| Compiere - Linux-mag article
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25 Sep 04 |
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Like the heart and lungs, accounts payable and accounts receivable keep a
company pumping. Money goes out; raw materials come in. Products and
services go out; money comes in. If more money comes in than goes out, the
company prospers. At least that’s the theory — and the goal.
Of course, the devil’s in the details: there’s inventory to
manage, backorders to fulfill, outstanding invoices to collect, orders to
process, bills to pay, and customers to service. The goal of business may
be simple enough — but the business of running a business is anything
but.
Fortunately, computers are a natural for the back office, and software to
manage a business — called customer relationship management (CRM) and
enterprise resource management (ERP) software — has become a big
business in itself. SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, and Microsoft charge plenty of
beans for bean counting software. For example, Microsoft’s Great
Plains Software division charges $50,000 for a license, $100,000 for
implementation, and $20,000 a year for maintenance.
But just as Linux has provided a free alternative to proprietary operating
systems like Windows and Solaris, Compiere, this month’s
"Project of the Month," provides an open source alternative to
commercial CRM and ERP solutions. link
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