Discussion Covers ERP Challenges and Opportunities

Karthik Chidambaram, founder and CEO of DCKAP, recently joined Lisa Pope, president of Epicor, on the "ERP Challenges and Opportunities" episode of the Electrical Wholesaling Executive Insights Podcast.

The podcast episode, hosted by Jim Lucy, Electrical Wholesaling's editor-in-chief, explores the world of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms. B2B businesses use ERP systems to simplify tasks, boost efficiency, and drive growth. Epicor is a leading provider of ERP systems, including Eclipse and Prophet 21. DCKAP Integrator provides ERP integration with multiple systems for streamlining processes, and its services division, Klizer, offers e-commerce implementation.

The show breaks down the trends in ERP and distribution: distributors are at a pivotal moment, with the need to adapt to emerging technologies and automation trends, or risk falling behind in an industry evolving rapidly post-pandemic.

Highlighted Topics

• Challenges in ERP System Integration: The podcast highlighted distributors' struggles to integrate systems. Electrical contractors' tech-savviness and order methods vary, emphasizing the need for distributors to ensure consistent, seamless interactions.
• Cloud-Based Solutions: The trend is growing with 70% of Epicor's new customers choosing cloud solutions, emphasizing user accessibility and rapid updates. Also discussed: the IDEA Connector's role as a central data hub.
• Emerging Tech & Distributor Evolution: Distributors are vetting technology, like blockchain and AI, valuing stable solutions over trends. With shifting supply chains and demand for intuitive experiences, the focus is on user experience, automation, and integration.

Epicor's Pope commented on the opportunity in the industry, "Right now, especially after COVID, distributors are at a strategic inflection point right now where the industry is dramatically changing. It's an era of automation with a lot of opportunity. If it takes you one hour to do something and if the same thing can be done in a minute, you're essentially saving an hour for your employee. If you're able to do that across hundreds of employees, then that is a lot of money," she said.

Chidambaram shared insights from his journey, "It's important to not just empower your customer; also empower your employees to provide a great experience. And that empowerment can happen only with seamless integration," he said.

Pope also recently participated in a podcast episode of DCKAP's Driven Podcast, hosted by Karthik Chidambaram, which offers a deep dive into the stories and insights of industry leaders. Recently honored by G2.com for its exemplary services, DCKAP has over 200 global employees.

Practice management visionary brings leadership and daily operational expertise to legal practice management growth company.

ZenCase, a leading developer of innovative legal software solutions, today announced the appointment of Olivia Mockel as its President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). Ms. Mockel brings a distinguished 15-year career as a multi-platform software CEO, marked by her exceptional ability to drive strategic growth, innovate product development, and foster outstanding customer success.

Ms. Mockel's impressive journey includes her tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of PCLaw | Time Matters, LLC. Under her leadership, the company experienced remarkable growth and development, with a strong focus on product enhancement and customer satisfaction. As COO, Olivia was pivotal in establishing the PCLaw | Time Matters joint venture with LexisNexis, overseeing post-merger integration plans and revitalizing digital engagement strategies. Her accomplishments in this role underscore her proficiency in driving organizational progress.

"We are pleased to welcome Ms. Mockel and are confident that her expertise and leadership will drive the company's continued success in the ever-evolving legal software industry, said TJ Fraser, CEO and Founder of ZenCase. "Her commitment to building collaborative company cultures and fostering talented teams aligns perfectly with ZenCase's core values and growth objectives."

"I am driven to help legal professionals become more efficient through innovative legal technology," said Ms. Mockel. "ZenCase is a platform that allows law firms with advanced workflows to move to the cloud to increase productivity and efficiency."

Before her tenure at PCLaw | Time Matters, Ms. Mockel served as the Vice President of Design & Automation and Customer Experience at LEAP Legal Software, where she led teams and initiated customer-focused programs. Olivia's international experience extends beyond North America as she worked at EY in Dubai, where she developed revenue-generating digital business services within the EY Growth Solutions portfolio for clients across the Middle East and North Africa. Her role included launching innovative services that added significant value to clients.

