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Enterprise E-Commerce and ERP: Common Questions Series Part 2

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

enterprise-ecommerce

For HotWax Media an Apache OFBiz development firm, 2010 is delivering a great batch of new open source e-commerce and ERP projects. Whether from existing clients looking to invest in system enhancements or new clients ready to invest after a cautious 2009, HotWax Media is seeing a good deal of activity in the form of active projects and a healthy sales pipeline.

Along with a boost in free cash flow, this activity continues to generate great input from clients, which fits in nicely with my ongoing series discussing common questions related to open source e-commerce and ERP projects.

Enterprise eCommerce and ERP projects can have a lot of moving pieces. As businesses grow, old systems can limit potential. It can be painful for businesses to identify these limitations and understand the impact they are having on current profitability and future growth. At HotWax Media, it is our mission help our clients understand these problems, and then to make the problems go away.

Let’s dive into the next round of common questions and talk about answers. The answers here are meant to be relatively short and sweet. If you are looking for additional detail or are more interested in learning how HotWax Media can help you optimize your e-commerce and ERP for your business, contact us without delay!

The first questions pertains to both existing and new businesses who want to take a measured approach:

1. Can we do this in phases?

Yes. HotWax Media implements e-commerce and ERP systems using Apache OFBiz. OFBiz consists of a complete set of individual ERP applications, including a robust e-commerce system. The data model in OFBiz, furthermore, allows HotWax Media to account for just about anything that is going on in a given legacy system, and integrate where needed in order to facilitate a phased approach.

For example, if your business is running on NetSuite, but you want a better e-commerce solution, phase 1 of your project can consist of an affordable, powerful B2C e-commerce site upgrade that is completely integrated with your NetSuite back end. In subsequent phases, you can replace NetSuite completely — at your own pace, in discrete, manageable steps.

The second question usually comes from clients who have been burned in the past by irresponsible promises from proprietary software vendors:

2. Can we customize the system (without blowing our budget)?

Yes. As I mentioned above, HotWax Media implements ERP systems using Apache OFBiz. OFBiz is meant to be customized. As part of a standard OFBiz ERP implementation, HotWax Media works with clients to understand the nuances of their business requirements and workflows, and then implements a system that accommodates those specific needs.

It amazes me to hear from clients, as I have repeatedly, that they paid for an expensive proprietary ERP system only to learn later that it could not do what they needed it to do. And by the way, they do not own the system, and they are on the hook to pay recurring licensing fees in order to keep using it. Never mind the principle of it all — strategically, that sucks.

The nature of open source software in general, and of Apache OFBiz specifically, is to be transparent and customizable. My general statement to clients is, “If we can define a consistent set of requirements together, we can absolutely make OFBiz meet those requirements.”

The final question applies to everyone:

3. How many different companies will we need to work with in order to implement our system?

One. HotWax Media. We offer a complete set of e-commerce and ERP implementation services, ranging from business analysis through graphic design and UI to development and testing. We provide the project management and collaboration tools to accommodate all aspects of the project, and we will even handle hardware, infrastructure and hosting in partnership with our colleagues at Contegix.

Keeping your project under one roof improves quality and saves money. It’s that simple.

Feel free to let us know if you have other common questions you would like to see addressed in this series, or contact us today to learn more about how HotWax Media can help you build and grow your e-commerce business.

View my previous post where I covered other commonly asked questioned about Enterprise E-Commerce and ERP deployment or expansion.

- Mike

Mike Bates is CEO at HotWax Media and will join other HotWax Media employees and advisors in periodically posting thoughts here related to OFBiz, eCommerce, ERP, and related topics.
OFBiz Expert

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Posted in Apache OFBiz, Apache OFBiz Development, Enterprise eCommerce, HotWax Media, OFBiz, OFBiz Development, OFBiz eCommerce | No Comments »

HotWax Media, Gold Sponsor, ApacheCon US 2009

Monday, November 2nd, 2009
apache-con-2009

We are psyched to kick off our company blog with a post about ApacheCon US 2009, running 2 – 6 November, 2009 in lovely Oakland, CA!  The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) will be celebrating its 10th anniversary at this year’s ApacheCon — Happy Birthday, ASF!

HotWax Media was the Platinum Sponsor at last year’s ApacheCon US 2008, which took place in New Orleans.  This year in Oakland, Microsoft and Thawte are filling the Platinum Sponsor role, while SourceForge joins us as a Gold Sponsor.  (Other sponsors include hp, LinkedIn, and Sun – See a complete list here.)  What’s that, you say?  Microsoft is a Platinum Sponsor of the most respected open source software conference of the year?  Believe it!

But the show is only made possible by the sponsors, it is not about the sponsors.  Rather, the show is about the fantastic collaboration that takes place under the umbrella of the ASF.  If you have an interest in open source software but have never attended an ApacheCon, I recommend you give it a try.  Granted, the subject matter of presentations (and of general conversations) skews toward the technical side of the spectrum, but I really enjoy the individuals who attend, the casual and supportive atmosphere, and the quality of the ideas that are shared.

HotWax Media attends and provides sponsorship mainly due to our involvement with Apache Open For Business (OFBiz), which is a broadly scoped open source ERP framework that is maintained as a top-level project at the ASF.  OFBiz offers great e-commerce features on the front end along with amazing capabilities on the backend for integrating and automating business systems.  Users enjoy OFBiz for its ability to bring together features like supplier / inventory / order management, accounting, manufacturing, and more into one common business suite. OFBiz covers a lot of ground, to be sure, which is one of the reasons that OFBiz living under the ASF umbrella is so meaningful to me.

For a software project to be a top-level project at the ASF is the pinnacle of open source credibility.  In a word, the ASF is about meritocracy.  The ASF has setup a structure that promotes the best idea winning; this happens within the context of a hierarchy that is just enough to maintain order and integrity without squashing contribution.  Put another way, the ASF focuses on making sure project administration is done properly, thereby freeing up ASF project participants to focus on what they do best.  The result is a widely-distributed group of flexible, committed volunteers who turn out world class software.

HotWax Media’s business and our expertise with OFBiz go hand-in-hand with our participation in the ASF.  We have numerous OFBiz Project Committers, Project Management Committee Members, and other active community members on staff, and we donate literally thousands of hours per year to the open source project in the form of volunteer maintenance and improvement activities.  What is good for OFBiz, we often say, is good for HotWax Media.  Whether building a custom order management system on OFBiz or developing a proprietary product that relies heavily of OFBiz, HotWax Media makes money in large part by maintaining a leadership role and top-tier expertise with OFBiz.  So there we have it: a simple example of a for-profit business model that relies heavily on open source software.

There are literally dozens of Apache Projects, from OFBiz to the Apache Web Server, which serves over 1/2 of all web sites worldwide.  The volunteers who build and maintain Apache software, and the brilliant minds who attend ApacheCon each year, are some of the most creative and talented software people anywhere.  So as I consider our sponsorship again this year, it does makes me chuckle that we are on the same short list with Microsoft.  Yet even in the face of the obvious conflict of interest that can be construed, it actually makes perfect sense to me that Microsoft is a Platinum Sponsor at ApacheCon.  Any company that makes software development a central component of its business would be well served to become and stay involved with the ASF.  When it comes to software, the ASF simply makes some of the best.

Mike Bates is CEO at HotWax Media and will join other HotWax Media employees and advisors in periodically posting thoughts here related to OFBiz, eCommerce, ERP, and related topics.
Mike Bates - OFBiz Expert

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