Secured Live Access to Essential Business Data Using the Familiar and Powerful Capabilities of Microsoft Office Excel

Epicor Software Corporation, a leading provider of enterprise business software solutions for the midmarket and divisions of Global 1000 companies, today announced the release of Epicor XL Connect, the company’s latest business reporting and analytics solution that provides real-time, secured access to essential business data from Microsoft Office Excel. Epicor XL Connect is a simple yet powerful tool that makes it easy for end-users to create and refresh business reports and analyses in Excel to get the answers they need without the usual challenges of gathering and formatting source data.   

Epicor XL Connect – the latest Epicor Extend solution –– allows users to interact with live data via a spreadsheet. Featuring a live link to business data, a user’s view is always current and always accurate. Excel users will really benefit from Epicor XL Connect’s built-in functions and drag-and-drop analysis sets that already understand the underlying data. Immediate integration to business data allows users to create reports faster and easier, plus multi-dimensional drill-down functions help them explore the detailed data with just a few clicks without leaving Excel. With Epicor XL Connect, users can even leverage existing spreadsheets, but without the hassle of copy-and-paste or SQL queries.   

“We all know the flexibility and utility of Excel,” said Scott Hays, director of product marketing for Epicor. “Epicor XL Connect combines the power of real-time business data with Excel functions to deliver live, purpose-built reports and analyses that will quickly become an irreplaceable business tool.”

Epicor XL Connect is simple, yet powerful. Static, one-use reports or multiple versions of the same report are expensive to create and have temporary value. With Epicor XL Connect, users can refresh reports on their own, consolidate data from multiple databases, and maintain full control over the formatting and layout of the information.

“Epicor XL Connect gives users the ability to interact with business data through Microsoft Office,” said Gray Knowlton, Group Product Manager for Microsoft Office. “Using Microsoft technology, Epicor XL Connect will empower information workers to work smarter and faster with access to live data, plus the ability to run numbers and make adjustments without leaving Excel.”

"We recently saw a live demonstration of Epicor XL Connect and we are eager to deploy the solution," said Mandy Chan, Vice President of Financial Systems at Ion Media. “We like that Epicor XL Connect can dynamically link to our ERP data and pull it directly into Excel. Often we have to stitch together spreadsheets with various data elements. Epicor XL Connect is going to reduce time and effort for the users to get exactly what they need in exactly the right format to make quicker and better decisions."

Epicor XL Connect is an affordable solution that requires minimal training if users are already familiar with Excel. Epicor customers can install, train, and begin building reports in a few hours. Since Epicor XL Connect can leverage existing spreadsheets and complements other reporting tools, there is no cost or need to buy new hardware. 

“It’s all about delivering data where decision makers need it most,” said Hays. “I’ve seen lots of products that surface ERP data in Excel and nothing comes close to this for speed and day-in/day-out usability by accounting staff, line-level managers, and any executive that can enter a formula in Excel.”