Teleo Capital announced today that it will merge Sharpen Technologies, a leading provider of cloud-based contact center software, and Plum Voice, a recognized leader in AI-powered voice-based customer interaction technology. This strategic move strengthens Sharpen's progress in building the Contact Center of Tomorrow.

With this acquisition, Sharpen will gain access to Plum Voice's innovative technology platform, expanding its capabilities in interactive voice response (IVR) and conversational AI, allowing businesses to communicate in a way that is efficient, responsive, controlled and compliant.  Plum Voice's robust suite of solutions, including voice automation, speech recognition, and omnichannel capabilities, will complement Sharpen's existing product portfolio.

"The merger with Plum Voice represents an exciting milestone in Sharpen's growth journey," said Charlie Newark-French, CEO of Sharpen. "We are thrilled to welcome Plum Voice's talented team and innovative technology into the Sharpen family. This partnership will enable us to offer even more powerful and seamless customer engagement solutions; and to continue delivering on our commitment to building the Contact Center of Tomorrow."

Plum Voice, founded in 2000, has built a strong reputation for delivering voice technology solutions that enhance customer engagement and streamline business processes. Their technology has been adopted by organizations across various industries to improve customer service, increase efficiency, and drive digital transformation.

"It is exciting that Plum Voice is joining forces with Sharpen" said Matt Ervin, Founder and CEO of Plum Voice. "Combining our AI-powered automation technology with Sharpen's customer engagement platform results in a comprehensive suite of solutions that empower businesses to create exceptional customer experiences."

This merger reflects Sharpen's ongoing investment to innovation and its dedication to meeting the evolving needs of its customers. Sharpen will continue to invest in product development and service excellence to ensure its clients receive the highest level of support and value.

Uptempo Launches Integrated Platform to Improve Marketing Visibility, Velocity and Agility

Uptempo, a leading provider of marketing planning software, today introduced a new platform that helps enterprise marketing organizations plan better, spend smarter and execute with confidence. This new offering combines capabilities from Allocadia, BrandMaker, and Hive9 to create a unified marketing system of record for campaign planning, marketing financial management and work management. Uptempo replaces disconnected and error-prone spreadsheets, PowerPoints and other point solutions with one platform that gives marketers unprecedented visibility into their plans, budgets, projects and performance.

"Uptempo has been critical to our effort to transform our marketing budget management from a painful process into one that is defined and consistent, giving us the agility to quickly re-allocate investments as needed," said Jaime Garza, Senior Manager of Marketing Operations at SolarWinds. "With Uptempo's campaign planning capabilities, we can further layer in campaign performance metrics for a clear picture of return on ad spend, cost per lead and channel performance. This helps ensure that the marketing plan supports our company objectives and delivers a return on marketing spend."

Now more than ever, enterprise marketers need to clearly communicate their plans with stakeholders across the enterprise, measure their impact and pivot plans when necessary. Uptempo enables this with:

• An activity planner that connects campaigns to strategies, projects, and budgets and keeps distributed marketing teams aligned around scheduled and in-market activities.
• A flexible planning hierarchy that reflects the complexities of enterprise marketing efforts across multiple buyers, geographies, products and currencies.
• Impact modeling that helps marketers visualize anticipated campaign performance to maximize sales impact and shift tactics to those that promise the greatest return.
• Comprehensive reporting and analytics so marketers can measure campaigns, investments and projects quickly and easily.
• Powerful workflow automation that reduces latency, manual effort and errors, accelerating time to market.
• Seamless integration with financial, sales, martech, performance management, and business analytics solutions to eliminate the painful, time-consuming effort to compare data across platforms.

"Today's announcement represents a big step forward in our mission to help marketing teams connect performance data to plans, measure outcomes, and be more agile in a fast-changing business environment," said Mirko Holzer, CEO at Uptempo. "It is the result of a great collaborative effort between our product teams and customers, and this new platform will allow us to continue to innovate much more quickly."

