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I have to agree. I've had the massive misfortune to have to implement and test (almost?) every open source ERP/CRM system out there from vTiger, Odoo, SuiteCRM,

I have to agree. I've had the massive misfortune to have to implement and test (almost?) every open source ERP/CRM system out there from vTiger, Odoo, SuiteCRM, Yeti, NextERP, Dolibarr, ...and more that I can't recall from the top of my head. Each and every one of these systems suck. Sometimes they suck in creative and extraordinary ways. But, one thing you can count on is that there's a real reason that they suck. It turns out that the real world of business is complicated and messy. So, as you say, businesses build their own solution on top of these systems to simplify it for their users while keeping the capabilities of the underlying system intact. Of course, nobody is ever happy with the end result - it's always just the least terrible option. On a slightly related topic since this may be seen by folks who can benefit from this information. A lot of "Open Source" systems these days are not what you could honestly call open source. Odoo is the example I'll use, but what I'm about to say applies to a lot more than just Odoo. Most of the organizations behind these solutions are predatory. I've seen features get taken out, hidden, intentionally broken, or have fixes released that are only available in the 'pay us' versions. [0-1]Odoo's accounting functions are one such example. [0]https://www.odoo.com/forum/help-1/question/is-accounting-feature-removed-from-odoo-12-141355 https://www.odoo.com/forum/help-1/question/is-accounting-fea... [1]https://github.com/odoo/odoo/issues/27386 https://github.com/odoo/odoo/issues/27386

bargle0 7y ago
Which of the open source ERP systems is the least bad?
- Proziam 7y ago
  If forced, I'd say Dolibarr is probably the best for 'real' ERP use-cases. I say 'real' because ERP is a buzzword that has been beaten to death to describe things that don't even approach what it's intended to mean. A close second is Vienna Advantage. IIRC the development actually came from former SAP devs who have real-world exposure to the problems ERP is supposed to solve.
  - unixhero 7y ago
    There is also https://www.axelor.com/ https://www.axelor.com/ It seems very promising. I will test it next week for my business.
    - Proziam 7y ago
      We actually tested Axelor as well! At the time, their documentation was quite lacking (in English at least) to the point that their installation instructions didn't result in a working system. (We got it working using a windows system and an older version, but weren't able to do so on a Debian?? system with the latest version at the time) I would be very happy to hear that things have improved because Axelor is probably the most 'user-friendly' and 'pretty' system we tested - assuming it's functioning.
- thirdsun 7y ago
  ERPNext in my opinion: https://erpnext.com/ https://erpnext.com/
piva00 7y ago
At least as a software engineer for such kind of integrations you can take fulfilment by knowing you are helping real people do their job in a less painful way. I know a few colleagues who enjoy that kind of work, slapping a much better and intuitive UI on top of their own services integrating with SAP, Salesforce and so on. You improve overall productivity and can show that data comparing how much faster someone using your interface is versus the likes of SAPgui, etc.
- Proziam 7y ago
  Absolutely. I think that it's a necessity for businesses to periodically review their processes and see how 'tool x' fits in, and whether it can fit better. Filling in the gaps or improving workflows can unlock treasure troves of hidden value that are often left unnoticed. Fortunately, I think awareness about what is possible in that department is growing and that we'll see a lot more focus (rather, jobs) on such optimizations over the next 5-10 years.
- jasonlhy 7y ago
  From my experience, to integrate with SAP may not be that trivial with just calling SAP’s RFC. Companies may need to workaround SAP issues, for example, user license, slow RFC response. And also need to consider the case of error recovery, otherwise you will suffer from data inconsistent. What you end up actually are a set of “micro service” to build on top of SAP
hef19898 7y ago
Odoo was the worst experience I ever had. Granted, processes at that company could only be described, on a good day with a lot understatement, as st. But still, it felt like half of it was missing and the other half wasn't working properly. That and that the external developers had no idea how to manage inventories.

bargle0 7y ago

Which of the open source ERP systems is the least bad?

Proziam 7y ago
If forced, I'd say Dolibarr is probably the best for 'real' ERP use-cases. I say 'real' because ERP is a buzzword that has been beaten to death to describe things that don't even approach what it's intended to mean. A close second is Vienna Advantage. IIRC the development actually came from former SAP devs who have real-world exposure to the problems ERP is supposed to solve.
- unixhero 7y ago
  There is also https://www.axelor.com/ https://www.axelor.com/ It seems very promising. I will test it next week for my business.
  - Proziam 7y ago
    We actually tested Axelor as well! At the time, their documentation was quite lacking (in English at least) to the point that their installation instructions didn't result in a working system. (We got it working using a windows system and an older version, but weren't able to do so on a Debian?? system with the latest version at the time) I would be very happy to hear that things have improved because Axelor is probably the most 'user-friendly' and 'pretty' system we tested - assuming it's functioning.
thirdsun 7y ago
ERPNext in my opinion: https://erpnext.com/ https://erpnext.com/

piva00 7y ago

At least as a software engineer for such kind of integrations you can take fulfilment by knowing you are helping real people do their job in a less painful way. I know a few colleagues who enjoy that kind of work, slapping a much better and intuitive UI on top of their own services integrating with SAP, Salesforce and so on. You improve overall productivity and can show that data comparing how much faster someone using your interface is versus the likes of SAPgui, etc.

Proziam 7y ago
Absolutely. I think that it's a necessity for businesses to periodically review their processes and see how 'tool x' fits in, and whether it can fit better. Filling in the gaps or improving workflows can unlock treasure troves of hidden value that are often left unnoticed. Fortunately, I think awareness about what is possible in that department is growing and that we'll see a lot more focus (rather, jobs) on such optimizations over the next 5-10 years.
jasonlhy 7y ago
From my experience, to integrate with SAP may not be that trivial with just calling SAP’s RFC. Companies may need to workaround SAP issues, for example, user license, slow RFC response. And also need to consider the case of error recovery, otherwise you will suffer from data inconsistent. What you end up actually are a set of “micro service” to build on top of SAP

hef19898 7y ago

Odoo was the worst experience I ever had. Granted, processes at that company could only be described, on a good day with a lot understatement, as st. But still, it felt like half of it was missing and the other half wasn't working properly. That and that the external developers had no idea how to manage inventories.