Bista Solutions Inc. - Open Source Software - India
The use of Open source software is growing in the enterprises apart from India across the world for many best reasons such as businesses are reducing the cost and yes of course with the use of Open source software you have Independence on vendor selection for getting future. Remembered my previous posting of the Open source databases used by facebook and yes the recent one the advantage of using open source software for Justdial.
There are many open source tools available in the OSS toolkit that can be use for different enterprise and business requirement. Open source software give you independence of customizing and moulding the product in the manner you need apart from that you can create a complete enterprise solutions. Or mixed and match commercial software to meet your requirements. Open source software is already becoming the most efficient and powerful solutions for mission critical requirements of the business.
Bista Solutions Inc. - Open Source Applications
Source : www.bistasolutions.com
As I have discussed and emphasised always on the advantages of Open source software, Advantage of implementing vTiger CRM over other CRM software also OpenERP why you should select it? In my previous postings.
So this time it is not the product but a category as a whole on why you should use an Open source ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system. So here we go with some of the best reasons on making your first preference as Open source ERP during selection and during implementation.
Also I would like to put forward one more informative line that is any ERP system would consist of four costs.
Earlier many companies used to implement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) all over their system irrespective of the fact whether the same helps in all the functions or one particular function. This was considered as one of the main disadvantage of ERP system, because company has to purchase all the application even if most of them would not be using the same.
As we all know that Implementation of an ERP system is a very costly affair, here cost include both the risk also because 60% of implementation normally fails. Days are gone when you need to be onto the system to do a particular entry in the ERP system because today movement of people is on a higher. Previously it was only sales person who used to be on field for selling products and services for the company but today if you see other are also travelling and they might not be able to quickly respond to a request. Hence because of this reason Web based ERP help you to login into the system from any part of the world to move the request further.
This question I normally received from my clients in India that “A web based system requires internet connectivity” so to clarify the same it should be noted that a Web based system can be used with the help of Intranet within the organisation. Hence a web based ERP or any application helps especially during emergencies when the details are to be sourced with immediate effect.
Following are the Modules of OpenERP, there are other modules which can fit with various industries. This is just an outline, I would be covering each module with its own benefits and a screen shot to give you a better understanding. The main advantage of all these modules is that they are purely open source Modules.
Enterprise Modules
Sales
Purchase
Services Management
Invoicing
Point of Sales
Logistics
Warehouse Management
Shipping Management
Manufacturing
Quality & Repairs
Products and pricelists
Accounting & Finance
Accounting
Analytic Accounting
Budgets
Payments Management
Asset Management
Bank interfaces
Human Resources
Expenses
Skills Management
Holidays
Attendances
CRM & SRM
Customer Relationship Mgt.
Mail Gateway
Portals
Direct Marketing
Phone Calls
Project Management
Operational Management
Financial Management
Timesheets
Daily Productivity
Integrated DMS
Outlook/Thunderbird
Getting Things Done
Calendars
Efficient Communication
Wiki
Webmail
Dashboards
Alerts
Business Process Management
End-User Processes
Workflow Engine
Association Management
Membership
Events Organization
Fund Raising
IT Companies
Bug Tracker
Scrum Methodology
Fully Customizable
Report Designer
View Editor
Workflow Editor
Configurable Actions
Ergonomy
Web & Application Interfaces
Gantt & Calendars
Dynamic Graphs
Integrated Documentation
Flexible
Modules System
Web-Services
eCommerce
Integrated eCommerce
EDI
Business Intelligence
Olap Database
Cube Designer
Data Browser
Miscelleanous Tools
Networks
Ideas
Lunch
Voip
Do check out my coming post for better and in-depth understanding of each Module.
This question was raised in one of the most popular social media networking sites that whether Open Source Software (FOSS) are Friend or Foe. The questions was very much positively answers by most of them and also by the group of individuals in our organisation, not because we are exploring open source but considering many advantages of Open Source Software today.
As I earlier discussed in my posting that if software reduce the cost by provided free itself will not serve as an advantage for its positive points, also the same I have discussed previously that Open Source doesn't mean that the software is free. You might be well aware of the telecommunication schemes where they provide you mobile or handset free of cost but to use it you have to pay the bills. Same is the case with FOSS that it just reduces your software cost but you have to pay for maintenance, Customisation and so on.
Software or Application which is available with a help of certain clicks are obviously considered as friend today. But there are other things one should consider while understanding - Open Source as a whole for which understanding the differences between FOSS and Non-FOSS (Proprietary) will provide us with a better understanding for the same.
As my posting is not concentrating on Comparison with Proprietary software it’s only the Advantages and disadvantage on receive while implementing Open Source Software.
So what people say:-
Open Source is good because:
- It allows you to have an open thinking from a conglomeration of users/programmers that one could never assemble through employment
- You have nothing standing in the way of change - no standard operating procedures, no change management, etc
- You have no proprietary hooks in you that will cost you a lot of money to license
Open Source is bad because of the same reasons it is good:
- People feel that open source is bad because the versions sometime change too rapidly.