Users can more securely store and reuse their PII, while businesses can more holistically evaluate risk with dynamic signals

Persona today launched a new addition to its suite of identity solutions, "Reusable Personas". Leveraging Passkeys, the new release enables users to securely store their Personal Identity Information (PII) for reuse across any device or browser, without having to re-submit the same information. With Reusable Personas, businesses can also maintain and run additional step-up verifications based upon their existing checks, as well as silent usage-based signals stored on the Reusable Persona. Now, organizations can create a faster identity verification process for their customers — reducing onboarding time by up to 80% — while maintaining security, compliance standards, and mitigating risk.

"The concept of reusable identities has been around for a while. But to date, no reusable identity solution has succeeded in comprehensively addressing companies' ever-evolving risk and compliance requirements with end users' need for privacy and security," said Rick Song, CEO, Persona. "With Reusable Personas, companies now have a flexible, dynamic solution that frees them from having to accept a decision made only with the information stored on a reusable identity. They can automate requests for additional checks or decrease friction, based on risk signals. In turn, end users can finally experience the full benefits of reusable identities — stronger privacy, security, and utility — with Reusable Personas."  

Reusable Personas is built on Passkeys, a passwordless authentication method based on W3C and FIDO standards that not only allow for authentication across devices (mobile web, desktop) and operating systems without the need to install anything, but are also easier to use and harder to compromise than passwords or one-time codes that can be forgotten or stolen. Once users opt in to create a Reusable Persona, the PII they enter will be securely stored via Passkey, which Persona cannot access without user consent. This data can then be reused across Persona's growing network of customers, reducing friction for users while maintaining risk assurance for businesses.

Features of Reusable Personas:

• Universal compatibility: Can be used across integrations (i.e. web, mobile SDKs), operating systems (i.e. iOS, Windows), and browsers (i.e. Chromium, Safari)
• Holistic risk evaluation: Gain a more holistic picture of user risk across the Persona network with proprietary usage-based risk signals. For example, businesses can leverage risk signals such as when a Reusable Persona was created, how many times it had been verified successfully, and whether it has been used on the device before.
• Dynamic verification: Dynamically step-up friction based on a combination of usage and device-based risk signals. Any additional PII verified can be stored on the Reusable Persona.
• Privacy-first approach: User data will not be shared with companies without explicit consent given each time.

With Reusable Personas, businesses can keep their IDV processes dynamic as their customers' wants and needs shift over time. From supporting the day-to-day changes in a user's identity (addresses, phones, devices, etc.) to providing longer term risk signals on how they use their Reusable Persona, Persona helps businesses provide the best consumer experiences, while mitigating regulatory risk and keeping ever-evolving fraudsters out.

Arcion's connectors will simplify and accelerate ingesting data from enterprise databases to the Databricks Lakehouse Platform

Databricks, the Data and AI company, today announced it has agreed to acquire Arcion, a Databricks Ventures portfolio company that helps enterprises quickly and reliably replicate data across on-prem, cloud databases and data platforms. This will enable Databricks to provide native solutions to ingest data from various databases and SaaS applications into the Databricks Lakehouse Platform. The transaction is valued at over $100 million, inclusive of incentives.

Data Lakehouse Platforms have emerged as the de facto standard for enterprise data and AI platforms. However, these data platforms are only as valuable as the data in them. Ingesting data from existing databases and applications remains complicated, fragile, and costly. Troves of important data sit not only in transactional databases such as Oracle, MySQL, and Postgres, but also in SaaS applications such as Salesforce, SAP, and Workday. According to a recent MIT Technology Review Insights and Databricks survey of senior data and technology executives ("Laying the foundation for data- and AI-led growth"), businesses still suffer from many siloed systems; 34% have 10+ systems, and of the largest companies, more than 80% have 10+ systems to juggle.

This acquisition will enable Databricks to natively provide a scalable, easy-to-use, and cost-effective solution to ingest data from various enterprise data sources. Building on a scalable change data capture (CDC) engine, Arcion offers connectors for over 20 enterprise databases and data warehouses. The integration will simplify ingesting such data either continuously or on-demand into the lakehouse, fully integrated with the enterprise security, governance, and compliance capabilities of the Databricks platform.

