At one time, Oracle used to make a feature of "Top Ten Questions" for
prospective buyers to ask salesman of whoever they perceived as their
biggest competitor at the time. I wondered what a GNU Enterprise
equivalent might look like...
To be fair, I recognise many of the GNUe answers are aspirational
rather than as of time of writing (1st January 2002). However, as I
understand it, this is where we are aiming for. Comments/corrections/
feedback welcome.
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Top Ten Questions to ask your proprietary ERP salesman
======================================================
1. I'm paying how much and I'm not allowed to know how it works?
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Proprietary ERP vendors are unusual amongst proprietary software
vendors, in that they often allow you some access to some technical
documentation about the software (e.g. database schemas). However,
this information may be limited, and may be subject to non-disclosure
agreements and impractical constraints (e.g. required to keep paper
technical reference manuals under lock and key).
With GNU Enterprise, all the source code is freely available to you
under the GNU Public License (GPL). You can see what the system does,
and how it does it. You can use GNU Enterprise as a basis for writing
your own packages. You can either keep these for yourself, or share
them with others under the GPL.
You can, if required, prove system integrity to your Auditors by
examining the source code for backdoors and trojans, and compile it
from source. If you get your GNU Enterprise executables from a
reputable source (e.g. the GNU Enterprise website), this shouldn't be
a problem, but some highly secure organisations might require this
level of assurance.
Also, all the documentation for the system is available under the
GPL Documentation License. You can use GNU Enterprise documentation as
the basis for your own internal manuals, or put it on your intranet or
extranet, all without needing anyone's permission or paying any
additional fees.
2. Am I too small for your package?
-----------------------------------
Most proprietary ERP vendors target their offerings at large
enterprises. You might think that this is because only large
enterprises can truly benefit from ERP. The reality is that SMEs
(small to medium enterprises) can benefit just as much from a fully
integrated ERP system as their bigger brethren. The reason proprietary
ERP vendors target large enterprises is because they are the only ones
who can afford proprietary ERP vendors.
Some ERP vendors are now targeting SMEs with service offerings,
where you access the software over the internet for a monthly fee.
This is similar in principle to the ASP (Application Service Provider)
service that they offer as an option to larger enterprises. However,
this means that you do not control the hardware, or your business-
critical data.
GNU Enterprise is fully scalable in both directions. It is possible
for an SME to run GNU Enterprise on a single, normal desktop PC,
giving them the benefits of full, integrated, ERP. As the business
grows, so can the system, with the addition of further hardware
and network connectivity - but still the same software.
As larger business look towards closer supply chain integration with
their small and medium sized business partners, being able to support
the e-business standards your biggest customer uses could become a
critical business advantage.
3. What happens if my level of activity increases?
--------------------------------------------------
Many proprietary ERP vendors have moved away from user-based licensing,
in order to better fit the reality of web-based self-service, where
the number of users can be indeterminate. However, you will still be
licensed for the software on some sort of activity basis - number
of transactions or size of server(s) are common ones.
With GNU Enterprise, if your business doubles in size, it still won't
be cost-free. You will probably need more or new hardware, connectivity
and maybe some extra consultancy to get everything working together.
But the software license still costs the same (i.e. nothing) - after
all, it hasn't changed.
4. What standards do you support, and how are they licensed?
------------------------------------------------------------
Proprietary ERP vendors have started to take standards more seriously
over the past few years, mainly due to customer demand. Some
proprietary ERP systems now support multiple databases. Most
proprietary ERP systems are starting to support standards like XML for
information interchange.
GNU Enterprise has been designed from the start to support standards,
both current and future. Standards that are currently supported
include { $$$ }
GNU Enterprise also supports a wide range of databases, including free
software ones such as Postgresql and MySQL, "open source" ones such as
SAP-DB, and fully proprietary ones such as Oracle.
GNU Enterprise has also made a conscious decision to avoid depending on
standards which are proprietary, such as Java (owned by Sun). You can
use proprietary standards with GNU Enterprise if you want to, but there
will always be a non-proprietary equivalent.
5. How does this work with the stuff I already have?
----------------------------------------------------
Proprietary ERP vendors encourage you to see their system as an
"all or nothing" proposition. Some of them even charge license fees
as a single cost for all modules, regardless of which ones you intend
using, in an attempt to lock you in to the product. They may even use
the term "free" to describe this. It would be more accurate to
describe this as a sunk cost in license fees for proprietary
software.
GNU Enterprise is a much more heterogeneous business solution. As with
any ERP package, you will get the full benefits of end-to-end
integration in the easiest way by implementing as much of it as is
relevant to your enterprise. However, because of its commitment to
standards, you should find it much easier to integrate one part of GNU
Enterprise with other business systems. For example, you might want to
integrate GNU Supply Chain Management and CRM with your existing
proprietary finance package doing Accounts Receivable and General
Ledger.
In addition, GNU Enterprise includes GNUe Integrator, a tool
specifically designed to transfer data from and to the GNUe
environment. Unlike some other ERP vendor's interfaces, this works
using flexible XML definitions rather than pre-defined flat file
formats, and can work in real time as well as in batch.
6. What level of support will I get?
------------------------------------
Proprietary ERP vendors offer a limited range of support options.
These are usually geared towards larger enterprises, and priced
accordingly. You can usually only get your support from one source,
either the system supplier or their designated reseller (who may be
acting as first-line support for the system supplier). Poor support
is one of the most common criticisms enterprises have of their ERP
vendor. Although your vendor may offer "guaranteed" support response
speeds, you may find that it is difficult to enforce these without
jeopardising your overall relationship with them.
