US-based software solutions provider Epicor Software Corporation today said it has joined hands with the Hinduja Group to re-enter the Indian market with the launch of its next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution Epicor 9.

Epicor is a global leader delivering business software solutions to the manufacturing, distribution, retail and services industries. The company entered the Indian market in 2006, but exited due to unfavourable market conditions.

"Epicor's next-generation ERP solution is now available here in India and is designed for the way people work today, in dynamic and fast-changing environments," Epicor Director (Product Marketing) Scott Hays told reporters here. "Our release is designed to enable customers to target these often competing mandates allowing them to focus on areas of opportunity, helping them to quickly realise tangible and sustainable results in their business on the road to recovery. Quite simply, we believe it is the right release for the right time in the market," he said. "We expect to add 25-30 customers across all verticals in the next two years," Epicor's Channel Director, India, Rishikesh Trivedi, said. .

Epicor 9 redefines the local enterprise business software market by offering an innovative and flexible solution that has been built on a technologically advanced infrastructure. Epicor's enterprise business solution is built on a second-generation service-oriented architecture (SOA), Epicor Internet Component Environment (ICE) 2.0.

The backbone of Epicor's next-generation ERP solutions, Epicor ICE, fuses Web 2.0 technologies with Epicor True SOA to deliver business architecture that offers new levels of flexibility, usability and agility in support of application-to-application integration and business-to-business collaboration. "We have joined hands with Epicor as we thought the company's innovative solution is very unique," Hinduja Automotive Executive Vice-Chairman, V Sumantran, said.

The company said Hinduja Group will help Epicor to manufacture and marketing its next-generation enterprise resource planning solution Epicor 9. Sumantran, however, declined to reveal any financial details.

Epicor 9 has been shipped to more than 2,100 businesses in 60 countries, including shipments to more than 900 new customers, the company said.