xTupler #12 | December 2009
Dear Community —
While economic conditions around the world continue to be challenging, here at xTuple we've been fortunate to have done better than most in 2009. We continue to see strong growth in customers, partners, and of course, our open source community.
It's you - the tens of thousands of active participants in the xTuple ERP community - that make our success (and the continuing enhancement of xTuple ERP products) possible. We'd like to take this opportunity to say "thank you" ... and to hopefully give a little something back as well.
As you may know, earlier this year, we developed our first major "eXtension Package" for xTuple ERP: a retail Point-of-Sale module (xtPOS). For the past few months, we've been in a public beta of the latest release of xtPOS, and have had terrific feedback from a number of community members. We had been selling it on the xChange for several hundred dollars, but the more we thought about it, the more we have come to believe that we should release xtPOS as open source as well.
So that's exactly what we're going to do. Call it our holiday gift to you - we hope you like it, and will help us continue to build it into an integral part of the xTuple ERP experience! Effective immediately, the xtPOS package is available for download on Sourceforge (and is hosted in our public SVN there).
You'll also see it in the new version of the xTuple ERP Hosted Demo databases, built on version 3.4.0, which debut today. If you're not familiar with this program, it's basically a private, full-use, hosted database of your very own - running the full commercial Manufacturing Edition of xTuple ERP. You can connect to your private Hosted Demo with the same version 3.4.0 GUI client that you downloaded from Sourceforge - just check "Log in to registered xTuple demo account" on the login screen, and enter the same username and password you use at xtuple.org.
Thank you again for your support of xTuple ERP. From all of us here, all our best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season, and a terrific start to 2010.
Warm regards,
Ned Lilly
xTuple President and CEO
Introducing iTuple: xTuple CRM for your iPhone!
Attention iPhone users! Now you can get the world's only iTunes app for the xTuple ERP system.
Meet iTuple - fully integrated xTuple CRM! Easily sync your iPhone or iPod Touch with your company's xTuple ERP database (PostBooks, Standard, or Manufacturing) ... including the full CRM Address Book of contacts and corporate relationships, as well as personal To-Do items assigned from within the CRM module.
All contact information is "live" on the iPhone; telephone numbers can be dialed, and emails to contacts created, with a touch of the iTuple record. CRM addresses in iTuple are also fully integrated with the Google Maps application.
Built by xTuple partner Paladin Logic, iTuple is now available for individual purchase on the Apple iTunes App Store for just $35. If you're interested in an enterprise license, please contact xTuple sales.
It's the perfect use for that iTunes gift card!
Free Webinar, January 6: Dig Deeper into xTuple CRM!
But this month, based on your requests from last time, we'll also be taking a deeper dive into the fully-integrated CRM module. For xTuple, the "C" means more than just "Customer"; as you'll see, xTuple Corporate Relationship Management includes a full Address Book, Incidents, Opportunities, To-Dos, Projects, and much more- for everyone (companies and individuals) with whom you have any kind of business relationship.
If you'd like to learn more about xTuple ERP, and the CRM module in particular, please attend. We'll reserve time at the end of each demo for live questions and answers from registered attendees. If you'd like to attend, please pre-register now to help us prepare.
And remember, we also offer an extensive catalog of free training videos as well, all of which can be viewed on demand.
New in the xChange
Arena Solutions PDM Integration
And don't forget about the Executive Summary Dashboard ($100), by Yellow Dog Consulting--a powerful and configurable tool for viewing all your critical business metrics on a single screen.
Community Corner
New arrivals to the xtuple.org website, particularly people who still bear the scars of working with other ERP vendors, often marvel at how quickly community members (including xTuple staff) respond to questions in the forums. Here's new user kenquad, for example:
Worked like a dream. I just installed the postgresql-contrib package on Debian, then ran the pgcrypto script (which I found in my Windows demo installation) from pgadmin. This is my first experience with xtuple forum support, and I must say you made it a good one. Thanks!!!
Sure thing, Ken. We hope to see you around more!
And here's Sunny Wong, Senior IT/Program Development Engineer at Global Solutions HK LTD. Global Solutions is a Hong Kong-based plastics manufacturer, who recently implemented the Manufacturing Edition of xTuple ERP. As you'll see, they've been busy:
Our xTuple ERP system is successfully launched with MRP computation/ SolidWorks PDM (Product Data Management) BOM integrated with xTuple ERP. The xTuple ERP system demo at your website helped us launch it, and your software provides lower total cost of ownership than other ERP implementation consultant services (e.g. SAP/PeopleSoft).
Keep up the good work, Sunny! And thanks!
Employee Showcase
Danielle joined xTuple nearly a year ago to help identify and develop new business initiatives, with a focus on the xTuple partner network.
xTuple has always had a solid base of knowledgeable and talented partners. But with our recent growth in end-user interest, it was clear that we needed to expand our partner network in many key markets in the U.S., and around the world.
Over the past 12 months, Danielle has worked to increase the xTuple partner network by more than 50%, signing up new partners in Ohio, Georgia, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, as well as markets in Canada and South America. She's talking to other partner prospects on five continents, so if you're interested in working with xTuple, drop her a line!
In addition to recruiting, Danielle actively supports xTuple partners as they develop sales and marketing plans and engage with customers. Her favorite conversations are with prospective partners who really "get" what makes xTuple different, and how we can help their customers.
When she's not busy working with xTuple partners, Danielle's passion is spending time with her husband and her 4-year-old daughter, hiking in the summer, and skiing in the winter in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains.
Partner Showcase
Larry Cartee - Founder, Magical Custom Programming
It's the holidays and we're all busy trying to find just the right gift for family members - but with 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren, xTuple partner Larry Cartee may have the biggest shopping list of all!
Larry, president and owner of Magical Custom Programming located in Spring, TX is one of xTuple's most active and engaged partners. Ask a question about retail point-of-sale or any number of related topics on the xTuple forums and you're likely to get a helpful response from "lcartee" - not bad for someone who didn't even touch a computer until he was 40!
Larry has been the owner of several businesses over the course of his career, including a retail lumber yard and hardware as well as a retail and commercial floor covering dealer. As any of his current customers can tell you, it's nice to work with someone who's "been there." When he's not busy supporting xTuple customers and community members, Larry enjoys playing golf - although not as much as he'd like!