Slashdot Mirror
ERP/CMS for Small Business IT consultants
Serge asks: "In my IT-consultancy-network-engineer job, where I visit several small business customers, I've been looking for some software to extensively manage resources I have on our customers. Currently, the system sucks. We write reports in Microsoft Word, draw network schemes in Visio, export offers to PDF, and so on, and stack it all together on a nice Windows file server in a per customer directory structure. So much for the automation aspect of Information Technology. My ideal app would be accessible online and offline (I travel with my laptop), I would document a log on every network object I work on, I could pull a query on all those logs from one day to give a daily report to the customer, I could input my working hours to bill later on, it would be integrated with our helpdesk software and would manage each customer's to-do list. The sky is the obviously limit. So, what does Slashdot do to fully handle this information ERP issue?"
You want a CRM/SFA application, NOT a CMS/ERP.
http://www.compiere.org/
Might need some tweaking.
I've been using a great product called http://www.basecamphq.com/Basecamp. its only available on the web, but it allows collaboration, file uploading, and lots of features. There's also a company called Guavasoft that is developing an open source ERP suite similar to Compiere, only not just CRM and its a web-application. Kind of like salesforce.com but expanded.
"Rhetoric can't raise the dead, I'm sick of always talking when there's no change." - Thrice
Another thing to consider is that it is hard to move a company to a business automation system. You have to carefully get everyone lined up, take their concerns into account, watch for potential turf-wars, teach everyone to use if properly, and deploy it without a hitch. Oh, and that's assuming you built the right thing in the first place. Don't underestimate the difficulty of getting this sort of thing right - it is much more than a technical problem.
I forget what 8 was for.
Have you considered groupware apps?d ex.html
http://www.phpgroupware.org/
http://www.phprojekt.com/features.php
http://www.opengroupware.org/en/applications/in
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Pay some high-school geek minimum-wage to do it -- much cheaper.
'He who has to break a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom.' -- Gandalf to Saruman
Check out www.beyourown.net. We've made a pretty complete CMS system, and though it's not free, it's really cheap (starts at $8/mo). It's built on a very powerful .NET API, which we've also created, and you could use to extend it for your needs. We'd also be happy to do that for you for a fee :).
It's a purely web-based solution right now, but we (or you) may create a Windows client in the future that can work offline and synchronize with the site via web services.
I use OSRAIDS, it is unfinished and the project needs help. I am the project manager so I know these things. But over all a perfect fit for your needs. I call it a CBS or Consultant Babysitting System.
The GPL, for those that truely understand.
We bought into the product several years ago when it wasn't that good (v5.2.3); however, they've moved up to v6.2, which supposedly integrates much better with your Office Apps. My main complaint about the current version is the difficulties with the remote laptop client. The install process is not easy and requires you to install MSDE - what a pain!
Reports are written in Crystal Reports, the client-side front-ends are extremely easy to modify with some very basic knowledge of VB and SQL Server. If you prefer not to modify the application yourself, they offer by the hour consulting fees to program new functionality and customize the app for your individual company.
Additionally, it integrates with handhelds and pocketpcs. It's also very marketing driven - it's designed to help you follow up with clients and record every single communication with each client into the central database.
As I've said, the version we're on pretty much sucks; however, we're soon upgrading to the latest version which will hopefully take care of the remote laptop users, or at least increase the useabiliy of the application.
If nothing else - it's worth a look.
Script it. Batch it. Perl it. AutoIT it. VBA it. Don't start over with a package. Make what you have work.
You write reports in Microsoft Word:
Make a template of your reports with all boiler plate data. Create a form to open with the template to enter the necessary data. Automate the form to a database for other reports, Statements of Work, Invoices etc..
You Draw network schemes in Visio:
Generate automation scripts to build your drawings. Visio has all the tools. In Visio 2000 you could import well formed text files. As I understand it, in Visio2003 you can import xml. Write a script to parse your sys data and make diagrams.
Export offers to PDF:
Look at AutoIT (http://www.hiddensoft.com/AutoIt/): You can automate whatever you need to do by keystroke.
Stack it all together on a nice Windows file server in a per customer directory structure:
And what is your problem??
Harden and put the file server in a DMZ with IPsec. Update the files from the road. Work alot behind an enterprise firewall, use SSH on the file server. Or VPN into your company system.
I could pull a query on all those logs from one day to give a daily report to the customer:
Try using Outlook journaling features (unfamiliar). Get the journal to generate time usage by time spent on Visio or Word doc work per File|Properties|Catagories string which would be scripted in.
I could input my working hours to bill later on:
Isn't that what Outlook Journalling does??
integrated with our helpdesk software:
What do you want to integrate? Diagrams? Reports?
If your file structure is clear enough, you should be able to script that pretty easily.
\Customer\Service Date\Reports
\Customer\Service Date\Diagrams etc.
One push of a button should open the customers latest diagram.
would manage each customer's to-do list:
This is probably more difficult as you want to now integrate with your financial package (open POs). Still it can be scripted.
Need help?
Google:
Microsoft Script Center
Scriptomatic
Perl
AutoIT
VBscript tutorials
Enable VBA in Word, Outlook and Visio. Read the help files
Or as all the other OOS zealots will tell you, start all over, learn Linux and roll your own.
machinator omnis sine licentia
I created my own using PHP/MySQL, at least I got what I wanted. Only took me about 40 hours, as I took the K.I.S.S. approach.
Couple more ideas:
On-Demand or Enterprise project management, team collaboration:
www.teamelements.com
On-Demand or Enterprise Open Source CRM w/project management, help desk, accounts, HTTP-XML API for integration:
www.centriccrm.com
Centric CRM is going to have a WebDAV interface in the next version which would allow you to access all of your files through a WebDAV client like Microsoft Explorer, Linux, or OSX without having to use a web browser for uploading/downloading files.
Plone is a CMS built on Zope. You will have to create your own solution, but I believe Plone will be a good base to start with.
-- Bryan
automation is overrated.. :)
sometimes the simplest solution is a manual one...
but sometimes not
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Outsource it! :P
Check out http://www.dbsonline.com/ and look for the BS/1 Professional download. It is FREE for Delphi developers who have some version of Delphi installed on their system. The source code is available for purchase, and it's pretty good software, especially if you are familiar with accounting. Best part of the Pro version is the Time Billing capabilities.
Highly recommended!
Disclaimer: No, I am not affiliated with Davis Business Systems. Just a fan.
pi=sigma{n:0-infinity}[(1/16)^n][(4/(8n+1))-(2/(8n +4))-(1/ (8n+5))-(1/(8n+6))]
We wrote our own web-based application to deal with this, and it includes many, but not all of the features you are looking for.
We're using it day to day to run our business and keep adding things as we need/desire them. Just start with a simple soltution (the itch we scratched initially was timebilling) and get something basic out there.
It allows techs, users, customers and admins to login. It includes time billing, invoicing, and basic helpdesk system. Hours can be recorded against clients by the various techs, logged against helpdesk jobs, invoiced, etc. It's also possible to sell product through a PC Store which has a simple PC Configurator tool.
It stores information (including attachments) for customer hardware - for example, you can record purchase date/IP address of a firewall and upload the config files as an attachment - or just a handy place to put drivers or a copy of the original invoice.
Next, we added basic reporting - revenue per period, hours or billing per consultant/customer, configure default billing rates and all that stuff.
Mike