Developing open source ERP systems for SMEs: Is that still of interest?

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in enterprise resource planning (ERPs) systems for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This interest has created new delivery models of ERPs and one is the open source ERP. The question addressed in this paper is: What role has development of open source ERPs played in the diffusion of ERPs among SMEs? It can be stated that open source have gained momentum in organizations today, however, it is not that clear what role open source plays when it comes to specific business applications such as a ERPs. In order to explore this, a combination of literature reviews and an investigation of a distribution channel of open source projects were conducted. Based on this it is discussed if open source ERP systems still are of interest among SMEs. This is then compared with challenges, which a proprietary ERP vendor suggests exist in ERP development when they target the SME market. It can be concluded that open source ERP development has a great deal to offer, but the main conclusion is that the difference is mainly on the development side, which means that it can be suggested that for the actual diffusion of ERPs among SMEs, it does not matter whether the ERP is open source or proprietary, however for SMEs open source ERPs have probably made that new "business models" enhancing the possibility for SMEs to access ERPs have seen the light. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.