Meet Epicor’s Senior Vice President, Retail Product Development, Bill Wilson. Bill brings over 29 years of technology experience to the company and came to Epicor in May 2011 following the merger with Activant Solutions Inc., where he served as senior vice president, product development.

Q: Bill, what is your vision for the new Epicor?

A: We are lucky to have a very clear (and I think compelling) vision that we are already executing:  to be the leading global provider of industry-specific business applications that drive growth and profitability for our customers. From the product standpoint, this means protecting customers’ current product investments with long-term support, extending them with a steady stream of enhancements and new offerings and, over time, sharing and converging these great technology assets into true next-generation offerings. Because we have these incredibly rich and varied product lines today, it’s easy to forget that we’re still quite early in the overall evolution of ERP technology and have really just scratched the surface of how our customers will be able to transform their businesses using our products and services in the coming years. 

Q: What is most important in your role as SVP, Retail Product Development, that will help to achieve this vision?

A: It’s all about execution and innovation. We are very well-positioned, with a great group of knowledgeable, dedicated, long-term employees, a large, loyal set of customers, a global infrastructure, and exciting new technology. But we’re also a complex business with many new challenges. My role is to help make sure that we confront key issues and get tough decisions made in the right way – that we knock out barriers and obstacles to innovation, that product development remains deeply embedded with other groups and with our customers to help them solve their business problems, and that we don’t get derailed by missed commitments, quality issues, or lack of communication.  And in my spare time if I can help close a few deals – that’s always fun.

Q: What is the last book you read? 

A: Deliverance, by James Dickey. I saw the movie as a teenager, but didn’t really know about the book until my wife recommended it. It’s disturbing, but also a great read that tackles some of the “big questions” of man, nature and civilization in the guise of a ripping adventure tale. I still give the edge to No Country for Old Men (she doesn’t agree), but this is close.