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Enterprise Resource Planning
Is Open Source the ERP Cure-All?
5/1/2008
If It Ain't Broke…
Sometimes, the press goes overboard pitting open source solutions against traditional closed source applications. While the popularity of open source continues to grow, sales of traditional applications also continue to accelerate.
Consider the situation for Oracle customers. In March, the Oracle Higher Education User Group assembled in Las Vegas to discuss the evolution of ERP within university environments. The event attracted more than 5,000 attendees, notes Thomas Scott, past president of the HEUG board and a senior ERP strategist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Scott notes that HEUG now has roughly 18,000 members.
Eeny Meeny Miny...
Three options now dominate ERP application discussions. Here's your rundown.
- Traditional on-premises applications. Oracle, SAP, and SunGard continue to attract new customers, especially as universities seek to standardize on fewer providers to reduce redundant costs and establish clear relationships with preferred application providers.
- Hosted applications. The software as a service (SaaS) model means that instead of forking over sizable investments to own ERP software, universities pay predictable monthly fees to access hosted ERP systems. Some institutions, such as Drexel University (PA), actually host ERP applications for partner universities and colleges. The hosted applications can be closed source (such as Oracle) or open source (such as SugarCRM).
- Open source applications. Software companies such as Openbravo now promote open source ERP solutions to universities, and major nonprofit organizations also are developing open source ERP systems. The most notable is Kuali, which is backed by more than 20 leading universities.
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