"To build analytical dashboards, data applications, and AI models, data needs to be replicated from the systems of record like CRM, ERP, and enterprise apps to the Lakehouse," said Ali Ghodsi, Co-Founder and CEO at Databricks. "Arcion's highly reliable and easy-to-use solution will enable our customers to make that data available almost instantly for faster and more informed decision-making. Arcion will be a great asset to Databricks, and we are excited to welcome the team and work with them to further develop solutions to help our customers accelerate their data and AI journeys."

"Arcion's real-time, large-scale CDC data pipeline technology extends Databricks' market-leading ETL solution to include replication of operational data in real-time," said Gary Hagmueller, CEO of Arcion. "Databricks has been a great partner and investor in Arcion, and we are very excited to join forces to help companies simplify and accelerate their data and AI business momentum."

The expanded partnership extends seamless protection against all manner of chargebacks by integrating Signifyd with Payment Services for Adobe Commerce to power frictionless checkout, higher conversion and increased customer lifetime value

Signifyd is launching a new era of payment protection today by integrating its Commerce Protection Platform with Payment Services for Adobe Commerce. In doing so, Signifyd becomes an integrated fraud protection provider for Payment Services for Adobe Commerce.

The expansion of this partnership builds a broader, more robust network that provides the deeper insight into transaction intelligence needed to protect merchants from fraudulent orders and attacks. Siloed data has long been a hurdle for the multitude of payments players looking to have full visibility into the identity and intent behind online transactions. Merchants no longer have to face the unenviable choice of adding friction and barriers to checkout or leaving themselves vulnerable to costly fraud attacks.

Signifyd’s integration with Payment Services for Adobe Commerce is the latest acknowledgment that successful ecommerce leaders are embracing visionary innovation to optimize the payment layer from the beginning to the end of the digital buying journey.

The technical integration has opened a vast new data network which empowers Signifyd’s AI-powered decision model to provide optimum performance for Adobe Commerce merchants. The system’s precision allows Signifyd to offer a financial guarantee covering all chargebacks on approved orders, whether disputes arise from traditional payment fraud or from consumer complaints, including that a package never arrived or that an order was never placed.

“Adobe Commerce is known for providing merchants with the solutions they need to offer their customers best-in-class online experiences,” said Will Wyatt, Signifyd vice president, global partnerships & channel sales. “As a fraud-protection provider, Signifyd extends those best-in-class experiences to checkout and the payment process, lifting conversion for merchants while increasing their revenue and maximizing customer lifetime value.”

“A key tenet of Payment Services for Adobe Commerce is to provide the highest level of transaction intelligence, reporting and security to our clients,” said Jason Knell, Adobe’s senior director, commerce services GTM & content partnerships. “As a leader in merchant transaction protection, Signifyd’s expansive network and ability to provide the highest level in payment decision accuracy made them a top choice for our payment protection offerings.”

Payment Services for Adobe Commerce merchants will now benefit from Signifyd’s insight into more than 600 million digital wallets¹. That massive network means that when a shopper transacts on Signifyd’s Commerce Network, the fraud protection provider recognizes elements of the transaction 98% of the time. A Signifyd analysis found that those insights helped its top 600 customers realize a 5% to 9% increase in approved orders.

Identity Verification Leader Takes Consortium Approach with Strategic Partners to Eliminate Elusive First-Party Fraud and Help Save Financial Institutions and Merchants Billions

Socure, the leading provider of digital identity verification and fraud solutions, today introduced its first-party fraud solution, Sigma First-Party Fraud, powered by the concurrent launch of its First-Party Fraud Consortium (FPFC). The first-of-its-kind consortium is unifying companies to tackle the complicated, multi-industry issue of first-party fraud by pooling data and insights, which allow its partners to detect and prevent fraud before it takes hold.

