Universities Give Open Source ERP Top Grades

If you want to learn what’s next in the ERP (enterprise resource planning) software market, visit Boston College, Georgetown University or the University of Arizona. All three schools — and plenty of additional colleges — are embracing Kuali, an open source ERP platform. And the deployments frequently involve rSmart, a solutions provider that specializes in open source ERP. Here’s the scoop.

Accoring to rSmart, the company is helping the following colleges plan, evaluate, prototype and implement Kuali at the following universities:

So, what’s the deal with open source ERP? Kuali got its start because many universities grew frustrated with traditional closed-source systems. In some cases, the universities wanted to make and share software modifications — but their software licensing agreements prevented them to do so. In other cases, colleges grew frustrated with high fees for bug fixes and maintenance releases.

The VAR Guy is paraphrasing the issues quite a bit because he’s covered Kuali quite a bit over the years. Our resident blogger is NOT suggesting that Kuali will replace or disrupt all traditional closed-source ERP systems.

Scoring with Open Source ERP

Still, it’s clear that savvy solutions providers such as rSmart continue to find new opportunities promoting open source solutions. And think about this: While ERP sales to big enterprises will surely suffer during the economic slowdown, rSmart will likely do just fine promoting open source ERP financial systems to colleges — regardless of the economy.

Moreover, companies like Openbravo are successfully promoting open source ERP to small and midsize businesses that also want freedom from complex licensing agreements.

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