Prophet 21 from Epicor is a distribution ERP providing SCM capabilities (warehouse, inventory) as well as the ability to streamline quote-to-cash cycle, improve margins, and fulfill orders.
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Epicor Prophet 21
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Epicor Prophet 21
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Epicor Prophet 21
Considered Both Products
Epicor Prophet 21
Verified User
Manager
Chose Epicor Prophet 21
It is very useful for a distributor that is handling inventory and customer data. Epicor Prophet 21 gives easy access to their database and it is reasonably priced.
inFlow Inventory was review and just does not have all the features of Epicor Prophet 21. It would be best for a smaller company that just needs to manage inventory and purchase orders.
When I did my initial evaluation prior to implementing Prophet 21, I reviewed 18 different ERP solutions. I was able to quickly narrow the field down to 4 applications that seemed to meet most of our business requirements. I invited all 4 software providers to come on site and …
Not sure, we tested another program, but they as well as P21 was just a basic out of the box limited version. You really can't judge a system unless you use it in the real world. They look great on paper, but when you need it to do something and it can't, it becomes an issue.
The service module was an absolute requirement and the Prophet 21 option was by far the best out there. Being able to handle many technicians' schedules, abilities and locations, along with tracking customer equipment was crucial.
I have not looked at them in detail, but have received a lot of positive comments through out the industry, we're on the fence in regards to viability of cloud based solutions, but from the information we have received it seems like NetSuite has developed a good solution for …
Prophet 21 had a better implementation strategy, and also better support during implementation. Prophet 21 was also more user friendly in their look and feel.
We felt after analyzing the different systems and talking to their users that P 21 best met our needs. We were able to take the package "plain vanilla" and make it work. The other software packages needed to customize applications to meet our needs.
Not sure how other Distribution focused ERPs stack up. It is a lot less expensive than SAP the industry gold standard, but is probably missing some key functionality provided from other ERP systems. For the price it does a great job recording the individual transactions that …
Verified User
Administrator
Chose Epicor Prophet 21
We chose Epicor P 21 based on prior knowledge and fit. It was a no-brainer.
Good for distribution organizations with warehousing. Can also support both Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable, although a more thorough Accounting package is recommended. Is strong when it comes to integrating bar codes and scanners, particularly for warehouse maintenance. Prophet 21 does include a basic CRM offering. However, it is very basic, and for any real Customer Resource management, a third-party tool is best (even recommended by Epicor.)
Prophet 21 could use better management tools for its own data. The database has a tendency to bloat and over time can grow exceedingly large without administrative intervention.
The UI can be cluttered at times and the windows tend to jump into focus or drop from focus when it isn't expected causing user confusion and data entry errors.
Branding on forms and the UI is almost nonexistent. Customizations of screen aesthetics and form layout options should be easier and not require custom programming.
I've used Epicor Prophet 21 for about 12 years (in various iterations). It started out as CommerceCenter by Prophet 21 then became Prophet 21 by Activant and then Prophet 21 by Epicor. So frequently, when a software company is acquired, it stops being great. That has not been the case with Epicor Prophet 21. Over the years they've been under Epicor, the product has just gotten better and better, with major extensibility enhancements and new mobile components coming online.
Overall, I love using Prophet 21. With a few rare exceptions, functions within the application have been streamlined so they can be used with as few clicks and key presses as possible. That's not to say they've given up any functionality. The platform is incredibly powerful; just easy to use.
When hosted locally, you don't have to worry about outages unless the power goes out and the battery backups fail. It can also be hosted in the cloud which is as reliable as your internet connection. There's really no concern for outages in the software by itself. Outages are controlled by external factors.
I do feel like there are some screens and reports that could be streamlined. Prophet 21 likes to load features all at once when going into a program but a quicker load time into order entry, for example, is worth having a little latency while a non-essential tab that doesn't get used very often is opened.
The support is some of the worst I've seen across all the 122 software vendors we work with. Everything is offshore and it is always vague answers, links to wiki's that don't apply, and when we pay for project support they charge $200 an hour for someone who works remote from Mexico to call you on a poor quality VoIP connection that isn't all that well trained and often doesn't have basic IT skills
The on-site training was great. I give it a 9 because the trainer was a chain smoker who had to excuse herself a lot to smoke. Kind of unprofessional. She was a very good trainer though.
I had a great time with the online training. Most of the online trainings were live which meant you had opportunity to interact with instructors. I liked trying to derail them by posting funny comments to the chat window. The only complaint I had about these is they weren't recorded for later use. Well, another complaint is that they were sometimes too short.
The overall implementation is smooth. Prophet 21 sends someone on-site for as many days as you need them to step through the initial implementation. Data conversion is the biggest trick. Make sure you get help with that portion of implementation. Also, be sure to offer plenty of training incentives to keep people coming back for more training. A little money spent up front will save you tons of headaches later.
I have not looked at them in detail, but have received a lot of positive comments through out the industry, we're on the fence in regards to viability of cloud based solutions, but from the information we have received it seems like NetSuite has developed a good solution for the industry.
Prophet 21 is very reliable. The database is robust and well designed. The application is also hard to break. If there's one feature I don't like, it's that they haven't accounted for the dreaded single quote. That's kind of the bane of Microsoft SQL's existence. They need to escape that character in every field that will accept it in the system. Otherwise, the system throws all kinds of errors and many times will crash.