Epicor HCM (discontinued) vs. Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP

While Epicor HCM is functional for enterprises with many branch locations, I feel that is best suited out of the box for locations with corporately centralized HR. This overcomes some of the shortcomings of security capability and the need to spend a lot of time in configuring routing. The CSS portion of Epicor HCM is not as robust as competing systems and should not be used if corporations are actively looking to onboard at a high rate.

Incentivized

Oracle Fusion Cloud is best suited if a customer moves from Oracle eBusiness Suite (on-prem) to a SaaS offering. The transition is comparatively manageable to implement. However, the customer must understand that we cannot have too many customizations in the SaaS model, so many heavily customized on-prem applications would need to be incorporated in the Cloud by using Cloud tools like Oracle Integration Cloud, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Autonomous Database, Oracle APEX provisioned on OCI, etc.

Incentivized

• Security is always an issue with payroll/HR software. Security in Epicor HCM is very robust. In our manufacturing facility it is important that supervisors have access to their employee's information and the software allows me to limit access to only the correct department. There is also menu security that will allow me to remove access to features by user and grant access only to what they require to do the job.
• This software is the repository for many different types of employee information. For example in the past we have tracked skills training by employee in either an Access database or an Excel spreadsheet. We are currently in the process of loading individual employee skill information which will allow us to query the database to pull any information that is not already a canned report in the system.
• Payroll tax reports are handled by the system seamlessly. In our old system I had to keep confidential employees in a different "company" which meant I had to combine the two companies and do quarterly and year end tax reporting manually. The confidential flag in Epicor HCM allows me to utilize reports directly from the system and also creates the files needed to file online for both my quarterly SUI and W-2 reporting to SSA at year end.

Incentivized

• I no longer need VPN to login into the ERP cloud system.
• I no longer need Java app required for form based application.
• Data uploading feature using excel was highly required as it makes user life easy.
• The application is self explanatory and easy to use.

Incentivized

• Administrative set-up is a nightmare --> Set-up such as e-mail templates (routing, candidate communication, alerts) and configuring security rights for users, includes looking at list of approximately 100 fields some of which seem like duplicates. Interestingly, you may find that the field you need is missing. You'll need to create a work-around or pay Professional Services to get it set-up correctly, even though they should logically be available. Another alternative is that you need to go to an obscure task under Utilities that you've never used before so you can uncheck a box.
• Auto alerts seem like a great idea, but the set-up is limited in such a way that you will probably need a Filter SQL statement to get it the way you want. (Ex: No way on the birthday alert to simply filter to active employees. Get ready to send out over 500 alerts for ALL employees and dependents.) You can either ask someone in your IT department or again, go to Professional Services ($$$).
• Routing also seems like a great idea but if you make too many changes in the routing set-up, it errors out and doesn't allow you to submit changes. Instead you must make only a few changes, submit, then go to the task again. Efficiency is not a concern for HCM. If you have more than 5-10 routes in the system for certain tasks, this can slow down the entire routing page, making you wait between 20-40 seconds to approve and go to the next route. This will make for a fun time during your annual review process when you've got 100+ reviews routed to you.
• Epicor staff (except for customer support) are salespeople--first and foremost --> Glassdoor reviews show that Epicor "emphasizes billable hours above all else" -- we've experienced this firsthand. Most account managers, implementation and interface consultants will try get you on the phone (at a whopping $100-$300/hr) to talk about nothing and avoid delivering what you've paid them for. If they're not doing that, they may just ignore your e-mails and never get back to you.
• Unreliable customer support --> Customer support staff seems understaffed and sometimes lack technical knowledge. Not surprising considering that HCM is so convoluted and frustrating. Even the most expert support reps are stumped by questions--the system is just that confusing. Sometimes there is no resolution at all so your call is turned into a service change request. Then you cross your fingers and hope it gets addressed in the next upgrade. I submitted one support call over two months ago. It is still open. Sadly that is not out of the norm.
• Unexplainable errors in interfaces --> Payroll and benefits interfaces have been unreliable. Employee data changes are dropped with no explanation; ergo, there is no possible solution. Unless of course you want your benefits consultant to spend several hours ($$$) researching it or very, very slowly talking you through it over the phone.
• Customizations that keep on breaking and breaking and breaking --> HCM releases updates almost twice a year, with "new and improved" features. Sometimes the features don't work, as if the software was updated without any testing or foresight. You'll find that customizations you've paid for have broken inexplicably and need to be re-done. Of course you will be charged for the extra hours needed to fix the customizations.

• Wide localization process.
• Automated (without a human) business operations, better rpa solutions, scanning, mobile app, etc
• Central systems for the company re using more than one erp systems.
• Better reporting tools
• Developer source also not such enough maybe to support them in each (in their market) countries.
• Price policy also

Incentivized

I just recently lost my job after 16 years, and purposely sought out a position where I could continue to work with HCM. I am now in a similar role to what I was in before, and can continue the same type of work and enhancements that I did at my other company.

Oracle ERP cloud is a significant investment for our company. It will be an ongoing software cost and there's no looking back on that. Our users have become very accustomed to this tool that it is not practically feasible to rip them off from this system. So yes we will continue to renew the subscription going forward.