- No idea of how good the code is designed
- Sometime because of change there is no testing procedures to make out issues before the code is made public
But all the above disadvantages are depend on the kind of FOSS software you are selecting for the implementation. It is very much important to `see' through the various shades of the advantages and disadvantages of open source, and if possible try to analyze with quantitative methods if open source can be helpful in a given situation, or for a given user or company.
As in my prior post I discussed on the fundamental benefit of Open source Models is the first fact that open source software is made available complimentary or at a low cost. As I always answered many on Social Media that this characteristic is not exclusive to open source software, if you see History several proprietary software products are made available in similar ways (Microsoft's Internet Explorer).
So you might think that what is the unique ability which distinguishes open source software from Proprietary Software, yes the answers would be that there are certain characteristics discussed below which blend and produce a synergistic impact which is the cause of the real advantages of the open source model.
So let start with some more aspect on how do these characteristics turn into advantages:
Availability of Source code and Modification:
The most important characteristic of Open source software is that it provide with unlimited tuning and improvement of a software product. It also helps to port the code to new hardware to adapt it to dynamic conditions. Many Experts have concluded that to really extend the life of an application, Application should be available in source form.
If you check out history then you will find that no binary-only application 10 years old now survives in unmodified form, but several open source software systems from the 1980's are still used and many have adapted to new environments.
The availability of source code also helps in separating & fixing bugs.
Right to redistribute modifications and improvements to the code:
Also to reuse other open source code, this allow, all the advantages because of the modification of the software that can be shared by larger communities. This is the probable point that differentiates Opens source software. Redistribution rights cannot be revoked, and they are universal, is the point where substantial crowd of developers are involved to work around open source software projects.
Right to use the software in any way:
This blend with redistribution rights, if the software is useful enough many users help in building a market for support and customization of the software which attracts a large population of Developers to work in the project, Significantly the quality of the product improves with many inputs.
No one with the Power to restrict in a unilateral way how the software is used:
For eg: When a Proprietary software vendor decide not to upgrade some software product from some old platform, In this case there are two alternative for customer
Either stick to the old version of the software
Or
A shift to a new product.
In case of Open source software, customers can also fund some development for the desired platform, or look for other vendors to provide the upgrades of the same product.
No single entity on which future of the software depends:
This normally happens with proprietary software. for eg: I company "A" uses a software product which is reliable on the software manufacturer for up gradation and development and if the manufacturer closes doors, or decide to discontinue the development of the same then in this case no one has the right to take the program and continue the development on the same.
This has happened many times and this normally happens in the case of mergers, acquisitions and internal reconstruction in the software market, which leads to the cannibalization of some software product.
In case of Open source software it is always possible to fund another software group to continue the maintenance and improvement without legal & practical limitations.
No Mysteries:
Due to the source code availability there is a possibility to perform a thorough inspection and verify the correctness of the algorithm and the implementation scheme used. This is also possible in part even with closed source or nearly free licences. In fact the users are allowed to modify everything they find appropriate to suit their needs.
Possibility of creating an alternative code base:
If the current code bas is wrongly managed there are chances to manage other. Forks happen for technical or licence reasons, for example because a particular release is made under a non-free licence, the previous one is used as a base for succeeding free releases. Technical motivations are common, because there are sometimes many different way to perform a task, and it is not possible to decide which is better. So if the two camps cannot reach a consensus and the user base is large enough the code splits in two and both continue development. If the reasons for the split are overcome, usually the two camps agree on a reunification.
But the main point about "forking" (which create alternate code base) is that it introduces several levels of competition within the model. For instance, before forking, several programmers can work harder to keep everybody happy integrating as many well-engineered features as possible, to prevent a fork by people whose needs are not addressed. After a fork, both branches tend to compete for the user base with very similar products: only good quality and quick improvement can maintain them in the market.
Minimising the cost in case of modified version:
If any new modified version enters market then there are no chances of per copy fees, because it can be use with current code to start new projects, where the cost reduces. Also the freely modification allows to perfectly tailored the need accordingly.
Also the software doesn’t need many updates and service pack which reduce the the maintenance cost
Open-source software (OSS) are also know as Free & Open source Software (FOSS) the term is been coined as free but in fact it is not free, it just trim down the cost of the software which is the primary cost in purchasing any software.
It is said as open source because it is available with a source code form, for which the source code and certain other rights basically reserved for copyrights holders and are provided under a software license that allow users to study, change, and improve the software.
Open source licenses often meet the requirements of the Open Source Definition. Many open source software is available within the Public Domain.
Open source software is very often developed in a public, collaborative manner. The adoption of open-source software models has resulted in 45 % of savings on software cost.
Normally there are four kind of cost in deployment of any software.
The software cost.
The customization cost through Vendor
The support cost from the Company and
The support and AMC's from Vendor who implements it.
In the above 4 cost the highest cost is been covered by "The software cost", Here where Open source Software play the role of eliminating the biggest cost of providing the software free.
As we discussed that the FOSS is not Free as the last three cost is involved as Annual Maintenance Charges, Support etc. and others in purchasing any open source software.
