I have had a recent email conversation with a gentleman about
OpenERP and its readiness for US-based small businesses. It's an excellent question, and one I am currently evaluating, and have been for a month or two.
OpenERP, if you do not know, is a modular-based ERP software solution that is more of a framework than most ERP solutions I have seen. It is built on
Postgres and
Python, two of my favorite things. The website touts over 300 modules that are available to plug into your OpenERP solution. It's
feature list is large and broad, to say the least, with modules for Document Management, Wiki, Portals, HR, Projects, and more.
I have downloaded and installed OpenERP on Windows and on Linux. There is a fat client and also a web client with equal functionality (as far as I have seen so far). There is also a SaaS version called
Odoo (http://odoo.com) that is very reasonably priced. Although the SaaS version does not let you install all the available modules, but it does
tell you why it is that way.
So, do I think it's ready for primetime in the US for small businesses? For the most part, I would say it is. The price tag of the software itself is unbeatable (free) and the modules and features are solid. Other packages will do other things better, but not at the price and perhaps not as integrated.
More to come as I keep learning it and evaluating.
