Two Microsoft partners team on sustainability software

This is one of those trends that I believe will dominate the enterprise resource planning segment (ERP) in months to come. Microsoft developer partners Epicor Software and Village Green Global are planning an integration that will see the Epicor ERP application get a module that will allow businesses to monitor corporate information for sustainability data.

Village Green Global provides software that identifies, analyzes, audits, manages, benchmarks and reports on both carbon emissions and energy consumption data -- a process known as enterprise carbon accounting. The deal calls for the Epicor software to be extended with these features.

Here's an observation from Matt Muldoon, vice president of product marketing for Epicor, that is part of the press release:

"Forward-looking businesses are embracing implementation of effective governance, risk and compliance (GRC) strategies to help control risk. Effective GRC management is a critical component in promoting sustainable business practices and vital to an organization's ability to track carbon emissions, manage energy consumption and ultimately maximize green waste savings."

To me, this another indication -- ala this recent report from Verdantix -- that the carbon and enterprise accounting segment will slowly but surely be subsumed by tools that are essentially to day-to-day operations.