Incentivized

Where it's good: Epicor HCM at a high level has a straight-forward interface for navigating to the main content sections at either the employee or HR administrator level. The interfaces are consistent throughout the application, and after a brief learning curve, one can navigate through the remainder of the interface pages in any content area without too much difficulty. HCM also has great tools for making sure the analysis of data is available and accessible to non-programmer personnel. Where it struggles: One thing working against the usability of the HCM product is the overuse of the row-selection scheme for all many to many relationships. HCM uses a "select the row from the left frame" and then "enter data corresponding to this row in the right frame" scheme for most of its data entry components. One example of overuse is the employee address entry. During the first setup of an employee or during a candidate's application, HCM allows the user to specify multiple addresses. While this functionality is desired for long-term storage, an option doesn't exist to forgo this interface type for quick initial entry for the primary use case (one address per employee). This is one example, but is particularly visible when a candidate must also bridge the learning curve.

Incentivized

I like the program, but it is only as good as the initial implementation and the user support required after go-live. I don't think pre-implementation training needs to be too much of a focus, but once you're live, there needs to be an intense focus on working with users and providing high-quality resources to help.

Incentivized

The product was always available.

The application is used by big banks like HSBC is a testament to its reliability. I did not hear or experience any outages.Oracle is in the hosting business since long. In its previous avatar, it used to be called as Oracle on demand. So oracle has enough experience and expertise in hosting and managing customers applications in their datacenters. Oracle is the only major company which has platform as a service, database as a service and software as a service product offerings on the cloud.Hence customers can rely on Oracle as many major fortune 500 companies do.

Incentivized

The product performs well. As with any software there are bugs and system enhancements needed, but there are channels in place to let Epicor know what they are so they can add to future versions. Open Enrollment and Salary Planning can be a bit slow at times.

Cloud performance is something that they need to improve. Also it is not consistent. Sometimes for some users it is slow while for others it is fast. This is frustrating for users especially when they are in the middle of what they are doing. We communicated this to Oracle and they suggested to submit request for environment re-sizing. But again this we think should be a proactive effort from Oracle rather than relying on customers to reach out. This is something Oracle definitely needs to work on.

Incentivized

There have been a lot of issues with it at first, but we've been figuring a lot of them out on our own. Needing patches to the program though is something that I didn't expect to happen as often as it does.

Incentivized

Support is always providing step by step details to resolve any issue we encounter. If the issue is currently not a functionality or feature of the application they are supportive in offering guidance on submitting an enhancement request. Currently there is an enhancement that will be rolled out by Oracle that was designed for our organization.

Incentivized

We had someone from Epicor come on site to do training, and we "shared" our trainer with another company who was also doing the same major upgrade. It was nice to have another company there so we could ask each other (and the trainer) questions. This allowed for more meaningful discussions during training.

The inperson trainings from Oracle University are effective. The trainers have vast experience and teached thousands of students. In person training will make people sit in a class and do the exercises. One can also learn from other students, who come with different background, industry etc. In person training will be an immersive experience and helps learn more in a short period of time.

Incentivized

We bought online training subscription from Oracle University. The subscription allowed our team to learn the nuts and bolts of the application.The subscription model helps access to all the modules as opposed to buying training for one module. We also leveraged guided learning subscription from Oracle. Guided learning is a state of the art learning application from Oracle. It resides within the application and guides the users on each and every step. This is learning by doing and is very effective. Once you buy guided learning, oracle keeps updating it with the release of new functionality in the quarterly upgrades.

Incentivized

As stated earlier, you won't find all of the problems and things that you would like to improve on until you implement. After go-live, you then will have a long period of adjustment as you get the data and processes to work the way that you really want them to.

Incentivized

Try to use the system as true to generic form as possible and cut over quickly. Parallel implementation is not recommended. If the numbers are accurate and materially similar to prior period - cut over. A small accounting adjustment is much better than millions in project overruns or dual system maintenance.

Incentivized

Epicor pales in comparison to the HRIS and report building systems listed above. Unfortunately, Epicor was implemented prior to my joining the organization. From what I was told, Epicor was chosen because of its ability to be customizable to any industry. However, what we have learned is that this isn't the whole truth. While Epicor might be able to customize to your specific industry with creating certain data fields, it still cannot function properly to meet the needs of your respective industry. For example, my industry is education. There are numerous grant propasals that we send that require specific demographic information. Consequently, when we try to run a report in Epicor, that information is never captured with accuracy which makes sending these reports for grants a herculean task, especially when these donors question our data.

Incentivized

Oracle Cloud ERP is more flexible, more negotiable and has better breadth and support worldwide. Their reports are better and speed of implementation is faster. It stacks better since the company is larger, more stable, and has more research and development. There are more references to check with peers too.

Incentivized

Performance is not noticeably impacted by adding more users. Microsoft IIS and SQL are Epicor HCM's underlying technology and have proven reliability. In addition, IS staff are easy to find that know these technologies.

Orcle ERP Cloud transformed and stabilized in this past 2 years since it was implemented. We have past the auditor reviews and 24 month end closes and 8 quarter closes and 2 FY closes. Above all we do have SEC reporting with all this data. Having said that our ERP subscription is a worthy investment and highly reliable source of information for our organization's needs

Incentivized

• Epicor HCM had a positive impact on our ROI by matching the right employees to specific roles based on their set of skills and competencies.
• The tool positively impacted the performance and efficiencies throughout the different corporate departments.
• It could have a negative impact on user satisfaction when it comes to support and response time.

Incentivized

• A tool that has made us able to get much ROI by the bank account integration, management of cash, and controlling business unit.
• Project management is made easy with its module and tracking with the exact time and issuance makes it more convenient and compatible for the return.
• Automation in pay and expenses improve the company’s visibility in the market.

Incentivized