Epicor Software Corporation, a provider of enterprise business software solutions for the midmarket and divisions of the Global 1000, today announced that governments around the world are successfully using Epicor enterprise solutions to manage budgets through providing critical controls over commitments and expenditures, and accurate reporting across consolidated national accounts.
Specifically, Epicor is implementing national-level solutions for the governments of Tanzania, Malawi, and The Gambia, as well as solutions for dozens of city, municipal and district councils and governments throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and Canada to manage financial, operational and customer information — for better governance and to better serve businesses and individuals under their jurisdictions.
Already established as a leading end-to-end suite of proven industry-specific solutions for midmarket organizations and divisions of the Global 1000, Epicor Enterprise is equally well-suited for government agencies of similar size. With integrated components for financials, customer relationship management (CRM), supplier relationship management (SRM) and business intelligence, Epicor Enterprise provides a single point of accountability, delivering enterprise class functionality at a midmarket total cost-of-ownership.
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Last November, the Government of Tanzania was chosen to present its success with its Epicor enterprise-based Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) at the United Nation’s World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in Tunisia, which addressed critical issues such as technology infrastructure, capacity building, the regulatory environment and financing.
“The Epicor solution is ideal for a developing country where resources – financial and otherwise – are scarce because it provides the best value for money,†said Mrs Nyoni, accountant-general for the Government of Tanzania, which deployed Epicor at 43 key government ministries, 22 regional centres and 85 local authorities.
Epicor provided the Government of Tanzania with a comprehensive budgeting, accounting and fiscal control infrastructure that has significantly improved financial conditions in only five years, helping the government to curb unbudgeted commitments and expenditures and address the demands of its development partners. This initiative, combined with the solid economic policies of the Tanzanian government, led to real GDP growth of more than 5.2% within the first year.
“National governments and smaller government agencies face unique challenges in managing financials, from political pressure to legislative constraints and regulatory mandates, as well as a diversity of agency specific requirements,†says James Norwood, vice-president of product marketing for Epicor. “Epicor Enterprise provides the flexibility to meet agency and national level management while retaining strict control over budgets and costs.â€
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Most recently, the Government of The Gambia started, and the Government of Malawi completed, their respective implementations of Epicor Enterprise as a multi-ministerial accounting system.
Mr Kampanje, accountant-general for the Government of Malawi: “Epicor provided us with the best return on investment and was successfully implemented on-time and within budget.†A key determining criteria in the Government of Malawi’s recent receipt of debt relief in the amount of US$2.9 Billion from the IMFS and the World Bank, was the implementation of the Epicor-based Integrated Financial Management Solution for the Public Sector.
Epicor channel partner in East Africa, Soft-Tech, the system integrator on the Tanzania, Malawi and Gambia government implementations, acknowledged the strengths of the Epicor solution as an ideally suited solution. “Our experience implementing enterprise systems for government entities, coupled with the flexibility Epicor Enterprise provides, is a powerful combination,†said Bhakti Shah, Soft-Tech’s lead project manager.