Posts Tagged ‘erp5’
Open Source ERP for E-Business
In this post a research on open source enterprise resource planning systems is published which has been conducted in spring 2007. Information and results may be outdated but I hope that reading this will give you food for thought.
Abstract
Open source software (OSS) is attributed with many advantages, prominently lower costs due to lacking license fees, increased flexibility due to free availability of source code and last but not least the missing lock-in with a certain software vendor. These general advantages are valuable for small and mid-sized enterprises (SME) since these companies have limited financial resources for either purchasing and customizing commercial software packages or developing software on their own. As the OSS paradigm is not only limited to operating and office applications, but also emerges in the area of enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), they have a growing relevance to business processes and the interorganizational integration of these processes. When the latter is conceived as electronic business the open nature of OSS also improves the networkability of SME, a key competitive factor for companies that are required to closely collaborate with value chain partners. In view of these developments, this paper presents a first step towards systematically analyzing the contribution of OS-ERP systems for SME. For this purpose a web content survey was conducted which led to the selection of ten systems. It reveals that not all systems meet the OS paradigm, that primarily basic operational ERP functionalities are covered and that technological support for electronic business integration needs to be enhanced.
Tags: adempiere, compiere, erp5, ofbiz, openbravo, openmfg, opentaps, sql-ledger, tinyerp, weberp
Open Source ERP and their Suitability for Business Use
In this post a research on open source enterprise resource planning systems is published which has been conducted in fall 2006. Information and results may be outdated but I hope that reading this will give you food for thought.
Abstract
Although open source systems are primarily discussed for operation systems, office applications and the like, early examples are also emerging for business applications. This field is usually referred to as enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) and has been the domain of large software manufacturers. This paper presents research in progress on the evaluation of seven open source enterprise resource planning systems. Based on an extensive web research, costs, ease of evaluation, diversity of languages and industry solutions, and support and training have been compared. The results indicate that many of these systems may be used by small and mid-sized enterprises. Support partners are available in Europe and sometimes worldwide which may accompany the implementation of the products.
Tags: compiere, erp5, openbravo, opentaps, sme, sql-ledger, tinyerp, weberp
How to identify Open Source ERP Systems for your enterprise
Open Source (OS) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have at least one “advantage” compared to commercial solutions: only few exist so a comparison is less complex. But where should you start looking for this kind of software? The Enterprise Open Source Directory is a good starting point but you should also search on Sourceforge.
Let’s do the latter as an exercise: when using “erp” as a search term more than 300 results come up. It is necessary to restrict our search. I suggest using the following criteria:
- The software project should at least be in “beta”. States like “planning” or “alpha” should be ignored.
- I assume you are a (native?) English speaker. So all projects with a non-English language could be dropped.
- Active development is a must. Let’s also drop all projects which have not published any download in the last year.
- Projects which do not have an own homepage can be considered immature. Keep away from them.
- Exclude all projects which are not ERP systems at all. This includes, for example, translation projects, add-ons and projects with another meaning of ERP than we have in mind.
At the end your result list has been reduced dramatically. Nevertheless there are still too many projects left:
- ADempiere
- CK-ERP
- Compiere
- Dolibarr
- EdgeERP
- ERP5
- ERPel
- JFire
- Neogia
- OpenBravo
- Opentaps
- PhreeBooks Accounting
- Plazma ERP+CRM
- PostBooks
- SQL-Ledger
- thERP
- TinyERP (now called OpenERP)
- webERP
This list is not exhaustive but should provide a good starting point for your own research.
For use in the enterprise you should also consider the following:
- What are your licensing needs? You should carefully look at the kind of license under which the software is distributed. There exist about ten well known and many more not so well known OS licenses – each with different restrictions on modification and redistribution of the software.
- Is the project backed by a company? This should be favoured over community-only projects.
- Is there an active network of support partners? Is a support partner available in your country?
- Do they offer dual licensing? This is most important if you would like to modify and sell the software.
- Which functionality do you need and how does the software match your requirements?
During my research time on OS ERP systems I have asked myself the same questions. All in all I can recommend six OS ERP systems for a closer look (starting from the top):
They all have proven to be usable for the enterprise. You can read their success stories at their websites. All of them should be of use for a (wholesale) distribution company, some of them also for production companies. But this depends on your requirements in view of functionality.
Take a look and let me know your opinion about them!
Tags: adempiere, compiere, erp5, openbravo, opentaps, postbooks, selection
