ECI Software Solutions: ERP Products, Pricing & Which One Fits

ECI Software Solutions

ECI Software Solutions is not a single ERP system — it is a portfolio company that owns roughly a dozen separate business-management products, several of which compete for the same buyer. If a salesperson has quoted you "ECI", you are actually being quoted JobBOSS², M1, Deacom or Macola, and the differences between them matter far more than the shared logo. This guide explains what ECI software actually is, which product maps to which kind of manufacturer, which products are still sold to new customers, and how to work out which one — if any — fits you.

Updated July 2026

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What Is ECI Software Solutions?

ECI Software Solutions is a US software company, founded in 1999 and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, that sells cloud and on-premise ERP and business-management software to small and mid-sized businesses. Rather than one product, it operates a portfolio of micro-vertical brands — including JobBOSS², M1, Deacom and Macola — each aimed at a specific industry niche.

That portfolio strategy is the single most important thing to understand about ECI as a buyer. Most ERP vendors sell one platform and configure it per industry. ECI has instead acquired established products and kept them running under their own names, each with its own codebase, roadmap, support team and price list. ECI reports around 2,100 employees and roughly 250,000 users across the portfolio, spread over six sectors: manufacturing, residential construction, distribution, building supply, office technology and field service.

The practical consequence: "Is ECI any good?" is not an answerable question. JobBOSS² and Deacom are genuinely different systems built for different manufacturing modes, and a good experience with one tells you very little about the other. You are evaluating a product, not a vendor.

COMPANY INFORMATION:

Founded: 1999

Headquarters: Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Ownership: Private equity — co-controlled by funds advised by Apax Partners and Leonard Green & Partners since February 2025, with GIC as an additional investor. Individual stakes are not disclosed

Scale (per ECI): ~2,100 employees; ~250,000 users

Sectors served: Manufacturing · Residential construction · Distribution · Building supply · Office technology · Field service

Category: Multi-brand SMB ERP and business-management portfolio

The ECI Manufacturing ERP Portfolio: Which Product Is Which

Six ECI products carry an ERP label in manufacturing, and buyers routinely confuse them. This is what each one is built for, based on ECI's product positioning and each product's heritage:

The split that matters most is discrete versus process. Discrete manufacturing makes countable units from a bill of materials — parts, assemblies, machines. Process manufacturing mixes formulations in batches, where yield varies, units are weights and volumes, and lot traceability is a regulatory requirement rather than a nice-to-have. JobBOSS², M1, MAX and ProfitKey sit on the discrete side; Deacom sits firmly on the process side. Choosing across that line is the most expensive mistake available here, because no amount of configuration turns a discrete BOM engine into a formulation-and-yield engine.

Within discrete, the distinction is production style rather than industry. JobBOSS² is optimised for the quote-to-cash workflow of a shop that makes something different every week: estimate against a drawing, convert the won quote to a job, track true cost per operation. M1 is aimed at discrete manufacturers running more repeatable production, where scheduling and material planning matter more than per-job estimating.

That line is blurrier than it looks, and it is worth knowing before you take a demo. ECI positions M1 broadly — its own materials list job shops, machine shops, make-to-stock, repetitive and mixed-mode among M1's targets — so JobBOSS² and M1 genuinely compete for the same job-shop buyer. If both are put in front of you, make ECI justify the choice against your specific quoting and job-costing workflow rather than accepting the product the account team leads with.

Which ECI Products Are Legacy — And Why It Matters

Three of the six manufacturing products above — Macola, MAX and ProfitKey — are described on ECI's own product pages as being for existing customers. ECI's Macola page directs prospective buyers instead to JobBOSS² for job shops, M1 for discrete manufacturers, and Deacom for batch and process manufacturers.

This is worth stating plainly, because it is easy to miss and it changes the decision:

• If you are a new buyer, the live shortlist is JobBOSS², M1 or Deacom. Macola, MAX and ProfitKey are not products you should expect to be sold, regardless of what third-party comparison sites still list.
• If you are an existing Macola, MAX or ProfitKey customer, you are on a product that is supported but is no longer ECI's forward investment story. That does not mean it stops working, and it does not mean you must move this year. It does mean the roadmap question — what does this product get in the next three years, and what is the migration path when it ends — belongs in every renewal conversation you have.

Macola still attracts a steady stream of research traffic from people evaluating a product that is no longer sold to new customers. If you landed here searching for Macola, the useful question is probably not "should I buy Macola" but "what happens to my Macola system, and what would replacing it cost?"

ECI Software Solutions Pricing

ECI does not publish list pricing for any of its ERP products. Every product is quoted per customer based on user count, modules, deployment model and implementation scope, so the only reliable number is the one in your own quote.

A few things are consistent enough across the portfolio to plan around:

• Each product is priced separately. There is no "ECI pricing" — a JobBOSS² quote and a Deacom quote are built on different models, and being an existing ECI customer in one brand does not automatically get you preferential pricing in another.
• Licence is the smaller half. As with most SMB ERP, implementation, data migration and training routinely rival or exceed first-year software cost. Budget them as a separate line rather than a percentage afterthought — our ERP implementation cost breakdown sets out where the money actually goes.
• Deployment affects the shape, not just the size. Cloud subscriptions move cost from capital to operating expenditure and change the upgrade story; on-premise shifts it back and puts infrastructure on you.

