Hi, this is Andy Camel of Idalica with another blog update.

As we turn the page on 2008 and begin a new year,  an increasing number of businesses are experiencing economic hardship and difficulty.  Countless businesses have gone under over the past year, and thousands of others are reeling due to the economic crisis.  In fact, one figure shows that in the banking industry alone, 19 banks collapsed over the course of 2008.

For those small to mid-size businesses that are fighting to remain successful, there appears to be a “Catch 22.”  Many are desperately in need of an ERP software package to help them manage their business more efficiently.  They realize that having an ERP system that will help them organize their warehouses, sales, vendors, and accounting is important.  But here comes the Catch 22.  They simply don’t have half a million dollars or more to get into an ERP package such as SAP or NetSuite.

That is why more and more companies are looking to do more with less, and that is why more and more companies are looking to Open Source ERP as the solution.  A recent article in Business Week magazine said “With the economy in a tailspin, companies once again are under pressure to cut IT costs.” In fact, one survey revealed that about 40% of the 1,841 corporate software purchasers said that they would spend less on software in the coming 90 days.  Business Week added, “The tightening of the purse strings is causing some companies to step up use of open-source software.  While open-source software is already widely used to help businesses run their servers and database management systems, its gaining wider acceptance in such areas as collaboration, customer relationship management, and supply chain management.” 

Some notable companies that are currently using open-source software are Office Depot, E*Trade, and the Los Angeles Times.  Interestingly, the LA Times noted that they were drawn to open-source software by the community of developers constantly working to improve it.  Being able to pick up the phone and call your software support team on the spot with problems or for assistance is one of the great benefits of open-source.  As the LA Times added, “we would not likely get the same kind of help from other companies using proprietary software.”

There is no doubt that in this economic crisis, the goal is to have our businesses succeed.  That is why Idalica is happy to be a leader and proponent in the use of open-source ERP software such as Adempiere and Compiere.  We would be happy to speak with you and customize a demo so that you can see for yourself how open-source would work for your business. 

Please come back to our blog next week for our Top Ten Reasons to consider open-source ERP software.

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