There was a comment posted earlier in one of the posts to talk about open source ERP solutions for Pakistan. My take : Don’t even go there. Just forget about it. Pay the ca$h, use SAP, Oracle, Dynamics, or a locally developed bespoke solution. As it is, ERPs are prone to failure. An open source ERP implementation will fail in Pakistan today. And by ERP I don’t mean a small financials package. I mean financials, HR, manufacturing, and reporting and BI on top of that.
The thought process in a techie’s mind usually goes like this: 1. Linux is popular, 2. wont it be great if we can just download an open source solution on top of linux and implement that, it will be a great low cost solution. Let me go run to my boss and have him/her approve the “free erp” right away. Wait, stop right there. NO, it wont. It will be pain, shouting, screaming and then more pain. Save yourself, and more importantly, save others the pain and torture.
Open source is a great conversation topic, it also used to be a great research paper topic for school. The open source model for ERPs goes something like this : the company that -actually- built the solution offers implementation services for it, and provides (costly) customizations to the software. (http://www.compiere.com/)In Pakistan, this is the equivalent of a bespoke erp solution from a local software house. ERP solutions are -not- cheap and wont ever be, because the problems they solve are huge and have a wide-impact.
You can’t get away from the price tag, if you opt for the cheap way out, your ERP project will fail. Someone saying they can offer an implementation for less than SAP/Oracle/etc or Rs 600/hr should be looked on very suspiciously. Instead one should concentrate on which ERP package best fulfills your current organizational goals.
What about CRM? yes there you have a bit more choice and a slightly better track record..take a look at sugarcrm.com
Open source right now in Pakistan is about infrastructure…Operating systems, email, networks. It has not and will not make it to the enterprise applications arena in a big way soon. An open source is not free. Open source means you get the basic edition to try out free but if you want real value then you still pay for services and upgrades.
Popularity: 16% [?]
Liked the post? Stumble it!
December 12th, 2007 at 4:49 am
Well, I agree to the general stance of the post but I specifically disagree with these statements: “Open source is a great conversation topic, it also used to be a great research paper topic for school. The open source model for ERPs goes something like this : the company that -actually- built the solution offers implementation services for it, and provides (costly) customizations to the software.”
December 12th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
but what about it do you disagree with?
December 13th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Open source delivers compelling value in this segment. The first attraction of an open source ERP system to a business is undoubtedly its accessible and affordable curve of adoption. Customers can appraise open source ERP software for themselves, running demos on their live networks and applications in a controlled sandbox environment simply by downloading freely available software and documentation, and trying it out.
December 13th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
um, don’t you think a vendor that wants to sell its software, lets say Oracle or Sap Business One will demo the software to the client, even let them run a limited, supported pilot? thats how it gets sold in PK alot. The basic problem with enterprise apps is support. No one is going to put their 20 million dollars company onto an ERP that you can download and comes with no real support. (thats how open source licenses work..no support or warranty on software…)
December 14th, 2007 at 10:21 am
I’ll have to disagree here with you Mohtashim. You have the FOSS model all wrong. The idea is that you work with a company that will do the changes you need in the FOSS ERP and provide you with support. The software will be for free, you will only be charged for services.
This has been the route adapted by Sun Microsystems, MySQL, RedHat etc.
What you may want to point out is the approach you take to FOSS. Enterprises should take software which comes with support. The cost of the software is not the issue. If the ERP has a strong community, it will be a strong product over time. See Linux
December 14th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
sun, mysql, linux, redhat. ALL are infrastructure related…with hordes of techies supporting it. CAUSE its infrastructure ie IT. an ERP guy is usually a domain expert(financials,etc) more than a techie. why should he/she care about free erp software and the need to support it.
I agree community/users makes or breaks software but thats the point..there just arent enough open source ERP users. Name me one in Pakistan. or the Middle East. Open source ERPs are just not an option for companies here…
and why would anyone in their right minds make changes in undocumented, unsupported code that comes with no warranty?! unless they are the FOSS provider themselves and know the code. better to write your own…so you can support it reliably…
btw Nash; love the bytesense (http://bytesense.biz) website. whoever made that knows a thing or two about usability! awesome!
December 14th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
I agree that support is a significant when choosing an ERP. I think the best way to work with FOSS is to find a commercial service provider for that ERP.
On a related note, this blog entry by Sun CEO Jonathan is very insightful about CIO and CTO buying behavior, worth a read: http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/the_internet_as_customer
I’ll our graphic designer know that you liked the site
December 15th, 2007 at 12:23 am
hey thanks for the link. and ask your designer to submit this site onto epreo.com !
February 16th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
i am going to learn erp from skill developer.
and u confuse me, what i do
February 17th, 2008 at 6:24 am
faisal, i dont understand, are you saying you are going to learn ERPs from a skilled developer? (software developer) ?
March 11th, 2008 at 3:32 am
Just to share my knowledge about ERP softwares available free
TinyERP is also in the list
check out http://www.tinyerp.com
–
Farrukh Shahzad
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:08 pm
can a web based erp soloution (SAAS) be created out of tiny erp for the construction industry in pakistan
August 10th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
must visit http://www.creative-pakistan.com for Pakistani Designers