By 2017, Andrew Podner had decades of experience in the industrial distribution sphere, working for companies using Epicor Prophet 21. At the time, the company where he worked as COO provided an extensive range of services, from aerospace and defense to nuclear power plant requirements. Their team of Prophet 21 users dealt with light and heavy manufacturing, and constantly dealt with complicated testing material cert requirements.
Any solutions they onboarded had to work for both the system and the overall business goals. It wasn’t enough to approach the problems from either a pure business or a pure technology point of view. Over time, it became increasingly apparent that there was a lack of support in the market for the more nuanced, difficult problems unique to the Prophet 21 ERP system. That experience shaped his initial drive to create a company that would approach these problems holistically and help businesses get real, sustainable results.
“I’m not a big fan of hearing that can’t be done. So I just thought, well, let’s build a team of people that will actually do it while everyone else is telling us it can’t be done.” – Andrew Podner
What does Atlas offer to P21 users?
- Authenticity: Doing what’s best for the client, not just the bottom line
- Clarity: Honest, straightforward advice
- Results: A one-stop shop for all P21-related challenges
The biggest goal we have in the way we do business is to provide clarity.
Our prospective clients are guaranteed to get our honest take on any given issue. We’d rather any client or prospect get the best possible outcome, even if that means we don’t end up working for them. We want customers to know that we advocate for them staunchly and don’t just see everything as a sales opportunity.
“If you’re having an issue with P21, you call us. That’s it.”
We also strive to be a one-stop shop for everything related to Prophet 21. Companies using P21 shouldn’t have to endlessly search for specific help to call for every new problem they have. For us, if you’re having an issue on P21, you call us. That’s it. We’ll figure it out and get you taken care of, top to bottom.
Who does Atlas serve?
With very limited exceptions, our clients are all P21 license holders. We work directly for the companies using Prophet 21.
- Fasteners
- MRO & industrial distribution
- Healthcare
- Manufacturing
- Construction
- Oil & gas
- Welding & industrial gases
We want to be that staunch advocate for the people who are on P21, and having multiple third parties the middle of that usually muddies up the water. One of the great things about our team is the diversity we bring from backgrounds in such a wide variety of industry sectors.
Our team’s diverse backgrounds bring real-world experience to every client interaction.
These are people who have real experience in these industries. And it keeps these conversations from becoming theoretical discussions. We’ve been in these businesses; we understand what’s going on. We get it, and we can help you solve the problem in a very real way.
Inside Atlas: A Unique Workplace Culture
No “work version” of the team—just real people doing meaningful work in a place where they can be themselves.
In many of the places we’ve worked, there is an expectation that you’re one person at the office and somebody else when you’re at home with your family. It’s a mentally and emotionally exhausting cycle. So we wanted to build a culture where people could be themselves. Because a lot of stress melts away when you are able to show up as yourself, you’re a lot more productive, and you’re a lot more focused.
So we’re not putting on a show; what you see is what you get. We’re a T-shirt-wearing, Lego-building, Star Trek-loving group of people. And we understand that might not be everybody’s cup of tea, and we’re okay with that. But it’s great when we’re able to connect with our clients that share some of the same values as we show up authentically.
The other important thing is that the people on our team really care about each other. We have a strong focus on being a no-ego workplace. Everyone’s invested in the company being successful and being successful as a team. Our number one goal is culture fit and finding people who are bought into how we operate and who we are before they join the Atlas team.
And most clients can tell and appreciate that we’re not putting on a show or pretending to be something we aren’t.
The Atlas Advantage
“We understand the difference between talking about doing something and actually getting results.”
We create great tools and software and ideas. But at the end of the day, our team is made up of people you can count on when you need tangible results. They care and they understand the difference between talking about doing something and actually getting something done. Everyone here understands and is bought into the idea that we need to get the big things right. We work in the spaces for our customers that are their competitive advantage. And we take it seriously and execute on that accordingly.
“We’re the military, not the legislature.”
Our end product is usually not an idea or another meeting. It’s what we can do to achieve a concrete result. We can help you develop strategies and flesh out ideas, but at the end of the day, we want to deliver on it and ensure the investments you make are worthwhile for your company.
Defining Success
Our success isn’t measured in billable hours. It’s measured in impact.
“We want to know that our clients are better off after working with us than they were before.”
We’ve worked on many difficult, high-pressure projects for our clients over the years. It’s incredibly rewarding to enable a business to achieve what they weren’t able to previously. And it’s so important to know that we achieve those results without going against who we are as a company.
We have many long-term relationships with customers, sometimes to the extent that we almost become an extension of their business. And you can only do that when there’s a really healthy atmosphere that’s grounded in understanding and mutual respect. We understand where we belong and where we should be with each client. And that’s unique to every company we work with.
Atlas builds long-term relationships grounded in mutual respect. “That’s not an accident. That’s a partnership that lasts the ages.”
Recently, we had a scenario where the majority of the management team that we worked with at a specific company moved on over a period of time and migrated to a different company. And in a very short period of time, they brought Atlas back on to work with them in the new company.
It worked so well because we all knew each other and knew what to expect. There wasn’t any friction in trying to figure out the relationship. It meant a lot that the work we did was impactful enough in one place that when that same team went somewhere else, they immediately wanted to work with us again.
To us, that’s not accidental. At the end of the day, that’s a partnership that lasts the ages.
