QuickStart 2 for Spain now available

As noted in this recent press release (in Spanish), QuickStart 2 is now available for Spain. 

This next generation of the proven QuickStart rapid implementation solution incorporates all of the latest Openbravo ERP advances, featuring deep professional localization for Spain out of the box, and inclusion of the new Advanced Payables & Receivables module and the Easy Extensible Attributes module. 

Advanced Payables and Receivables is a complete payment management system that provides an enhanced user experience, and fully automates and audits all payment and reconciliation processes--bringing ground-breaking simplicity and efficiency to finance.

Easy Extensible Attributes enables non-technical business analysts or consultants to easily add new tabs and fields to Openbravo application windows.

Companies in Spain are looking to save time and money now, while also increasing their business agility for the future. Openbravo Professional Edition, combined with QuickStart 2 for Spain, meets this challenge head on, providing an adaptable, web-based business management solution that can be implemented in weeks instead of months. 

Openbravo ERP Professional Edition updated for U.S. Market

The Openbravo development team has had a very productive summer, and the fruits of their labors have come together for U.S. companies in the form of 3 complementary initiatives, all of which are available at no cost to Openbravo ERP Professional Edition subscribers in the U.S.:

• QuickStart 2
• U.S. Professional Localization Pack
• Advanced Payables & Receivables Module

QuickStart 2 is the next generation of our rapid implementation solution that allows SMBs to go live with a standardized, pre-configured web-based ERP implementation in weeks instead of months--with full adaptability and scalability going forward.  See the recent press release  for details.

The first version of the U.S. Professional Localization Pack is now available in Openbravo Exchange.  Companies with U.S. operations will see faster deployments, more efficient operations, and lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) with this functionality.  Openbravo partners may sign onto the partner portal and follow this link to a recorded webinar with detailed information, in the "Must Know" section.

Finally, the new Advanced Payables and Receivables module (which is pre-bundled with QuickStart 2, but also available independently) has reached GA (Generally Available) status, after being in Controlled Release during the summer.  This "module" is actually a complete payment management system that provides an enhanced user experience, and fully automates and audits all payment and reconciliation processes.  The Openbravo Exchange listing is here.

The bottom line is that U.S. companies are increasingly looking for adaptable, web-based solutions that are cloud-ready and easy to deploy and operate.  Openbravo ERP Professional Edition, combined with QuickStart 2 and the U.S. Professional Localization Pack, is well-positioned to meet this demand!

Openbravo wins Infoworld Best of Open Source Bossie Award 2010

Infoworld just announced their 2010 Bossie Awards, and have again honored Openbravo with the Best of Open Source Awards 2010 (Bossie Award), in the Best Open Source Applications category. This is the third time we have been honored (2007, 2009, 2010). 

Other application winners include Pentaho, Talend, SugarCRM, and Alfresco--congratulations to this elite open source crew.

This year we're the only winner in the ERP category.  Per Infoworld, Openbravo is the leading Open Source ERP company!

Spain's World Cup Lessons for Business

Openbravo would like to congratulate Spain on a great World Cup victory.  It was well-deserved and a testament to the team's patience, stamina and skill.  They stayed  true to their philosophy, and did not waver from a proven strategy--even after an upset loss in the first match.


As a global company with origins in Spain, Openbravo is proud of this landmark achievement, and also the way it was achieved.  I think there is a lot that companies can learn from the hard work,  perseverance and interdependence of the Spanish players.  I also see many of the same underlying attributes in Openbravo’s team and extended  ecosystem, and I know that similar perseverance, execution, and faithfulness to our open source strategy will ultimately yield great results for Team Openbravo. 


¡Felicidades España!

Openbravo Forge achieves growth milestone: 10k Developers

I just noticed that Openbravo Forge, the collaborative development environment from Openbravo, has reached the 10 thousand developer mark!   When I last blogged about it in August 2009, Openbravo Forge had 6997 developers and 139 projects.  Now we are at 10000 developers, working together on over 300 ERP-related projects!

This steady growth demonstrates what an open source community can do when a best-in-class project like Openbravo ERP is paired with a robust collaboration tool like Openbravo Forge. 

Note that I am using the term "developer" in a general sense.   Developing world class web-based ERP solutions for SMB requires a wide range of talent.  So in addition to ERP application developers, Openbravo Forge users  include ERP functional experts, System Architects, QA analysts, User Experience experts, and people involved in documentation, language translation, localization, and more.   If you have an interest in ERP, check out Openbravo Forge to see what all of the excitement is about!  Hint: it may have a little bit to do with collaboration and innovation...  :)

Continued growth of Openbravo Exchange

We are pleased to announce that our friends from Datafashion  have just published a new developer-oriented module called the Interceptor Filter.  This module, which appears in Openbravo Exchange's growing Tools section, provides an easy way to intercept a user command, and attach custom logic to it without changing the core source code.