With GNU Enterprise, you can run without a support contract altogether
if you want to. You have access to the source code, and may have the
in-house skills to resolve any problems you run into. If bug fixes
are made to the official release, you can download them and apply them
yourself. You can also choose not to apply bug fixes that are not
relevant to you if you prefer.
However, most organisations will probably feel more comfortable paying
for a support package from a consultancy firm. You may want your
consultants to provide you with a wide range of services, including
hardware and networking support, as well as GNU Enterprise applications
support. You may need 24/7/365 access to a large, multi-skilled,
support team, and be prepared to pay accordingly. Or you may just need
a friendly voice at the end of a phone line or internet address on an
occasional basis. You pay for the level of support you need.
If your GNU Enterprise support is not up to scratch, get rid of them
and find another one.
7. What happens if I want to customise the package?
---------------------------------------------------
Proprietary ERP vendors are unusual amongst proprietary software
vendors, in that they often positively encourage you to customise the
application - usually by paying them to write a customisation for you.
Of course, you will never be aware if they have already written an
identical or similar package for another customer - it will always be
charged to you as if they had had to write it from scratch. You are
also then dependant on the vendor to check that the customisation
is compatible with any future upgrades.
To be fair, several vendors have now discovered some of the problems
involved in supporting customisations. Their response has been to
try to convince you to do without customisation altogether, and mould
your business processes to their software. It may well be, especially
if your organisation hasn't used an ERP package before, that your
business processes could do with an extensive review, and this should
be encouraged. But let's be clear - they want you to adopt different
business practices not because they are "best practice," but because
they fit their software.
GNU Enterprise offers an alternative way of providing customised
functionality, via the use of Templates. Templates are ways of
customising a module or modules, for example for a particular
industry. Templates can add or remove fields from the database,
add extra business rules to objects, or even add whole business
processes. But all in a way that is standardised, and which will
survive any future upgrades. You can apply existing templates, or
write your own, or modify those that other have written.
Templates also provide a way of providing internationalisation. With
a development team spread across different continents, GNU
Enterprise has been designed from the start as an internationally
aware product. It is not a U.S.-centric (or any other centric) product,
where specific functionality for other countries has been bolted on
afterwards.
Of course, if you want to customise GNU Enterprise by editing and
recompiling the source code, you can do so. For extensive
customisations, this may be the only way. However, you should look at
using templates first.
8. What happens if you go bust?
-------------------------------
Proprietary ERP vendors often have elaborate "escrow" arrangements,
which allow you access to the source code if they go out of business
or if other key "trigger" events happen.
With GNU Enterprise, you have the source code up front. If your GNU
Enterprise consultancy firm goes out of business, find another one, or
get the skills in-house to manage the product.
9. What happens if you get taken over?
--------------------------------------
It is not uncommon for proprietary ERP vendors to acquire other ERP
vendors. Sometimes this will be to "cherry-pick" bits of the
'intellectual property' of the target. Often, the real asset they are
buying is the customer base of the other vendor, who will find their
old system becoming unsupported, with varying degrees of pressure to
move onto the vendor's main package.
GNU Enterprise is not 'owned' by anyone. The copyright is held by the
Free Software Foundation, but this is just to allow them to uphold
the freedoms of all users under the GPL. If, hypothetically, every GNU
Enterprise consultancy firm went out of business, and everyone else
stopped using it, you still have everything you need (including the
source code) to continue supporting yourself.
10. What happens if we don't get on?
------------------------------------
Proprietary ERP vendors don't always sell their product direct. Your
salesman may be working for a "partner" of the ERP vendor. That
partner may have monopoly rights to your geographical area, or market
sector. If your relationship with the vendor or reseller breaks down,
you may have no choice but to ditch the system and move to another
vendor.
With GNU Enterprise, you are always in control. Subject to contract,
you can walk away from your current GNU Enterprise consultant or
consultancy firm, and either find another one, or get the skills
in-house to manage the product. What's more, your GNU Enterprise
consultant knows this as well. GNU Enterprise consultants stay in
business by providing a professional service to their customers, not
by (ab)using their monopoly power over your investment in "their"
system.
11. How often must I upgrade?
-----------------------------
Proprietary ERP vendors will often insist that you upgrade the
system on a regular basis. This may even be written into the contract.
Some ERP clients have been subject to several mandatory upgrades
over just a few years, from terminal ("green screen") products, to
client-server PC-based products then on again to web-based products,
with extra hardware costs each step of the way. Although upgrades may
be "free" (i.e. there is no additional license fee cost), there may be
additional consultancy costs in doing the upgrade. There will certainly
be internal costs and disruption. You may also have to re-train a
large number of end-users.
With GNU Enterprise, there are no mandatory upgrades. Both the core
GNU Enterprise developers and your GNU Enterprise consultants (if any)
would encourage you to update on a regular basis, and your GNU
Enterprise consultants might make upgrade assistance part of your
overall support arrangements with them. However, you are at liberty to
ignore this advice. You are the only one who can make the decision
about what is best for your enterprise, including balancing all the
internal and external costs.
Note that GNU Enterprise supports both two-tier (client-server) and
n-tier (client-applications server-database serve) architectures.
You can use the same application - even the same form - on different
types of client in the same installation. So you could have a mixture
of graphical PC-based users, web-based HTML users and old character
terminals all at the same time. (The only constraints are those of the
underlying hardware, e.g. you cannot display graphics on a character-
based device.) This flexibility removes a lot of the costs associated
with upgrades that also involve changes in architecture.
Also note that the license fee cost for an upgrade of GNU Enterprise
is the same as for the original software, i.e. free.
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That's actually 11 questions, but then you always get more than you
expect with free software ;-)