During a recent ERP selection, we have had the pleasure of looking at several different systems for a local client. But today, I want to share a few of our high-level observations of Epicor.  Epicor is consistently coming in at almost double the price point of the other ERP systems that are normally considered for a business of this size.  The “problem” is that Epicor is consistenly twice as good.  First, each of the other ERP systems lacks one or two key modules — e.g. payroll, maintenance, or purchasing.  When you subtract the price of those modules from Epicor or add the price of a third-party add-on to the other ERP, the price is closer to competitive.  Then, you consider how much work the folks at Epicor have put into making the software usable (the other vendors have not kept pace) and you have to add a “time saved” factor to the price of the software.  We have seen that the Epicor designers have not rested.  They are constantly releasing improvements and we can say that — mostly in usability, but sometimes even in function — their software compares well even with players like JDEdwards and SAP.  For lack of time, we shan’t go into more details, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Epicor stay in this game despite their high price.  If they can bring it down just a touch, they may win the game.  The point — for your future selection efforts, it may pay to consider Epicor.