Open Source ERP Grows Up

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For Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to be accepted by IT, it
needs to be very stable and reliable — after all, in a very literal sense,
ERP software runs businesses.

After eight years of development and over a million downloads, the open source Compiere ERP has proven that it fits the bill for many.

Next week, Compiere is set to release a major update to its namesake ERP software as well as a reorganization of its commercial support offerings. All told, the effort amounts to a new push from the open source vendor to capture a bigger slice of the multi-billion dollar ERP market.

“Our mission is all about making ERP easier to evaluate and extend while making it available at a fraction of propriety offerings,” Compiere CEO Don Klaiss told InternetNews.com. “We do that by leveraging the disruptive economics of open source. Unlike other open source projects, we’re a real company with investors, management and support processes that are similar to large enterprise software vendors.”

Compiere version 3.0 will include over 150 updates. The most visible new feature is a new architecture that provides ERP capabilities through a Web interface.

“The new Web architecture is a key point as it does enable greater usability and lower cost of deployment and maintenance, because you don’t need to manage software on each desktop,” Klaiss said.

Version 3 also includes expanded returns management capabilities, such as facilities for RMA (Return Materials Authorization,) as well as a number of new financial reporting templates.

Currently, Compiere is available in four different support configurations: extended, standard, self-service and open source editions. Starting Dec. 4th, that also will change, with Compiere reducing its offerings to just three editions: Professional, Standard and Community (open source) editions.

Klaiss commented that the new versions should simplify Compiere’s offerings and make it less complex for enterprises to choose. The three versions differ in the amount of support they include for enterprise buyers.

The Compiere project began back in 1999, led by former Oracle and SAP
personnel. In 2006, Compiere raised $6 million in venture capital and started to expand its channel and support offerings.

When the Compiere project first started, it had no open source competition. Today, it competes with at least two other open source project. One of those, OpenBravo, is actually a fork of the Compiere project itself.

Klaiss said OpenBravo forked off the Compiere code base in 2002. Since then, they have evolved their product separately. An OpenBravo spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Another open source ERP contender is Xtuple, with its PostBooks offering.

This article was first published on InternetNews.com. To read the full article, click here.