We maintain per-product pricing detail where we have it: ECI M1 pricing, Deacom ERP pricing, and the legacy E2 lines now folded into JobBOSS² — E2 Shop System pricing and E2 Manufacturing System pricing.

How to Choose the Right ECI Product

Because ECI sells several products into overlapping markets, the selection work happens before you talk to a salesperson — not after. Work through these steps in order:

1. Establish your manufacturing mode first. Decide whether you are discrete (countable units from a BOM) or process (formulations, batches, variable yield). This single answer eliminates most of the portfolio immediately: process points to Deacom, discrete points to JobBOSS² or M1. If you genuinely do both, say so early — mixed-mode is where fit claims get stretched.
2. Within discrete, characterise your production style. If most jobs are one-off or made to order and estimating accuracy drives your margin, that is JobBOSS² territory. If you run repeat production and your pain is scheduling and material planning, that is closer to M1.
3. Check whether the product you are researching is still sold. If it is Macola, MAX or ProfitKey, you are looking at a product ECI positions for existing customers, and the conversation should be about roadmap and migration rather than new purchase.
4. Write requirements before you take a demo. A demo is designed to show a product at its best; a requirements list is designed to show where it is weakest. Build the list first, then make every vendor — ECI and non-ECI — respond to the same one.
5. Benchmark outside the portfolio. ECI's products compete with Global Shop Solutions, Epicor Kinetic and DELMIAworks in discrete, and with specialist food and beverage systems in process. Include at least one non-ECI option so you can price-test and fit-test the shortlist.
6. Ask the roadmap and support questions explicitly. In a multi-brand portfolio, ask which team maintains the product, what shipped in the last two releases, and what is committed for the next two. Get the answer in writing.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is ECI Software Solutions?

ECI Software Solutions is a Fort Worth, Texas software company founded in 1999 that sells ERP and business-management software to small and mid-sized businesses. It operates as a multi-brand portfolio rather than a single platform, owning products including JobBOSS², M1, Deacom, Macola, Bolt, Spruce and e-automate across manufacturing, construction, distribution, building supply, office technology and field service.

Who owns ECI Software Solutions?

ECI is privately held by private-equity investors. Funds advised by Apax Partners acquired ECI in 2017 from The Carlyle Group and Level Equity, with Carlyle retaining a minority position. In 2020, Leonard Green & Partners acquired a majority stake from Apax and Carlyle, with Apax retaining a minority position. In February 2025, Apax increased its stake to become a co-control owner alongside Leonard Green, with GIC making a new investment at the same time. ECI is not publicly traded, so it does not publish financial statements.

Is Macola still being sold?

ECI's own product pages describe Macola as being for existing customers, and its Macola page points prospective buyers to JobBOSS², M1 or Deacom instead. Existing Macola customers are still supported, but new buyers should expect to be directed to one of the actively sold products. If you run Macola today, treat roadmap and migration path as a standing renewal question.

What is the difference between JobBOSS² and ECI M1?

Both are discrete manufacturing ERP systems, but they target different production styles. JobBOSS² is built for job shops and make-to-order manufacturers, where the workflow starts with an estimate against a drawing and margin depends on quoting accurately and costing each job. M1 is aimed at discrete manufacturers running more repeatable production, where scheduling and material planning matter more than per-job estimating.

Is Deacom the same as the other ECI products?

No. Deacom is ECI's batch and process manufacturing ERP, built for food, chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers who work in formulations and batches with variable yield and strict lot traceability. The rest of ECI's manufacturing line is discrete. Deacom and JobBOSS² are not interchangeable, and the process-versus-discrete distinction should be settled before you compare them.

How much does ECI software cost?

ECI does not publish list pricing for its ERP products. Each product is quoted individually based on user count, modules, deployment and implementation scope, and each brand prices separately, so an ECI quote for one product tells you little about another. Budget implementation, data migration and training as a distinct line item — on SMB ERP projects these commonly rival first-year licence cost.

Is ECI a good ERP vendor?

That question cannot be answered at the vendor level, because ECI's products are separate systems with their own codebases, roadmaps and support teams. A strong review of Deacom says almost nothing about JobBOSS². Evaluate the specific product you would actually buy, against your own requirements, and compare it with at least one option from outside the portfolio.

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Related Resources

• JobBOSS² ERP — full guide to ECI's job-shop product, formerly JobBOSS and E2 Shop System
• Deacom ERP — ECI's batch and process manufacturing system
• ECI M1 Pricing — pricing detail on ECI's discrete manufacturing ERP
• Deacom ERP Pricing — what a Deacom project costs
• E2 Shop System Pricing — the legacy line now folded into JobBOSS²
• Discrete Manufacturing Software — the category JobBOSS², M1 and MAX sit in
• Process Manufacturing Software — the category Deacom sits in
• Global Shop Solutions — an alternative for order-driven manufacturers
• Epicor Kinetic — a broader-scope manufacturing ERP often shortlisted by shops planning to scale
• DELMIAworks — discrete and mixed-mode manufacturing ERP with built-in MES
• ERP Implementation Cost Breakdown — budgeting an SMB ERP project
• Compare ERP Systems — run ECI's products against alternatives on your own requirements