HOUSTON BUSINESS REVIEW

COST-EFFECTIVE IT: COMPIERE
By Richard Sonnier

Houston Business Show Commentator Richard Sonnier, of the Information Technology Services firm Nimble Services, provides weekly information on our show about information technology issues. Mr. Sonnier can be reached at 281.445.4800 x 250 or via email.

Compiere ERP and CRM Compiere is an open source application for small and medium size enterprises. It provides core business functions of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The Compiere software supports:

· Marketing and Sales
· Field Service
· Production
· Inventory Control
· Procurement
· Distribution
· Human Resources
· Finance
· Accounting
· Sales Force Automation
· Call Management
· Self Service

Thus, Compiere provides the core business software suitable for most companies. It is free in that there is no charge to install and run the Compiere software for any number of users. You do have to have a database and a suitable server. Compiere runs on Windows or Linux servers and the ORACLE database. It is written in the Java programming language so it can be implemented on any computer that supports Java. Since Java is supported on nearly every type of computer, Compiere can be implemented on most computer systems.

Cost of Compiere

With a $2000 server and $1500 database you can implement Compiere for 10 users for around $3500.00. Recently, Compiere announced preliminary support for other databases like Sybase; and over the next few months you can expect to see Compiere available on one of the open source databases like MySQL. This will further lower its implementation cost.

Compiere Design

Nimble has been evaluating Compiere for over a year, and it has proven to be a very robust application. Unlike its expensive competitors, it is relatively easy to implement and get started with Compiere. Its design allows that everything can be changed and customized over time. Therefore, you can get started with it quickly in just a few days, but easily change it as you become familiar with Compiere and understand how to use it. Most commercial software packages require a big upfront implementation where you configure the software for your business, and it is relatively difficult to change things down the road.

Recommendation

Go to Compiere and check out the world's most popular open source application for business.