ANTenna Blog -- Hardware & Software

Openbravo and Canonical have partnered on an open-source ERP offering that could prove attractive to small and midsized businesses.

Over the past several years, open-source software stack support and integration services have evolved rapidly. Companies that play in this space generally fall into two categories:

- Vendor-agnostic software integration solutions, such as SpikeSource. The idea here is to add value by integrating, tuning, and supporting a set of popular open-source components, such as the ubiquitous "LAMP" stack.

- Platform vendors working through acquisitions or business partnerships. In 2006, for example, Red Hat acquired JBoss in order to provide integrated, pre-certified open-source enterprise application stacks on top of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

The idea driving these arrangements is pretty straightforward: Take a set of commonly used open-source tools, and then add value by providing configuration, testing, and technical support services that customers previously had to find -- or create -- themselves.

It's a successful business model, but it is also one that traditionally focuses more on enterprises than smaller businesses.

A recent announcement involving Openbravo and Canonical may provide an exception to this rule. Openbravo has made a name for itself with a suite of open-source ERP and POS tools designed -- and priced -- to appeal to smaller companies. And Canonical, of course, is the company behind Ubuntu Linux -- a distro which is taking aim squarely at the SMB market with both desktop and server offerings.

According to a press release, here is how the partnership is going to work:

Openbravo ERP 2.50 Professional Subscription for Ubuntu is now available for purchase through Openbravo's partner network. This compelling offering combines Openbravo ERP 2.50 and Ubuntu Server Edition, including Openbravo’s world-class support on the entire solution.

Openbravo ERP is now included in the Ubuntu partner repository, allowing Ubuntu users to add the software quickly and easily to their Ubuntu server. The newly created Openbravo ERP Professional Subscription for Ubuntu provides expert support and business continuity for the entire open source software stack, which includes the ERP software, operating system, application server and database.

Openbravo, like Compiere, Orange HRM, and other open-source ERP developers, sees real opportunity in the SMB market. It's a space the big, proprietary ERP vendors have traditionally overlooked -- and even when they haven't, they still have a hard time nailing a price point that doesn't send small-business owners looking for the exit.

That fact promises to make its work with Canonical and Ubuntu very interesting to watch. And this partnership certainly should be of interest to any small business looking at open-source ERP as an alternative to the high-priced, proprietary systems that have long dominated this market.