24 Mar 2008

A list of Open-Source Alternatives to Business Applications

If you are part of a big company and would like to recommend to them a list of open-source and cheap commercial alternatives, I have compiled a list that I use for my company.

These options might make your company more competitive in certain markets and might let you react faster to changes.


Here is the list:

Database - DataWarehouse
InfoBright - Commercial DataWarehouse Engine (highly recommended) that runs inside MySQL. review about it

EnterpriseDB - Commercial Enterprise Scale Database that runs inside PostgreSQL

Vertica - A very high-scale, commercial, analytical and column-based Database. (Was made by the man who invented relational databases in 1970s)


BI Suite
Pentaho - Commercial Open-Source BI suite. Has ETL tools and Reporting (like informatica and cognos)


CRM
SugarCRM - Open Source CRM and on-demand CRM

XRMS - Web-based Open Source CRM

OpenCRX - Enterprise Open Source CRM


ESB
Mule - Commercial Open Source Enterprise Service Bus. Connects between many different webservices. (highly recommended)


ERP
OpenBravo - Web-based Open Source ERP


ERP + CRM
OFBiz - Apache "Open-For-Business" Open Source ERP and CRM

Compiere - Open Source ERP and CRM



I hope it helps.

Thank you for reading my blog.

7 comments:

  1. You forgot to add ParAccel in the first category.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi!

    it's "Compiere" not "Compeire"

    ReplyDelete
  3. You didn't mention Ingres in your Open Source database, which is a significant and very established database

    Your comment about Vertica is in regards to Michael Stonebraker who was one of the original creators of Ingres.

    Ronald Bradford
    www.ronaldbradford.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi,

    I'd disagree with your list on the database side.

    MySQL, PostgreSQL, and EnterpriseDB's Postgres Plus are true open source DBMS. So is Ingres. But Vertica, Infobright, DATAllegro, Greenplum, ParAccel, and all those other data warehouse specialists are closed-source. True, some of them include a fair bit of open-source code. Even the ones that rewrote all the open-source code, like Vertica, usually have some relationship to an open-source project. (Generally that's PostgreSQL, with the big exceptions being Infobright/MySQL and DATAllegro/Ingres.) But to call them "open source" is pretty misleading.

    http://www.dbms2.com/2008/03/06/postgresql-can-be-used-in-a-lot-of-different-ways/ outlines a variety of the ways that closed-source products use open source underpinnings.

    Best,

    CAM

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  5. Yes, I know the database - datawarehouses I put there are commercial.
    I didnt find many open source data warehouses. I am aware that many open source databases can serve as datawarehouses (some better then others), but I think that me (and my company) was looking for more of a "complete" product.

    Having said that, I am still learning this subject. I know that I can use an ETL tool like Pentaho Kettle and make a data warehouse that way, in any database.

    If you do know an open source database/datawarehouse, then please comment on this blog. Your input is always welcomed.

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  6. How big a data warehouse do you need?

    You might want to check out the GridSQL announcement from EnterpriseDB. I posted about it today on www.dbms2.com

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  7. Hi!

    For BI category, you forgot some leader Open Source tools like :
    -Jasper Business Intelligence Suite
    -Talend Open Studio + SpagoBI

    Cédric

    ReplyDelete