French VAR Wins Major Open Source ERP Deal

Do you still doubt the power of the emerging open source IT channel? Consider this: Axilom, a solutions provider based in France, has won a contract to deploy Compiere Inc.’s open source ERP (enterprise resource planning) system for La Poste, a global postal processing organization with 300,000 employees and 45 million customers. Here’s the scoop.

La Poste plans to leverage Compiere Professional, a commercial open source ERP solution, within a Business-to-Business division, to replace existing sales, purchasing, inventory, and payment processing systems, according to Compiere.

Sounds sweet. But The VAR Guy writes for solutions providers. So let’s take a look at the big winner in this deal: Axilom. The company is a Compiere Gold Partner. Axilom describes itself as an Economic Interest Group that “unites the principal companies that specialize in implementing the Compiere ERP solution in France.”

That’s a fancy way of saying, “We’re disrupting the traditional closed-source ERP market in Europe, Oui, Oui.”

Coming On Strong

Compiere, by the way, was ranked No. 14 in The VAR Guy’s Open Source 50 report, which tracks the most promising open source partner programs. (Several other open source CRM and ERP software providers also landed on the list.)

Update, 12:08 p.m. eastern Feb. 19: The VAR Guy just heard that xTuple — another open source ERP specialist — grew its revenue 250% in 2008 compared with 2007. Of course, the growth hints that xTuple is a small company. But wouldn’t we all crave 250% growth in this economy?

Closing thought: The VAR Guy isn’t suggesting that open source will fully replace closed source. There’s plenty of room for both approaches in the software market. But anyone who doubts the emerging open source IT channel needs to read The VAR Guy a bit more regularly…

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