As you might know, Openbravo ERP has been commercially available for cloud deployment since early 2008. Openbravo Professional Subscription has offered an appliance than can be deployed on any popular virtual cloud and notably on Amazon Elastic Computing Cloud (aka Amazon EC2).

We have used this capability extensively both with clients and internally for a long time, with awesome results:

Some weeks ago, we announced the availability of Openbravo SMB Network 2.40, the professional subscription service for Openbravo ERP 2.40.

Openbravo SMB Network 2.40 is now the recommended choice for SMEs who want to deploy Openbravo ERP for production use.

Compared with the previous release, Openbravo ERP 2.40 provides:

• Improvements in the user interface for better productivity, including full keyboard navigation and better visual feedback in the user interface
• Better support for international deployments with better support for multi-schema accounting, withholding tax, VAT register or international bank account numbers
• More out-of-the-box reports and functionalities like purchase requisitions support, goods receipt by PO number, enhanced projects & services module or historical salary category
• Enhanced and more out-of-the-box reports
• More capabilities built into the platform like enhanced security, audit trails and additional web services

For more details, you can read the complete release notes for Openbravo ERP 2.40.

Additionally, the Openbravo ERP SMB Network 2.40 appliance contains significant improvements compared to the previous edition, notably

• Updated Administration Console
  
  
  • New, cleaner look and feel
  • Improved usability with better user feedback


• Improved performance per GHz
  
  • Native support for 64 bit architecture
  • Latest versions of Ant, Tomcat, Apache and Oracle

Existing Openbravo Network subscribers can migrate their systems to the latest Openbravo ERP release and receive support with he same level enjoyed in the previous release without the need to pay additional fees. However, it is important to notice that the upgrade process will require a development project that clients will need to contract to their system integrator of reference on the basis of the need to update custom code developed for them. Therefore clients should only upgrade to the latest release if the new functionalities available offer an immediate return on investment.

Go Professional! Buy Openbravo Network.

The fact that Openbravo ERP is a mission critical application means that it is very important to have a disaster recovery plan.

Usually, and certainly more frequently than it should be, this type of plan is just an afterthought. Quite frankly, it is also very common that the recovery process is not fully tested or documented.

In those rare cases where the plan is properly laid out, System Integrators have generally required a large number of consulting hours to craft it and clients are rarely happy with the expenditure this entails.

Luckily, Openbravo SMB Network includes a nice functionality that offers this facility without the need to develop any complex process. Using the Administration Console, system back-ups can be scheduled regularly. These back-ups can be done against a remote file server for increased reliability.

In case of disaster, a simple restore process enables you to have a fully functional system up and running again in a matter of hours. Another neat benefit of the Openbravo SMB Network appliance.

Go Professional! Ensure the systems you are managing are properly protected.

This is one of the most frequent questions I get from (prospective) customers. Fortunately for everyone, the answer is a clear "YES".

One of the strengths of Openbravo ERP is the freedom to adapt it to every company's specific needs without limitation. This involves configuring the system's metadata, and very frequently, developing new functionalities to meet those specific requirements that make every company unique. On some occasions, the customizations done on top of the "standard" version are very significant.

However, this does not mean that you cannot benefit from Openbravo Network, the professional subscription service that has been designed to keep your system up-to-date and bug-free for a predictable cost.

Firstly, the service is built around the concept of system stability. The updates are designed to intricately target only the lines that require a fix, minimizing the likelihood of collision with custom developments. Therefore, in most of the cases, updates are silently applied without any conflict.

Secondly, the service is based on a ground-breaking application of source code management tools which are now part of Openbravo ERP. This approach provides a very granular and structured way to manage code conflicts during the update process, which help consultants apply fixes even when they are for the very same files that have been customized.

Attempting to undertake manual maintenance of a production system is simply not realistic, and too risky. Very often, only a handful of customer-reported bugs get fixed and the system is not properly patched. The situation gets much worse when several systems are maintained in parallel for several clients, and inevitably the quality of the manual maintenance process starts begins to deteriorate.

Openbravo Network has been designed to ensure Openbravo systems can be properly maintained so that they are fully up to date, with the quality required for a mission critical application, and in the most cost efficient way.

Go Professional! Buy Openbravo Network.

During the launch of Openbravo Network, many mistakenly interpreted Openbravo adopting a closed source development model. This is not our strategy because we believe there is a better way.

My previous post is a very illustrative example of how customers benefit from having an open community, and how the community benefits from having customers funding it.

All bugs fixed for Openbravo ERP are available in the development trunk and incorporated in the newest release of Openbravo ERP, which typically occur twice a year.

Openbravo Network clients benefit from having regular and timely access to bug fixes, both for bugs reported by them or reported by the community. They get the benefits from using a product which is subject to public scrutiny and at the same time enjoy production grade SLAs (Service Level Agreements).

Community benefits from the effort funded by Openbravo Network customers to fix bugs, which are readily available in the development trunk and periodically packaged whenever a new release is published (or even before, if –occasionally- a community maintenance patch is published).

If you use Openbravo ERP and want to see it improve, engage in the community.

If you use Openbravo ERP and want production grade support, subscribe to Openbravo Network.

You are helping yourself in both cases.

