Paul Piper schrieb:
[..]
> Here is what I think:
>
> · Is Apache OFBiz an eCommerce or an ERP System?
>
> Apache OFBiz is marketed as an eCommerce System, but the eCommerce App is a
> special purpose application. This doesn’t mean that it cannot be both, but
> if you are marketing Apache OFBiz as a big eCommerce System (competing with
> Hybris, Intershop and IBM Websphere on the market), then it should focus on
> that. Don’t get me wrong, the overall architecture underneath aims at being
> great for much more than the eCommerce App (clearly it is aiming to be used
> for all business processes), but I think here is where we fail to show
> Apache OFBiz at what it is. By losing focus on the eCommerce aspect of it
> all, we fail to market it as a whole.
Good point. But for me OFBiz is an ERP System (with a strong ecommerce
component). It started life as an ecommerce system AFAIK and that's
still the way it is most used until today.
I think the reason is that it's quite different to sell ecommerce or
ERP. Companies are very reluctant to switch ERPs (IIRC the average life
span of an ERP is more than 10 years in Germany) and one of the most
important selling points for ERP is security ("Nobody gets fired for
buying SAP"). That's the classical chicken egg problem for OFBiz,
I can't remember how many times I've been asked "But who is using the
accounting component in Germany?"
"ERP" is a huge market and I see a very bright future for Open Source
ERP and therefore for OFBiz (ok, I'm saying this for quite some time now...)
Christian
