Firstly let me say that I hope that this is not considered an intrusive approach. Please feel free to contact me at: survey at trentend dot com if you wish to discuss any aspect of this with me.
I am undertaking academic research into the application of open source ERP systems into the small and medium enterprise. The intention is to consider the suitability of such systems, and compare them with similar proprietary systems. I am a proponent of Open Source business systems in general, and ERP in particular. I believe it has a substantial, and increasing, role to play in the enterprise, and I wish to explore and promote that view. I have prepared a short survey, which will hopefully provide a valuable insight into the perception and preparedness for Open Source systems to take on the more established proprietary systems. It would be of significant assistance to me, if as many people as possible would be able to take the very short time required to fill in this anonymous survey. Ultimately it is hoped the research will benefit the community, in return, by increased profile and increased formal recognition. The survey can be found at: http://trentend.com/phpESP/public/survey.php?name=OSERP or via the tiny url of: http://tinyurl.com/3dptnp The tiny url can be previewed at: http://preview.tinyurl.com/3dptnp Please feel free to circulate this request to anyone who may have an involvement with ERP systems, and who would be prepared to fill out the survey. The more respondents, the more valuable the information which can be drawn from it. The survey will run for approximately one week from this posting. Background ------------- Currently the author is involved in academic research, as part of a higher degree in Business Management, into the use of Open Source ERP systems in the enterprise. He is responsible for implementation and maintenance of a proprietary Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) system, which is licensed on a monthly cycle. It is the intention to replace this system with an Open Source Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in the mid to long term. The author is a proponent of Open Source in general, and Open Source ERP systems in particular. It is hoped that this research will provide some insight into the position of Open Source ERP's in the market place, and the perception of it's suitability. It is also hoped to raise the formal profile of ERP systems as serious tools in the Enterprise. This research can be made available to interested members of the community, as a .pdf file, after publication. Please apply to the author at survey at trentend dot com, and your email address will be retained, and a link to the completed paper distributed to those interested parties. This is the only purpose for which such email addresses would be used. The survey itself is anonymous, and does not require email validation. There is no need to provide any such details, if you prefer not to. Completing this survey will take you little time - it's seven simple questions, does not require you to write anything (the required elements are check box, or radio button, questions) - genuinely no more than five minutes of your time. It will be of an enormous assistance to me, and ultimately will ensure that your views are represented in the completed research. I hope you will consider this valuable contribution, an insignificant hardship. In the meantime, keep up the good work. Open Source business systems are held in very high regard, and are extremely valuable to those of us who believe organisations (particularly the small and medium sized enterprise) should remain free from limitations imposed by proprietary licensing. By completing this survey, you may help a wider audience consider the value of this approach, on a wider scale. Thanks again, Paul Chambers _______________________________________________ Tinyerp-users mailing list http://tiny.be/mailman/listinfo/tinyerp-users
