Beyond Y2K.

In the software arena, Latin America's technology focus will shift away from Y2K and increasingly will center on customer relations management systems, predicts Sophie Leguillette, international product marketing manager for Epicor Software Corporation.

"Overall, it comes with the global trend of better serving your customers, basically, placing your customers at the center of your business," she adds. "People used to have different islands of information that were not linked together, but now everyone can access a central place in the company and have the information that will help them retain their customers. The issue is how to know your customer better and how to serve them more efficiently and effectively."

For example, front-office applications provide functionalities ranging from contact management to order entry, linking together the sales and marketing side of the business to customer service and support. These integrate with other functions, such as call centers or lead generation programs so that a customer can be effectively managed for the entire lifetime of the sales cycle.

Epicor's customer relations management product is Clientele, which has various modules (such as sales and marketing and customer support) that integrate into Epicor's back office and financial products. Clientele, which is part of Epicor's Platinum ERA enterprise resource planning solution, became available in Latin America in September 1999. Epicor is also developing vertical initiatives to suit the requirements of various industries.

"We see Latin America as a market with big potential for Epicor," Leguillete says. "It's definitely a region where we are seeing that packaged software is making big steps forward. That benefits companies because solutions are standardized and are cheaper to maintain."

A specialist in its field, Epicor Software Corporation is the largest global enterprise software supplier focused exclusively on the realistic requirements of mid-sized companies. The corporation delivers business performance solutions that enable companies to automate on their own terms and outperform their competition by capitalizing on customer relationships --- without the risks and upheaval of conventional enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

Founded in 1984, Epicor is ranked by industry analysts among the industry's 10 largest enterprise business solutions providers in the world.