In related Openbravo Exchange news, the philosophy at Openbravo is to grow the Exchange organically and at high quality from the very beginning.  We want Openbravo Exchange to be a place that people can go to with confidence to find high quality, valuable extensions modules that they can easily install and combine to meet their unique needs.  To ensure that all Exchange modules install and uninstall correctly as we deliver monthly maintenance packs, we are testing all of them on a continuous integration basis per this defined process, which uses the Selenium toolset described in this recent recorded webinar.

So, if you don't find what you are looking for in Openbravo ERP, please remember to check out Openbravo Exchange.  New native Openbravo modules are being added all the time, and we are working hard to apply the latest technology and best-in-class processes to help assure high quality.

Openbravo expands Cloud support with native Ubuntu 9.10 package

As announced in this recent blog post, Openbravo has released a native Openbravo ERP package for Ubuntu 9.10, which brings an important new capability to Openbravo users: full support on the Amazon Cloud.    Here are the official AMI (Amazon Machine Image) IDs for Ubuntu 9.10.  If you are new to Amazon Web Services, Ubuntu's EC2 Starter's Guide will get you started with instructions on how to create an account and start and manage a new instance.

With the native Ubuntu 9.10 package, Openbravo is now providing another fully-supported, standard way to deploy to the cloud (in addition to our cloud appliance)--just start with the 9.10 AMI and install the Openbravo Ubuntu package, as usual.   This is an ideal option for customers of all sizes who appreciate the flexibility, security, and wide range of applications available for easy installation on Ubuntu Server, combined with the benefits of deploying Openbravo ERP on the public Amazon Cloud, which include:

• freedom from the cost and hassle of acquiring and managing your own physical hardware
• low monthly billing, with the ability to incrementally increase the computer resources you pay for, as you need them
• secure, browser access to Openbravo ERP from anywhere in the world
• ability to achieve efficient, off-site backup

WIth Openbravo' Ubuntu 9.10 package, larger organizations and SaaS providers seeking to deploy Openbravo ERP  on a private cloud behind their own firewall can do so with the Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud--which is compatible with the Amazon public cloud, enabling easy migration and the ability to "burst" to the public cloud during peak periods as needed.

Cloud computing is growing steadily, and recent surveys suggest that further acceleration in cloud adoption is on the horizon.  Cloud computing, Ubuntu, and Openbravo ERP are all now past the "early adopter" stage, and together provide an ideal combination for many SMBs.  Openbravo customers are increasingly deploying on the cloud, and we at Openbravo use the Amazon EC2 Cloud extensively in our own IT infrastructure.  We have extensive real world experience with it, and can attest to the benefits.  Now is a great time to get started with Openbravo ERP, Ubuntu, and the Amazon Cloud!

Launch of Openbravo Exchange: the ERP Marketplace

I have written in the past about Openbravo Forge, Openbravo's collaborative development environment, and now I'm pleased to announce the launch of Openbravo Exchange--the place to go for information about extension modules that are "ready for prime time". If the Forge is the sausage factory, then the Exchange is the delicatessen, featuring a series of "ready-to-use" software packages that are catalogued and described with the end user in mind. :)

Here are the top things to know about Openbravo Exchange:

• Openbravo business partners now have an official, high-profile web site they can leverage to promote and monetize their Openbravo commercial extension modules and templates
• All business partners are allowed evaluation-only access to all Exchange modules (so they can sell them on the author's behalf, and get a sales commission of course)
• As an author, you don't have to worry about invoicing and collecting money--we do that, and you collect periodic author royalty payments!
• Good zero-cost open source modules from anyone are also welcome, of course (nice way to get your name out there)
• We are starting with a self-certification model, here are the certification criteria
• You ain't seen nothin' yet! (this is just version 1.0, stay tuned for a more dynamic Exchange with reviews, ratings, etc.)

If you are a business partner with Openbravo-based commercial software to sell through our channel, here are the steps to package and sell it. If you are a business partner implementing solutions for your clients, check Openbravo Exchange before proposing to close functional gaps with a custom project--what your customer needs may already be available off-the-shelf, as a fully-tested package! If you are new to Openbravo and interested in leveraging your development skills, the Openbravo ERP Developer's Guide is the place to start.

Here is the official press release, which features the Hotel Management System from Bonsai Consulting--best of luck to you with this module, Ravi. And happy developing and selling to all in the Openbravo community in 2010, as we unleash the business of modularity!