Trend Of Open Source Erp For Smes

By Author: Peter Filinovich
Total Articles: 552
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Various organizations have implemented Enterprise Resource Planning systems to gain a competitive edge in their business area. Mostly the big companies have opted for ERP to streamline their internal business processes. Now the focus is on the small and medium companies or SMEs. So far most of the SMEs have not been able to gain the benefits of Enterprise Resource Planning due to the heavy investment involved. ERP implementation requires a lot of time, effort, money and has high risks.

Now, the trend of open source ERP for SMEs has started which provides the SMEs to gain the benefits of ERP without the heavy investment earlier involved. Open source software is attracting the small and medium sized enterprises to implement ERP solutions for their business processes. It is becoming very popular with the SMEs because implementing it is relatively simple. The SME market is huge; therefore there is an increase in the demand for open source ERP for SMEs.

The various reasons why small and medium sized enterprises are going in for opens source ERP are the following:

1. Cost: Open source ERP software is free to ...
... download and install. The company does not have to pay the heavy software license fees as was the case in the traditional ERP system implementation. This makes ERP more approachable for the SMEs. Earlier SMEs were not able to afford the implementation of traditional ERP system. This ERP does not involve any license fees, module fees and maintenance fees.

2. Ease of implementation: Open source ERP are easy to implement as compared to the traditional ERP systems. The implementation is fast due to excellent architecture.

3. Flexibility: This ERP provides a platform for your business growth. It offers flexibility and scalability.

4. Independence: It provides with the source code thereby decreasing the dependence on the vendor. There is very little vendor interference and the vendor can be called only when necessary. The company is not tied up to a particular vendor.

5. Training: The training required after the implementation is relatively easy and minimal as compared to the closed source ERP.

Open source ERP for SMEs is the best fit for small and medium scale enterprises as it is free to use, easy to implement and it provides a wide range of functionalities that cover your business needs. It is possible now for the SMEs to go in for ERP implementation at an earlier stage. ERP like ERP5, Compiere and Fisterra are available in the market. The company has to do a study their business processes and chooses a package accordingly. There are a lot of benefits that an open source ERP for SMEs offers but it has its own disadvantages too. The small and medium sized enterprises should do a proper study before going in for open source ERP. Open source ERP systems are mostly targeted to enterprises whose needs are not covered by the standard software and also for organizations that require continuous adaptation of the software to the changing processes.

Read about Tally ERP Software Review. Also know about JD Edward ERP Software Review. Read about SAP Business One ERP Review.