In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s an epidemic going around. It’s caused (according to Wikipedia) by a “reassortment of several strains of influenza A virus subtype H1N1,” a virus also found in birds and swine, which explains why it’s called the swine flu. In addition to all the medical-related sites tracking breakouts of this disease around the globe, you’ve probably seen the mass coverage from Google, Facebook, Twitter (Twitterers are going crazy with this). Of course, the authorities on the issue, i.e., World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are also trying to post the latest news, but the “citizens” may be doing a better job of spreading the news.

WHO on Wednesday raised the pandemic alert to phase 5 (out of 6) and New Scientist magazine twittered that WHO Chief Margaret Chan “called for less hugging in response to #swineflu.” Certainly not an official statement, but it just goes to show how the news–along with the jokes and the panic–are spreading. No doubt, as great as social networking is at keeping us updated, it’s causing some people to either run out to deplete the local pharmacy’s stock of face masks, or just roll their eyes in skepticism.

This map of the United States shows the percentage of Facebook users in each region discussing ‘swine flu’ through Wall posts.

Epicor Software is one of those companies that, in hindsight, we probably haven’t covered often enough—we certainly don’t play favorites around here, but it’s not always clear why some firms make it onto the radar screen more often than others do.

Yesterday, though, Epicor publicly—and, to be honest, a little coldly—confirmed receipt of a $9.50-per-share offer from Elliott Associates, a roughly 20 percent premium over its previous closing price. So I’m reminded that there’s a massive, healthy, robust CRM industry out there, and we have to be vigilant in keeping tabs on it.

Irvine, Calif.–based Epicor has certainly paid its dues—founded in 1984, it’s been around longer than the CRM industry itself. (Click here to download the PDF of Epicor’s Fact Sheet from the company Web site.) According to the company’s press materials, Epicor was named one of Fortune magazine’s 100 Fastest-Growing Companies in 2006, and serves over 20,000 customers in more than 140 countries—but it isn’t simply a CRM provider; in fact, Epicor boasts of its “integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM) and professional service automation (PSA) software solutions,” and there’s no immediate sign of what share of its customer base is utilizing CRM.

But where has it been hiding? Eight years ago, for example, our longtime friend Chris Selland (who was at Yankee Group at the time) was quoted in our magazine [before my time; I'm just accessing archives] as saying that Epicor was one of the best-kept secrets in the CRM industry: “If it can get its marketing act together, the company has a great integrated front/back office offering for the mid-market and could finally present a real challenge to Pivotal and Onyx.” [More after the break.]

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