Most Powerful Open Source ERP

Why do you need an ERP?

  • Last Update:2011-11-16
  • Version:002
  • Language:en

SlapOS provides a simple approach to package, deploy and provision software on the distributed network. SlapOS handles metering and accounting information which will eventually end up generating invoices. SlapOS also provides a Web interface and RESTful web services to customers. These are all required to become a Cloud Provider and to start doing business. However, it is not sufficient. We are going to identify in this chapter 3 management priorities which an ERP can address to run a Cloud Business. Here we take the example of VIFIB, the company that created SlapGRID and operates its own SlapOS infrastructure. We are going to follow a consulting approach which was created for ERP5 and taught in various universities as part of the "One Student One ERP" project. ERP5 is the open source ERP that provides the reference implementation of SlapOS Master used in this book. ERP5 provides many features beyond software to provision the coordination: accounting, CRM, project management, inventory management, knowledge management, etc. Here we will try to determine a small set of features which is sufficient to operate VIFIB efficiently.

 

VIFIB Identity

Name: VIFIB SARL
Type: Limited Liability Corporation (LLC)
Country: France
Number of Employees: 3
Number of Sites: 1
Web Site: www.vifib.com

What does VIFIB offer, sell or produce?

VIFIB is a provider of low cost, general purpose Cloud Computing services based on SlapOS. VIFIB users can request all kinds of online software through a simple Web Interface which is similar to an online store or an application store. Developers can request all kinds of online software through a REST Web service. Software provided by VIFIB includes Infrastructure (IaaS), Platform (PaaS) and Application (SaaS) software. Infrastructure software consists of virtual machines and network block storage software. Platform software consists of database (SQL and NoSQL), Web front-ends, communication, IDEs and frameworks which are also known as stacks (LAMP, Zope, Java, etc.). Application software includes ERP, CRM, CMS and collaboration. Most software is open source, and is thus free to use on private clouds for their owners. VIFIB sells subscriptions for software running on public clouds. VIFIB sells software licenses for proprietary software. VIFIB sells software certification services to who want to run their software on VIFIB infrastructure. VIFIB sells "Cloud Computing Currency" (CCC) which can be used to pay Cloud Computing services. VIFIB also provides a registration process for private clouds to help each other.

What does VIFIB purchase, use or recycle?

VIFIB purchases computers and network equipments to build its own distributed Cloud infrastructure. VIFIB purchases usage rights of third party computers which are already connected to electricity and Internet networks. VIFIB purchases rights to host VIFIB's own computers in a private space with electricity and high speed Internet access. VIFIB also purchases software licenses. VIFIB uses open source software to create software deployment packages for SlapOS which can be requested from VIFIB Web Site or VIFIB Web Services.

Who are the contacts of VIFIB?

VIFIB has users who register their own computer on the VIFIB platform, submit their software and may exchange capacity with their friends. VIFIB has customers who purchase small amounts of hosting capacity for their own use. VIFIB has customers who purchase large amounts of capacity for retail through their own SlapOS platform, and provide capacity through their SlapOS platform. VIFIB also has customers who are software developers and need to receive software certification. VIFIB has suppliers of computer capacity and hosting space. VIFIB also has suppliers of software licenses and software integration service. VIFIB has staff. And VIFIB is in relation with journalists and government.

What are the typical skills of VIFIB staff?

VIFIB staffs are engineers in the field of software development who run the production environment, and technicians in the field of computer hardware who install PC hardware. VIFIB staff may also have financial skills, marketing skills and sales skills. Some VIFIB engineers are capable of writing build-out recipes for SlapOS for various platforms (python, Java, PHP, JavaScript). Other engineers may be able to customize ERP5 to improve allocation process or business processes. Some engineers have Web skills (HTML5, CSS, JavaScript). Some have skills in data mining, security and scalability of database.

Please provide an example of business process which is well implemented

VIFIB provides a very simple way to request an instance of any software through a simple API. Users or developers can request about any service through the unified request method. Software is then instantiated on private cloud or public clouds, in hundreds of regions around the world, which makes the VIFIB service more resilient to various cases of force majeure than traditional clouds. Invoice is generated automatically from the various requests of a user.

Please provide an example of business process which is not properly implemented

VIFIB customer relation process is poor. There is no way for customer to notify problems they may have in relation to. Contacts and prospects are not managed, and the process of adding more software and more computer resources is neither formalized nor properly handled.

VIFIB computer inventory management is poor. The purchasing process is manual. The shipment process is not formalized, and it does not include any form of quality control. Hardware failure is not tracked, and the relation between process reliability and hardware is not traceable. Hardware profiling is not available. It is thus difficult to even know the type of hardware which is used to run processes.

What do you expect from an ERP as a first priority?

We would like to be able to provide good customer support. Customers should be able to quickly file a support request and see how it is processed in full transparency. This means that each operation which is handled in relation to the customer request should appear in a support history report accessible to the customer. Such reports should be exchanged across SlapOS providers so that VIFIB can provide transparency to customers even if the incident happens on a computer is managed by a third party SlapOS provider. We would also like to announce to customers new services and possible upgrades for existing services so that customers are well informed of the evolution of the service.

What do you expect from an ERP as a second priority?

We expect from an ERP that the management process of inventory becomes predictable and accurate. We need to be able to purchase and receive computers, then record how many computers we have in stock. Each time we ship a computer to a hosting site, we should be able to know which computer of which type is there. We should be able to know the number of computers we have per type of computer (ex. CPU, RAM, architecture, etc.). We should also be able to know which computers are ours, which computers belong to users who provide computer capacity and which computers belong to third party SlapOS operators who provide computer capacity.

What do you expect from an ERP as a third priority?

Each time hardware failure happens, we would like to be able to trace the origin of the hardware failure by identifying the parts of the computer. We would like in particular to be able to trace components of repaired computers and be able to find out if a given component of a broken computer can be the source of an unreliable operation.

Why does VIFIB need an ERP after all?

SlapOS Master core functionalities are limited in scope and do not cover some core business processes of a Cloud company such as VIFIB. In early 2011, before its official launch, VIFIB management was poor in many aspects.

No clear process for customer relation was defined. Customer relation was thus not managed. Customers could not receive notifications of changes in the service or service outage. There was no way for a user to file a support created through VIFIB user interface. VIFIB staff themselves had no idea how to handle support requests. This poor process can be improved greatly by using ERP5 CRM, which can be installed jointly with SlapOS Master. Support Requests can be used to track customer queries filed online. Campaigns can be used to notify selected users of future changes in the service or announce to the press a new offer. Sales Opportunities can be used to manage B2B sales of VIFIB.

The inventory management of VIFIB PCs was also poor. Purchasing process is manual, based on email and text documents. There is no traceability of purchase orders, PC components and hardware failures. This poor process can be improved greatly by using ERP5 Trade, which provides a complete purchase workflow and a way to manage inventory. ERP5 Trade also solves the problem of internal movements of hardware, from one hosting site to another.

We will learn in the next chapters how to use ERP5 CRM and ERP5 Trade to improve the management process of VIFIB. We will also show how to use ERP5 Accounting, which is built into SlapOS Master, to generate automatically all accounting of VIFIB company without additional effort. These core processes should be mastered perfectly by any Cloud provider willing to start a business. They require understanding some basics of ERP5 usage, such as adding people and organisations, creating accounts, etc.