Epicor Named for 10th Consecutive Year in the 2024 Gartner® Hype Cycle™ for ERP

As the heartbeat of your business, ERP solutions help you take the pulse of key processes, as well as drive improvements and innovation.

Gartner Hype Cycles provide a graphic representation of the maturity and adoption of technologies and applications, and how they are potentially relevant to solving real business problems and exploiting new opportunities. Gartner Hype Cycle methodology gives you a view of how a technology or application will evolve over time, offering a sound source of insight to drive investment decisions within the context of your specific business goals.  

Epicor has been named a Sample Vendor for the 10^th consecutive year in 2024—with Epicor mentioned in ten different Hype Cycles.* The Hype Cycles paint a picture of the present and future perceived value of these new technologies, empowering consumers with the knowledge to navigate the complex landscape of ERP solutions effectively.

As illustrated in the graph below, Hype Cycles illustrate the trajectory and arc of tech innovation, from the first introduction to broad acceptance:

1. Technology Trigger: A breakthrough, public demonstration, product launch or other event generates significant media and industry interest.
2. Peak of Inflated Expectations: During this phase of overenthusiasm and unrealistic projections, a flurry of well-publicized activity by technology leaders results in some successes, but more failures, as the innovation is pushed to its limits.
3. Trough of Disillusionment: Because the innovation does not live up to its overinflated expectations, it rapidly becomes unfashionable. Media interest wanes, except for a few cautionary tales.
4. Slope of Enlightenment: Focused experimentation and solid hard work by an increasingly diverse range of organizations lead to a true understanding of the innovation’s applicability, risks and benefits. Commercial off-the-shelf methodologies and tools ease the development process.
5. Plateau of Productivity: The real-world benefits of the innovation are demonstrated and accepted. Tools and methodologies are increasingly stable as they enter their second and third generations. Growing numbers of organizations feel comfortable with the reduced level of risk; the rapid growth phase of adoption begins. Approximately 20% of the technology’s target audience has adopted or is adopting the technology as it enters this phase.

In this report, in the Hype Cycle for ERP and the Hype Cycle for Finance AI and Advanced Analytics reports. We feel this recognition illustrates how AI-enabled ERP and composable strategies can create opportunities, maximize resources, and drive value across the enterprise—helping businesses build efficiency and maintain their competitive edge.

The Insight Advantage

The effects of transformational technology extend across the sales cycle, as AI makes it possible to “converse” with your EPR data. For example, Generative AI (Gen AI) can answer immediate queries about things like last-quarter product sales and supplier performance, eliminating the need for extensive reports or chasing down answers from multiple sources.

Information Management

Similarly, because data is only as powerful as the solutions that manage and govern it, cloud adoption and GenAI drive innovation and turn insights into action—what we at Epicor call cognitive ERP. On a practical level, AI can forecast demand, optimize stock levels, and identify replacement products when something is out of stock. Emerging technologies are there to support existing processes, helping workers do more with greater accuracy, increased efficiency, and fewer menial tasks.

Preparing for What’s Next

By design, ERP technology occupies a vital place at the core of an organization—coordinating, building, and supporting mission-critical processes across business functions.

To make smart decisions about growing and scaling their enterprise, forward-looking leaders need to seek ERP systems that are grounded in solid practices, rooted in insight-driven industry knowledge, and designed to close efficiency gaps while opening up workforce potential.

Across the make, move, sell marketplace, emerging technologies are redefining processes and reshaping the future. Companies are poised on the precipice of growth and reinvention, excited but closely monitoring risk management, market trends, and cost efficiency.

We understand that the Gartner Hype Cycles reports help businesses get a wide, balanced view of this landscape, empowering them to discover the solutions that unlock the best version of their business.

*Gartner, Hype Cycle for ERP, 2024, Neha Ralhan, Denis Torii, Greg Leiter, Dixie John, 17 June 2024.

*Gartner, Hype Cycle for Finance AI and Advanced Analytics, 2024, Mark D. McDonald, 1 August 2024.

*Gartner, Hype Cycle for Revenue and Sales Technology, 2024, Guy Wood, Adnan Zijadic, Melissa Hilbert, Ilona Hansen, Varun Agarwal, 17 June 2024.

*Gartner, Hype Cycle for Digital Commerce, 2024, Sandy Shen, 8 July 2024.

*Gartner, Hype Cycle for Environmental Sustainability, 2024, Shanna Grafeld, Kristin Moyer, Lillian Oyen-Ustad, Gunjita Mundeja, Sarah Watt, 17 July 2024.

*Gartner, Hype Cycle for Data and Analytics Governance, 2024, Guido De Simoni, Andrew White, Saul Judah, 18 June 2024.

*Gartner, Hype Cycle for Data Management, 2024, Aaron Rosenbaum, 8 July 2024.

*Gartner, Hype Cycle for Banking Product and Service Innovation, 2024, Mary Yan, 30 July 2024.

*Gartner, Hype Cycle for Industry Cloud Platforms, 2024, Gregor Petri, Tarun Rohilla, and 2 more, 29 July 2024

*Gartner, Hype Cycle for Midsize Enterprises, 2024, Hemantika Malik, Mike Cisek, 9 September 2024

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and HYPE CYCLE is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Epicor.

Marco de Vries

VP, Product Marketing

Marco de Vries is a seasoned Product Marketing executive with 25 years of experience in strategy, go-to-market, and SaaS. Expert in supply chain and integration for diverse industries like Manufacturing and Healthcare.

Read More by Marco de Vries