结语

横览企业管理系统这个千变万化生态圈，不管是在诸如SAP、甲骨文（Oracle）、微软（Microsoft）等软件巨头的统治领域， 还是在小型软件开发者的一亩三分地，OpenERP俨然已经树立起自己免费接替者的角色。

迄今为止，企业如何管理自己的信息系统，只有两种方法可选：购买并安装一套专有的、完整的，但常常又是用力过头的、 难以适应改变的，并且是昂贵的ERP系统；或者是内部自行开发一套系统，仅仅适用于现有需求，但进一步开发又非常昂贵、 整合性不高，并且不是很完整。

OpenERP凭借其自由的商业模型，整合了ERP系统应有的完整性和环境可适应性（灵活性）。开发的源代码、项目的通用灵活性， 及其成百上千个模块，可以让你通过适当选择组合，即可构建一套自有的解决方案，并根据发展的需求，自由更新。

The results will be at the top end of what you might expect from any ERP system, let alone an Open Source system. The considerable gains in productivity, efficiency and visibility become apparent only a few months after implementation. And you can gain from increased operational quality even if you reduce your human resourcing intensity. Because there are fewer repetitive tasks for your staff to do, they can concentrate on higher value-added work. We frequently receive the gratitude of senior management who get better results from their business because they have adopted OpenERP.

你不是一个人在战斗

Many resources are at hand to accompany you on your OpenERP adventure.

使用SaaS让烦人的技术问题见鬼去吧

For a quick low-cost start, you can make use of a month’s comprehensive free trial of Tiny’s OpenERP SaaS package found at http://ondemand.openerp.com/. Using this, you sidestep any technical difficulties and get a comprehensive set of system administration services, server hosting, configuration to your environment, maintenance, support and initial training.

A SaaS package is suited to the needs of small enterprises that do not have very specific needs, and where the initial cost and the delay of implementation are critical factors.

To meet its objectives of minimal cost, the SaaS package aims for highly automated standardized data migrations, minimal support load by training customers well, and a strict limit to the number of modules offered. So you cannot use your own modules, and are limited to the standard modules that are included in various package levels.

购买咨询,少走弯路

Larger companies often prefer a more classic implementation path. Even though OpenERP’s simplicity makes this task easier than with other systems, you cannot hide the fact that a project implementation is complex and introduces big changes to a company.

So you can turn towards some of the different actors in this free software ecosystem to help you out:

  • the community of users and developers,
  • Tiny’s OpenERP partner companies,
  • the main project developers, Tiny, themselves.

社区用户与开发者

The community, supported by Tiny, hosts a set of communication tools which can help you in your OpenERP investigation.

The forum enables you to discuss issues with other OpenERP users. It is very active and you have a good chance of receiving some form of response to your questions within twenty-four hours or so.

The OpenObject wiki is used to manage activities around OpenERP.

You will find information about:

  • Shared Funding Projects
  • IRC Meetings
  • Real Life Meetings (e.g. Community Days)
  • Business Intelligence
  • Open Report (e.g. OpenReport, OpenOffice Plugin)

所有可用模块的数据库应用让你自由接入到已知的OpenERP的扩展当中

最近的传输通讯工具是那个主控所有系列OpenERP源码（使用*bzr*源码控制系统） 和用作报告错误的launchpad系统。它已占据OpenERP技术的核心位置。

OpenERP 官方合作伙伴

If you need contract-backed guarantees for implementing and maintaining OpenERP, you can contact an official OpenERP partner. OpenERP partners offer various services such as user training, prototype installations, and change management services. The complete list of partners by country and by type can be found on the official OpenERP site: http://openerp.com/partners

主导开发者: Tiny

Finally you can call the main project developers, Tiny, who can help you in your OpenERP project. Tiny offers various services, such as free demonstration days for the software, user training and technical training, support contracts, maintenance contracts and developments as required. Depending on the demand, they can also put you in contact with partners most aligned to your requirements.

To conclude, do not forget that OpenERP has more than two hundred modules available and that many of them have not been covered in this book. So if you have not found a solution to your problems here, look amongst those modules, talk to other OpenERP users on the forum, and do not hesitate to contact a partner.

Wishing you the greatest of success in your ERP project,

— Geoff Gardiner and Fabien Pinckaers.