from
Epicor last week stating that the bug has been identified and will be
passed to development. I still after 2 months do not have an expected
date of resolution. I really do not like having to be this creative if
finding work arounds for major problems like this. In my prior position
I was working with a Syteline product and their support seemed to be
much more responsive.
I just thought I would add my 2 cents
Kersten MacLennan
IT/ERP Analyst
Semrock, Inc.
3625 Buffalo Rd.,
Suite 6
Rochester, NY 14624
585-594-7009
585-594-7095 fax
kmaclennan@...<mailto:kmaclennan%40semrock.com> <mailto:kmaclennan%40semrock.com>
The Standard in Optical Filters for Biotech & Analytical Instrumentation
Hundreds of Thousands of Ion Beam Sputtered filters delivered -
extensive inventory now!
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________________________________
From:
vantage@yahoogroups.com<mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:
vantage@yahoogroups.com<mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> ] On
Behalf
Of Babette Welch
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 10:53 AM
To:
vantage@yahoogroups.com<mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [Vantage] Re: Plans to Drop Epicor
We are mostly pleased with Vantage.
Yes, some things are frustrating but overall it works very well for us
(polyurethane manufacturer).
We are using Vantage 6.1 and have customized it greatly.
We created MANY reports in Report Builder which is a problem for going
to Vantage 8.
As for quick reports and fast analysis, we use CorVu.
It has an added advantage of exporting into Excel very smoothly.
Crystal is great at reporting but interfacing with Progress database and
Vantage menu remains difficult.
We run a few progress programs thru buttons in VBForm which print
specialized labels and reports.
We also, do mass change from spreadsheets with a simple progress program
run thru the COMMAND WINDOW.
We can not use Vantage for scheduling but our operations are only a few
minutes and people work on many operations at the same time.
As we look at moving to Vantage 8 we are considering doing reporting
thru dashboards and quick Progress programs.
The Crystal interface still looks troublesome.
My controller will be a lot happier when Vantage actually calculates
financial charges.
In conclusion it still looks like we made a good choice 7 years ago.
Babette Welch
IT Director
bwelch@...<mailto:bwelch%40argonics.com> <mailto:bwelch%40argonics.com>
<mailto:bwelch%40argonics.com>
(906)226-9747 ext: 235
ARGONICS, INC.
Performance Polyurethanes
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