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By Paula BernierOpenERP Delivers Flexible BusinessApps to SMBsAfive-year-oldcompany called OpenERP is riding the wave of avariety of hot technological trends including ERP applications, opensource and software as a service.OpenERP caters to small and mediumbusinesses like Beija-Flor Jean, a SouthCarolina-based fashion outfit that suppliesBrazilian-made jeans to about 300boutiques in the U.S. Beija-Flor has seena 50 percent cost savings after adoptingan OpenERP solution.Beija-Flor is just one of OpenERP’smore than 500 customers – andOpenERP’s software sees more than1,000 downloads daily. The ERPcompany says companies of this sizeare starting to look for ERP suites toreplace Quickbooks and other homegrownsolutions, but they don’t havethe resources to go with a solutionfrom Oracle or SAP. That’s whereOpenERP comes in.Going with OpenERP offers customersmore flexibility to customize theirMore About OpenERP v6• Customers can start an ERPproject and see the benefits inonly a few months.• Users find needed informationin just a few clicks, improvingsoftware acceptance.• More than 100 featureshave been added, making v6very comprehensive and yetso simple.• Customers can start withone application and in justa few minutes add new applicationswhen they feel it’sright for them.Source: Accentureapplications and go from premisesbasedto SaaS-based solutions (andvice versa) than other systems, saysMarc Laporte, COO of the company.And he says the company’s solutions –which include ERP implementation,customization costs and consulting– are typically 40 to 60 percent lessexpensive than competitive offers. (Hesays OpenERP offers its solution for$39 per user per month vs. competitorswho tend to charge in the $100to $150 per user per month range. Fora 25-user company with an on-siteimplementation, he says OpenERPcharges $3,800 per year for a solutionwith a warranty, security alerts and amigration report.)These benefits and price points arepossible, he says, because OpenERP isbased on open source software, whichmeans no licensing costs, and becausethe company’s solutions are based onPYTHON, which is a new generationlanguage that is extremely flexible. Forexample, if a client wanted to add newfields, or change some of the workflows,or add some additional ERPwork, that addition would not requirehard coding, Laporte says.OpenERP last month launched Open-ERP v6, a major upgrade for its businessapplications, which include CRM,purchase management, manufacturing,warehouse management, project management,accounting, human resourcesand more. The software has been testedand improved by a global community ofopen source developers who contributedmore than 800 suggestions, enhancementsand fixes to the software.Marc LaPorteThree key things Laporte pointed outabout version 6 of the OpenERP solutionare its flexibility, its ability to bedeployed in both on premises and SaaSbasedimplementations, and its usability.To the first point, he says a customercould deploy logistics or CRM, for example,and customize the app to matchthe current need, and a few monthslater could implement with a few clicksadditional applications – and have all ofthe above be integrated. That means userscan start with what they want and geta return on their short-term investment,but still have the flexibility to expand theapps later as needed. “I believe that we’rethe only one that can do that,” he says.As mentioned earlier, the OpenERPsolution is now available both forSaaS-based and on-site scenarios.“And what is more important, youcan switch from one to another at anytime,” Laporte adds.GoTo:GoTo:30 INTERNET TELEPHONY ® February 2011 Table of Contents • Ad Index Subscribe FREE online at www.itmag.com