The Business of Modularity
The Modern Way to Bring ERP Solutions to Market
March, 2010
Agenda
Business of Modularity Overview
Openbravo Infrastructure
Openbravo Exchange / Commercial Considerations
Q&A
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Page 2
The Openbravo Open Source Vision
Building software in community
We believe communities build
better software than traditional
centralized companies can
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Page 3
The Openbravo Community Vision
A different way to build ERP software
No single vendor can build a solution that addresses the needs of all companies
Vision 1:
“Business process optimization”
Automate key business processes
to help companies be competitive
Vision 2:
“Data / Information is king”
Manage all data reliably and
efficiently for better decision making
Vision 3:
“Empowering people”
Optimize worker’s value added
through user centric solutions
Our vision: “Empowering the ecosystem”
An ecosystem with the right skills to build vertical
solutions to help companies better manage their
businesses
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Page 4
The Openbravo Development Vision
Building modular software
We know that modern software
must be built in a modular way
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Page 5
The Openbravo Development Vision
Decentralized developer communities are more productive
The Firefox case
• The community
– 45 full-time developers
– 1,000 community code contributors
– >20,000 nightly testers and
– >500,000 beta testers
– >50 million daily users and >125 million
total users
• > 6,800 third-party add-ons
• Number of add-ons before Mozilla’s rearchitecture?
– Roughly zero
– Compare with Apple Safari and Microsoft
IE, which also are weak on community
The Openbravo case
• The community
– 48 full-time developers
– > 9.000 registered developers
– 11% of the commits are contributed by the
community
• ~300 projects registered in the Forge
– 61 localization projects registered
– 122 projects lead independently by
community members not related to the
Openbravo company
A modular architecture is critical to facilitate a decentralized community
development process, and create a large pool of 3rd-party extensions
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Page 6
The Openbravo Solution Vision
Leveraging an ERP Platform
Over 80% of business software is
commodity (Master Data, Financials, Purchasing,
Sales, Order Processing, Inventory, Invoicing…)
Business customers don’t buy
commodity ERP platforms, they buy
packaged business solutions.
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Page 7
The Openbravo Commercial Vision
What is this “Business of Modularity”?
A business model that enables fast
authoring of ERP software modules and
entire vertical solutions…
… and that enables the author to make
recurring revenue on the software itself
(not just the services)
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Page 8
Agenda
Business of Modularity Overview
Openbravo Infrastructure
Openbravo Exchange / Commercial Considerations
Q&A
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Page 9
What is modularity
The Modularity Ecosystem Infrastructure
Modularity
• Modular architecture in
Openbravo ERP r2.50
- Facilitates distributed
development
- Reduces time to market
Exchange
Forge
• Marketplace for free
and commercial
extensions for
Openbravo ERP
• Platform for collaborative
development
- For Openbravo ERP
- For third party
developments
- For private projects
Central Repository
• Distribution mechanism
for Openbravo ERP
extensions
- Functional modules,
industry templates,
localization packs
• Support for Commercial extensions
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Page 10
Modularity
Modularity components
Concept
Description
Modularity includes the concept of:
• Extension Modules
- Base content container. It can include all types of
artifacts but Configuration Scripts: Application
Dictionary components, Software resources and
Reference data.
- Modules are the way to add new elements to
Openbravo ERP.
- However, it cannot modify elements of other modules including core-, to avoid crossed dependencies
between them.
• Packs
- Packs can contain a number of modules developed by
different parties
- Special packs are localization packs and vertical packs
• Industry templates
- A combination of packs and a configuration script
- Only one per system
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Page 11
Illustrative examples
available in the Forge
Modularity
Existing Extension Modules
Tax Report
Launcher
CIF
validator
Spanish
Professional
Localization
Mass
Advanced
Payment
Elondra
bmSales
integration
Process
Maker BPM
integration
Hotel
Management
Module
Mass
Invoicing
Human
Capital
Management
Business
Partner Debt
Consolidation
NIF
validator
User Tasks
Module
Direct Debit
Form of
Payment
Orders
Awaiting
Delivery
Report
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Openbravo
QuickStart
Description
Templates
Page 12
Accounting Tabs
for Transactions
Intercompany
documents
Modularity
Illustrative
Modules Developed by Openbravo Business Partners
Free “as is” Module
Commercial Module
Hotel
Management
System
• HMS Module for small Hoteliers,
including:
- Sales Management
- Guest Management
- Guest Alerts
- Message Recording
- etc.
User
Tasks
• Allows users to register tasks:
- Relate tasks to partners and/or
products
- Establish deadline
- Generates alert after deadline
Partners worldwide are starting to use modularity to build extensions
that they are listing on Openbravo Exchange
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Page 13
Modularity
Additional resources
• Introduction to the Openbravo Forge
– http://forge.openbravo.com/plugins/mwiki/index.php/Openbravoforgesupport/Help/Introduction
– http://forge.openbravo.com/plugins/mwiki/index.php/Openbravoforgesupport/Help/Index
• Publishing an Extension Module in the Openbravo Forge
– http://forge.openbravo.com/plugins/mwiki/index.php/Openbravoforgesupport/Help/Usage_Mod
ules
• Developers Guide
– http://wiki.openbravo.com/wiki/ERP/2.50/Developers_Guide/Concepts/Modularity
– http://wiki.openbravo.com/wiki/ERP/2.50/Extension_Module_Demonstrations_Videos
– http://wiki.openbravo.com/wiki/ERP/2.50/Developers_Guide/How_To_Create_and_Package_
a_Module
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Page 14
What is Modularity
The Openbravo Forge
forge.openbravo.com
Description
• The Openbravo Forge is the home for the
Openbravo projects on-line, including:
- the Openbravo ERP core, and…
- Extension modules
• All the infrastructure to develop modules is
freely available on-line
-
Code repository
Forums and news
Issue tracker
Wiki
Modules can be published (obx files for commercial
modules are protected from free download)
- It is also possible to use third party infrastructure (eg.
SourceForge, LaunchPad, … ) and link to them from
the Openbravo Forge
• Openbravo Business Partners have the added
benefit of being capable to register private
projects
- Eg. To develop a project together with a client
- Partners can invite other members that are not
necessarily business partners (eg. Clients)
LGL-MOD-The_Business_of _Modularity-1209-JMI
Page 15