During the past months, since the official launch of Openbravo Network –the subscription support service for Openbravo ERP–, our clients have received patches containing:

• 214 Openbravo ERP fixes
• 35 Linux component updates*
• 5 Operating Environment updates (in Oracle Database, Apache Server, Tomcat, Ant and Java)*

In total, these account for more than 300 fixes, including a few security and critical ones.

Bugs fixed include those reported by Openbravo Network clients and bugs reported by the Openbravo ERP community. Bugs reported by our clients are treated according to production grade SLAs (Service Level Agreements) to ensure fixes are available on time.

For Openbravo SMB Network clients, fixes also include patches for the operating environment, which in many amateur implementations is not well kept up to date, eventually exposing the system to security threats.

Before fixes are released, a rigorous quality assurance process certifies there are no compatibility conflicts and they are production ready.

For Openbravo SMB Network clients, patches can be easily applied from Openbravo Network’s administration console. Also, because the Openbravo SMB Network One environment is a highly standardized configuration, we can test the patches in exactly the same environment our customers have. This dramatically improves the effectiveness of our quality assurance process, optimizing it for production usage.

Overall, this service, recommended for any professional Openbravo ERP implementation, is designed to ensure the system stays updated, bug free and secure.

* Only available for Openbravo SMB Network One customers
* Note that component updates typically contain several fixes each one

It has been a while since we introduced Openbravo Network, the subscription service for those seeking professional support to for Openbravo ERP. Today I am blogging about it because we are extending the Openbravo Network family with additional editions targeting different client needs. With this extension, there is now a solution for everyone.

All editions of the Openbravo Network family of products include access to certified updates and upgrades for Openbravo ERP, a lifecycle guarantee, bug fixing guarantee, and IP Indemnification.

Openbravo SMB Network One, which has been available since early this year, is the recommended choice for small and mid-sized businesses looking for a complete solution in a fine-tuned appliance architecture. It is easy to install, includes all the software required to run the system (including the operating system and the database), and provides a web based administration console to manage the whole maintenance process.

Openbravo Basic Network, a recent addition to the family, is the recommended choice for those with complex hardware configurations, or who require the freedom to configure the operating environment to certain specifications.

An Openbravo Network contract for those ISVs or OEMs who want to embed Openbravo ERP in their solutions is also available upon request.

Openbravo Network is a very innovative concept in the industry, because it keeps the open source nature of Openbravo ERP, but reconciles it with the advantages of professional paid support, something many clients require and appreciate. Many of them have already realized that professional open source is the best way to combine the freedom of open source with the strict demands of a mission critical production environment, as it is ultimately also the most cost effective way to do it.

If you want to learn more about the Openbravo Network family, you can check out www.openbravo.com/network

When the 451 group blogged about Openbravo Network last October, they marked it as a relevant example of open source aiming to enter "markets that were previously seen as locked-down by dominant vendors." They also noted a gap in "the mid-market space [that] has been under-served by the industry giants that dominate the ERP space." This first point reminded me of my friend who said he did not know anything about "open source" then opened his Mozilla browser to look it up.

But the second point reminded me of the question being asked with open source solutions: how can we market our solution to end users accustomed to proprietary software? With Openbravo Network, we are attempting to answer this question by offering an optimized solution customizable to their needs, charging a reasonable price, and we then package it with peace of mind.

In 2005, Networkworld discussed key success factors for software appliances. Looking at these criteria, Openbravo Network covers every single area:

• Pricing: Pay as you go leasing
• Modular Design: Pick and choosing desired functionalities.
• Using Standards: Support well accepted standards that are easy to deploy, without needs to integrate required stack.
• Easy Management: Updates, remote repairs, self managed by internal system administrator or partner.
• Security: Build on "a hardened operating system and application stack that supports only the features and functions necessary for the appliance."
  

But whether because we are an open source project, or the above list was not meant for them, it is useful to think about what else the end user will be looking for. In addition to a reasonable price, the needs and pitch must run a bit differently.

1. Achieve Optimal Performance: Access to customize the solution and modules to specific needs. As well the solution is installed to work fastest, right out of the box, no testing required.
2. Maintain Optimal Performance: Quality control verified by Openbravo, with updates and monitoring available
3. Warranties and Certifications: The entire solution is backed by Openbravo (stack and ERP) and 1 month "fit for purpose" warranty
4. Technical Support: Question and improvements can be handled directly by Openbravo, either on site or remotely
5. Product Ownership: Product is owned upon purchase. Should users discontinue subscription, the system administration console and ERP is still owned forever. The support is pay as you go, not the solution.

For a developer or partner who can invest time, Openbravo ERP Community Edition comes with exactly the same functionalities as the ERP Network Edition. For the enterprise and partner with the ability to invest money, Network Edition = ERP Community Edition and more - an optimized solution, guaranteed, and with the best available support - they will also be receiving peace of mind.

The thinking behind Openbravo Network will allow the solution to succeed in the same way Mozilla did, because my buddy looks at it as a great solution, open source or not. People will like this product...and I think another slightly larger ERP company did too. Right before CeBIT Hannover 2008, they launched their own software appliance. Maybe they are proving that there may be room in the software appliance ERP world for large unflexible solutions from once dominant players after all?