I'm a relative newcomer to ofbiz and while I would say that ofbiz is a daunting app, I think you have to look well into the future before you decide to take it on. In 4 months I've spent at least $20,000 and the customization for my busiess is just beginning. My goal is that in 5 years time, I will still be using ofbiz and it will be able to scale with my growth. There were many things that frustrated me about ofbiz but none that could compare with me being 5 years down the road and being locked into a closed source system.
I would say one thing to anyone considering ofbiz. Just because its free does not mean its free! Good luck with PDG. David E Jones wrote: > > > Phil, > > Thanks for writing. I'm not sure I understood the idea you were trying to > communicate, so let me re-phrase it back to you: > > It sounds like you're saying that OFBiz didn't fit your requirements well > and the complexity and scope seems better suited to businesses larger than > yours, or maybe more accurately, businesses with more complex and wider > scoped software needs than what your business has. > > Does that sound about like what you were trying to say? > > If so I can totally understand that, and I totally agree with you. OFBiz > is really not meant to be a system used OOTB by small businesses. We have > tried to communicate this clearly with text front and center and on the > OFBiz home page (http://ofbiz.apache.org) under the "Introduction: What is > Apache OFBiz?" heading. > > There is a good chance the text there doesn't clearly represent that. Do > you have any ideas about how we could better communicate this? > > -David > > > Philip Garrow wrote: >> Hi David: >> >> I tried to post the following message to the list and it bounced saying >> that >> it looked like spam to the list filters. I don't know what I am doing >> wrong; I felt that someone should read this sentiment. >> >> Regards, Phil Garrow >> >> >> RE: Help with Ofbiz >> >> Hi: >> >> I too was excited about Ofbiz when I found out about it. I was searching >> for a web based solution on which to run my business and I thought I >> found >> it. It turns out that what I found was unuseably complex, although >> promising. I then sought a programmer to help me customize Ofbiz as >> needed. >> I, like you, balked at a price tag of nearly $30,000.00 to do the work >> needed. I then thought that I would put in the time needed to learn >> Ofbiz >> to be able to program the back end of my site... and to allow me to earn >> those high consulting fees. I completed a computer science degree ten >> years >> ago and spent a year and a half updating my skills learning Object >> Oriented >> Programming in Java in 2003. Even with this, I was unable to make any >> progress trying to work through David Jones's tutorial. So I posted to >> the >> Ofbiz list for help getting starting with Ofbiz and got no replies... >> nothing... I spent a month reading about Ofbiz, struggling to get >> started, >> and then decided that my time was really better spent running my business >> rather than put any more time in to this marginally supported framework. >> I >> sought and found a commercial solution and for less than a third of the >> cost >> of customizing Ofbiz, and providing almost everything I needed. It is my >> opinion that until Ofbiz can do what is needed to soften the steep >> start-up >> curve it will remain just a set of back-end libraries for a small number >> of >> programmers, not a useful tool for small businesses. Kind of like a >> phrase >> book for those who study Sanskrit, not fulfilling the promise of making >> open-source software accessible to the masses. Good luck with Ofbiz. If >> you are interested in the solution that I found then check out PDG >> Commerce. >> I don't make a nickel on that suggestion. >> >> Just my $0.02 Phil Garrow >> >> >> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: EPaulson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>> Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2007 5:20 AM >>> To: [email protected] >>> Subject: Help with Ofbiz >>> >>> >>> I am new to Ofbiz as a user. A few months ago I was fortunate enough >>> to have a friend install and configure Ofbiz for my business. I >>> switched my entire >>> operation over to the Ofbiz framework out of sheer optimism/excitement >>> for >>> the powerful potention it offers. I have spent countless hours over the >>> past >>> few years with toying with different OOTB eCommerce solutions...only to >>> find >>> that there was always some annoying limitation with each and every one >>> of >>> them. Ofbiz, I thought, was going to be the solution I had been looking >>> for >>> the past several years. Finally...I can have EXACTLY what I need to >>> operate >>> my business the way I envision. Now the dilemma.... >>> >>> I am not sure if it's the version I am running OR if it's a >>> configuration issue, but a healthy chunk of Ofbiz features do not >>> function on my site. To just name one...content management. I cannot >>> add alt tags, policy pages,etc. >>> >>> Now, my friend is too busy to work on my site regardless of an hourly >>> fee. >>> >>> The seemingly few of dev. familiar with OFB are also too busy. >>> >>> Documentation/training videos are too advanced for me unfortunately. >>> I am willing to put in the time to learn, but I fear that it would >>> take years for me to get where I need to be in order to customize OFB >>> for my business...AND >>> I don't even know where to begin. >>> >>> It's frustrating to be dependant on others that have the necessary >>> knowledge to help you, BUT they are too busy unless I can un-ass $30K >>> on up to become >>> a top-level project myself. Please understand, I have the utmost >>> respect >>> for anyone that has the knowledge/background necessary to be able to >>> navigate through development/implemention of Ofb AND I completely >>> understand >>> that small business owners like myself cannot expect the same attention >>> as >>> companies with big budgets. It's unreasonable for me to expect the >>> luxury >>> of >>> a tailor-made ERP solution without paying what it's worth. >>> >>> 1) Is there anyone that has the time AND is willing to spend one-two >>> hours per week consulting me on Ofbiz via phone/email/livechat,etc.? >>> (walk me through the process of setup/config. and customization from >>> time to time. >>> >>> If YES or if you have some positive suggestions than please email me >>> directly with rates/availability. I would like to delete this post >>> soon, so please do not respond with a post. >>> >>> Thank you for taking the time to read this post. >>> -- >> >> No virus found in this outgoing message. >> Checked by AVG Free Edition. >> Version: 7.5.484 / Virus Database: 269.11.19/956 - Release Date: >> 8/16/2007 >> 9:48 AM >> >> > > -- View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/Re%3A-Something-I-tried-to-post-to-the-list...-tf4282706.html#a12192025 Sent from the OFBiz - User mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
