Tracy R Reed wrote:
Well-done ERP is nothing more than a *big* database with all of the
corporate data in it and small, specific programs which chew that data.
Open source does this every day. Look at sourceforge, slashdot, phpbb, etc.
Open source does this every day? I thought you said open source could
never crack the ERP market?
Careful. "Doing ERP" and "Cracking the ERP market" are two different
things.
Most businesses need "ERP" -- aka managing their important resources.
Few (or no) businesses need the "ERP market" -- aka "Prepackaged ERP
software" -- aka paying lots of money to Oracle, SAP, et al.
Open source is great for managing and tracking resources. It is also
good for analyzing that information.
Open source will not be good for creating a monolithic system which will
become part of the "ERP Market". Your example shows quite clearly that
people simply don't care. The software you mention is open source, has
a benefactor who is willing to *pay* to train people on it, and still
there is little to no interest.
The big problem with ERP is this--ERP is either an integral competitive
advantage or it is not. If my ERP system is an integral competitive
advantage, then I am giving that advantage away by hewing too closely to
a prepacked system. If my ERP system is not an integral competitive
advantage, I need my ERP system to require very few internal resources.
Using a weakly supported, poorly documented beast that has little
community buy in does not support either scenario.
-a
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