When it comes to office technology dealer clients, Laryssa Alexander can attest to one universal truth: once they have a solution that works for them, they’ll be a customer for life. And the president of the Field Service division at ECI Software Solutions appreciates and respects that long-term relationship commitment, and is making it her duty to ensure the software solutions provider continues to offer that level of constancy that brings peace of mind.
Take ECI’s longtime-favored OMD enterprise resource planning software. Alexander has customers who have been using it for 20-plus years (though the product is deep into its sunset phase). It has gradually given way to e-automate—which ECI acquired roughly six years ago—a platform many customers have used for upwards of 10 to 15 years.
“One of the things that sets ECI apart from other solutions providers is that we’re positioned for not only long-term growth, but also sustainment,” she said. “Most of our dealers invest in a solution and typically don’t want to move from it. They want assurances that we’re going to continue to be there and partner with them. So the investments we’re making are to show our commitment to the space, and demonstrate that we’re going to continue to bring solutions to them to help make their world better, drive their efficiencies and just continue to increase the value of what we offer.”
Field service is one of four vertical markets served by ECI, along with building and construction, distribution, and manufacturing. It’s one of the largest divisions within the company and has been a top-performer during the past five years. CEO Ron Books oversees a team of approximately 1,000 employees globally, with 16 offices in North America in addition to its Fort Worth, Texas, headquarters, plus three offices in Europe and another in Australia.
The Field Service division has witnessed a surge of newcomers via acquisition in the past few years. The software provider welcomed 2018 by tapping Canadian-based performer, PrintFleet Inc., a leader in data-driven device-management solutions. According to Alexander, most of the recent acquisitions are in response to a changing and maturing office technology industry.
Another pivotal addition saw ECI obtain Office Document Consulting (ODC), which specializes in sales-automation software and is known for its DOCassess product suite. When married with ECI’s e-automate, it yields an integrated proposal-generation tool that provides real-time visibility into the sales proposals and pipeline.
Finally, in late 2018, ECI acquired Calgary-based Print Audit, a provider of device and print management solutions including tools for MPS, device data collection and document management for both dealers and end users.
“Customers are increasingly searching for ways to not only improve their businesses but expand offerings,” she said. “We’ve been talking to them for the last couple of years about making sure that there’s some diversification included. Most of our dealers have very strong relationships with their customers, and we want to make sure that we’re helping them to get deeper into those existing accounts and find new offerings and solutions that they can sell to them. Growing our portfolio with PrintFleet, Print Audit and Office Document Consulting just helps us continue to deliver value to our customers in the office technology space, and also positions us for additional growth.”
One of ECI’s biggest initiatives is the recent release of the new integration between its Acsellerate CRM, e-automate ERP and QuickDeal software solutions. The result: field service organizations now have a single data source to simplify and streamline business operations. The upshot is that sales representatives are enabled to dedicate more of their focus on completing deals.
Information that was previously siloed in separate systems can now be easily leveraged in one location. ECI’s device management software solutions are now integrated with QuickDeal, providing a gateway to device data from PrintFleet or FMAudit to streamline proposal generation, reducing a process that once took hours to mere minutes.
Alexander notes the ODC acquisition was the key in turning QuickDeal into an end-to-end offering from a CRM perspective. “Now our dealers can use a CRM and have a TCO analysis tool paired to proposals, while leveraging the data in e-automate,” she said. “That’s our goal, to find ways they can use the information that’s already in there, make sure that we’re building tight integrations and ensure that it’s going through the right avenues. Now, as we make changes to the software and run new releases/updates, all of that is being maintained and supported by the ECI team.”
The value of the integrations may be as important as the solutions themselves in making it easier for the customer to leverage data they have across different platforms, providing added efficiency. Even beyond solutions under the ECI flag, the company works with OEMs, leasing companies and toner distributors to craft integrations that make life easier for users by automating and streamlining processes.
Earlier this year, ECI unveiled its new MobileTech app that streamlines the service-call-management process by giving techs real-time remote access to customer data, effectively allowing them to field and address service calls from any location. The app is integrated with the dealer’s e-automate ERP software, giving techs full view of the client’s customer profile, including equipment history. With GPS and chat functions, techs can search for parts and availability, map service calls and tech activity, and streamline their efforts remotely—enabling more call resolutions and happier customers.
“It’s all about making sure that we find ways to leverage all of the information that dealers have accumulated within their systems through the years—whether it’s e-automate or tools such as our device management solution—and finding ways to make that more accessible to them in a format that they can utilize for renewals or profitability analysis, or whatever it might be,” Alexander said. “We’re looking to build upon that and provide value in areas so they can make more informed decisions about business, which helps them become more competitive. Obviously, we know it’s a very competitive landscape right now.
“We’re looking for solutions that are more mobile friendly, and adding more improved analytics and data visualization offerings so they can have more insight. We’re also working towards geographic expansion, making sure that we’re able to leverage our solutions, which we believe are best in class from an office technology perspective, into other areas of the world.”
In addition to the QuickDeal/Acsellerate/e-automate integration and the MobileTech app, ECI will look to build upon device management to provide a best-in-breed solution.
Organization-wise, ECI has created centers of excellence across the business in marketing, technical support, customer experience and other areas that enable it to collaborate and leverage resources across the organization. One of its greatest strengths in serving the SMB market is ECI’s industry experience, with niche-specific solutions that have 15-20 years of proven reliability.
“We have 20 years in office technology, so we definitely understand our customers’ business challenges,” Alexander noted. “Many members of our team, from all areas of the business, have 10-plus years of experience working with our dealers. It provides a big advantage and differentiates us from the competiton.”
During the summer of 2017, ECI was infused with the financial wherewithal to proliferate and expand upon its product roster with cloud-based services when it was acquired via funds advised by Apax Partners. Alexander says that Apax has an extensive history of making acquisitions within the verticals ECI serves, and has been critical in helping the company drive both organic and inorganic growth.
Alexander notes that ECI’s focus has been assimilating the companies it acquired in the past few years while leveraging their teams and experience to marry their features together, thereby continuing to drive value for customers. The main focus is building on the value of the portfolio and continuing to streamline connections and solutions, while taking a holistic view to the needs of dealers.
Considering the bevy of changes in the past 24 months, complacency is not in ECI’s vocabulary. But the software giant pledges to be as constant as Polaris.
“We’ve had a lot of changes we’ve had to work through in the last 18 months, in bringing in new groups into the family,” she said. “That doesn’t take our eye off the ball—we’re all about delivering against the commitments and expectations.”