Socure's front-row seat to the majority of new fintech and financial services application volume and its tight strategic relationships spanning over 1,800 customers, including 4 of the top 5 financial institutions, 9 of the top 12 card issuers, nearly every major consumer fintech, the largest BNPL provider, the largest HR/payroll service, the largest online gaming operator, the largest delivery marketplace and 4 of the top 5 state governments, puts the company in a unique position to successfully deliver the consortium-based, first-party fraud solution that the market and its partners are demanding.

The consortium's founding members include many of the nation's largest digital banks and fintechs, including SoFi, Green Dot, Varo, Ingo, Dave and Public, amongst others, totaling over 50 million active accounts across the consortium at launch. Additionally, the consortium is actively working with many of the category defining players to provide insights into account activity – both positive and elevated risk – to quickly add more than 200 million additional active accounts to the network making it the largest of its kind in the industry.

First-party fraud is committed by individuals who use their own identity to perpetrate dishonest acts for financial gain. The use of their own identities—with accurate credentials—makes first-party fraud much harder to prevent than identity fraud associated with stolen, manipulated or fabricated synthetic identities. These fraudsters are succeeding to the tune of billions of dollars, with annual first-party fraud losses in the U.S. alone totaling more than $100 billion, according to Socure's research.

Detecting and preventing first-party fraud requires rapid analysis of alternative data signals that aren't tracked in traditional credit reports to discern patterns of fraudulent, deceitful behavior over time and across multiple platforms. In fraud prevention, large data networks are essential, and the industry must work together to solve this rapidly growing problem.

"First-party fraud can be hard to spot and even seem accidental in many cases—which has invited fraudsters to take advantage of this confusion to the tune of billions of dollars each year," said Johnny Ayers, founder and CEO of Socure. "With over 40% of fraudsters planning to commit first-party fraud again less than 60 days after their first fraudulent event—and generally facing zero repercussions from law enforcement—it's no wonder we've seen overwhelming demand for the consortium solution like we are launching today. First-party fraud not only unnecessarily drives up costs of goods for the average consumer, but can also quickly escalate to involve money mules, many of which funnel money directly to larger criminal organizations. We designed the industry's first holistic first-party fraud solution with many of our strategic partners to break down data silos and bring together top industry players to thwart repeat first-party fraud abusers in their tracks."

On average, 45% of FPFC members have overlapping consumer bases, making collaborative data sharing all the more valuable to identify fraudulent behavioral patterns that may have otherwise been mistaken as legitimate if not for the identification of repeat first-party fraud abusers across providers. Socure's first-party fraud solution analyzes data from the FPFC in addition to risk indicators derived from the company's Socure Risk Insights Network—which sees feedback data from 1,800+ customers across the digital economy. Socure also draws on more than 400 databases of cross-industry ID data, totaling hundreds of millions of transactions across geographies and companies of all sizes to provide best-in-class identity matching across the Socure FPFC to stop fraud before it spreads.

"At SoFi, our core values are built on a foundation of safety and trust with integrity acting as the driving force behind all that we do," said Aaron James Webster, Chief Risk Officer, Global Head of Operations, and Latin America at SoFi. "Our decision to join Socure in founding the FPFC underscores these commitments as we take a critical step toward bridging an industry-wide gap by uniting critical non-credit data from leading financial institutions. Ultimately, the impact of these efforts will extend beyond minimizing identity fraud – the initiative will also improve the consumer experience by reducing friction and accelerating the next wave of identity safety across the industry."

By expanding industry-wide knowledge around how consumers behave across different financial ecosystems, the Socure FPFC will help financial institutions, merchants, investment platforms, gaming and sports betting, telcos and payment processors accurately identify first-party fraud risk at new account opening, time of transaction and during the dispute resolution process. In tandem with Socure's Sigma First-Party Fraud solution, customers can convert more trustworthy customers, reduce charge-offs and chargeback losses, eliminate manual processes and friction, speed onboarding, reduce customer abandonment, and enhance identity verification accuracy and trust throughout customer ecosystems.