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Odoo: The new OpenERP

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Re: Odoo: The new OpenERP

#21

Post by jamesmcintyre »

If you look around there is no "beautiful ERP" solution out there and the status quo is "you can make a very capable ERP or a "pretty" ERP but not both". I understand the the difficulty of striking that balance but I think by applying the right kind of modularity to the app design (sort of like openERP but even more granular and forgiving) you can arrive at a solution which invites businesses of all-sizes but can grow with the company into very complex processes.

There is HUGE opportunity in this market and I believe one big reason is that a new generation of userbase will expect and demand a better UX than any current offering.

In fact, I suggest a great startup idea would be a to take the openerp codebase and wrap a new UI/UX around it starting with one vertical ("niche") market and working out from there. (i.e. "A beautiful ERP for medium-sized businesses focusing on your growing warehouse, sales and purchasing needs built on the solid foundation of openERP."). Not saying it would be easy, but just worthwhile. I have a feeling the Odoo rebranding points to an effort for a UI overhaul which acknowledges the opportunity of a great UX.

Re: Odoo: The new OpenERP

#22

Post by icebraining »

ritonlajoie wrote: post #9
pnathan wrote: post #4

I've considered working with OpenERP and looking at becoming a consultant in it (ERP is $$$ and very useful), but last I checked the OpenERP site (2? years ago?), the demo site was half broken. Glad to see it's gotten a refresh and a genuinely web 2.0 name. ;) Apparently the devs have churned it into a SaaS offering, which is also very cool.

I installed OpenERP some days ago, just to see what it had become. I found it nice. Even though I think you would still need to be really documented on how to use the different modules.

Well, my company sell training packages at affordable prices :D

Re: Odoo: The new OpenERP

#23

Post by gaunab »

They also discovered how to succeed as a tech company: Better use at least three 'O's in your brand name.

"Choosing the right name is hard. To find the perfect name, we analysed the names of top internet companies. We discovered a direct correlation between the company valuation and the number of 'O' in its name. The graph below shows the average valuation of the top 10 internet companies according to the number of 'O' in their names.

With three 'O' in its name, 'Odoo' is in phase with our ambitions."

Re: Odoo: The new OpenERP

#24

Post by sharoonthomas »

jamesmcintyre wrote: post #21

If you look around there is no "beautiful ERP" solution out there and the status quo is "you can make a very capable ERP or a "pretty" ERP but not both". I understand the the difficulty of striking that balance but I think by applying the right kind of modularity to the app design (sort of like openERP but even more granular and forgiving) you can arrive at a solution which invites businesses of all-sizes but can gro…

> built on the solid foundation of openERP.

Solid foundation is a joke. OpenERP is probably one of the shittiest pieces of code every written in Python. Take a look at their ORM code. And, of course they still use floating points for accounting [1].

[1] https://github.com/odoo/odoo/blob/master/addons/account/acco...

Disclaimer: I work on the Tryton project

Re: Odoo: The new OpenERP

#25

Post by paulyg »

davidbrent wrote: post #5

OpenERP could've really benefited from some usability expertise, and if this site is any indication, Odoo may suffer the same fate. If you're going to put this much time/money into a new brand, how could you miss so badly? In my experience with OpenERP, the end users always took a back seat to the developers. Granted, ERP software is inherently complicated, but with each new version you could tell they made an attemp…

OpenERP is still leagues above the million dollar paid apps of Oracle and SAP. I'm not saying you are wrong. Just how bad this particular segment of software is. It is wripe for disruption.

Re: Odoo: The new OpenERP

#26

Post by hbbio »

sharoonthomas wrote: post #24
jamesmcintyre wrote: post #21

If you look around there is no "beautiful ERP" solution out there and the status quo is "you can make a very capable ERP or a "pretty" ERP but not both". I understand the the difficulty of striking that balance but I think by applying the right kind of modularity to the app design (sort of like openERP but even more granular and forgiving) you can arrive at a solution which invites businesses of all-sizes but can gro…

> built on the solid foundation of openERP. Solid foundation is a joke. OpenERP is probably one of the shittiest pieces of code every written in Python. Take a look at their ORM code. And, of course they still use floating points for accounting [1]. [1] https://github.com/odoo/odoo/blob/master/addons/account/acco... Disclaimer: I work on the Tryton project

By curiosity I went to your website http://www.tryton.org/

It doesn't even have a screenshot, and the main description does not tell clearly what it is. The only apparent link beside the menu bar is "Validate HTML". There is no link on the items such as "Accounting" in the description.

Re: Odoo: The new OpenERP

#28

Post by UK-AL »

paulyg wrote: post #25
davidbrent wrote: post #5

OpenERP could've really benefited from some usability expertise, and if this site is any indication, Odoo may suffer the same fate. If you're going to put this much time/money into a new brand, how could you miss so badly? In my experience with OpenERP, the end users always took a back seat to the developers. Granted, ERP software is inherently complicated, but with each new version you could tell they made an attemp…

OpenERP is still leagues above the million dollar paid apps of Oracle and SAP. I'm not saying you are wrong. Just how bad this particular segment of software is. It is wripe for disruption.

ERP software is huge, simply because there so many different ways businesses works, all the regulations you have to comply with etc etc

It would be very hard for a startup to build it from scratch.

Re: Odoo: The new OpenERP

#29

Post by UK-AL »

pnathan wrote: post #4

I've considered working with OpenERP and looking at becoming a consultant in it (ERP is $$$ and very useful), but last I checked the OpenERP site (2? years ago?), the demo site was half broken. Glad to see it's gotten a refresh and a genuinely web 2.0 name. ;) Apparently the devs have churned it into a SaaS offering, which is also very cool.

is OpenERP contractor fees that large?

I know SAP and Oracle Fees are high, simply because its quite hard to get opportunity to work on it, and all the certifications. So there aren't that many people around.

Re: Odoo: The new OpenERP

#30

Post by nathanstitt »

ritonlajoie wrote: post #6

What are the alternatives to OpenERP today ? (I mean, free and open sources ones, with acceptable UI)

I'll take the opportunity to plug my attempt, Stockor @ http://stockor.org/

It's built in Ruby and currently uses ExtJS for the UI. I'm currently rebuilding the front-end in Backbonejs.

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