xTupler #40 | November 2015
Dear Community —
It seems like a different era, but I vividly remember the excitement my wife and I felt when thinking about names for our two girls. We decided to keep it a mystery, so we had lists of both boy and girl names. Lots of discussion ensued — as anyone who's been in that happy situation can certainly confirm.
We're going through something similar here at xTuple. We already know quite a bit about our "baby" and how s/he works. Our bundle of joy started life as the "xTuple Web Portal," and the initial implementation was the online "supportal" that still today manages support tickets, bugs, and feature requests. It connected a website front-end to the ERP back-end — in this case, the Incident Management system in the CRM module. Then customers started asking us to add eCommerce/shopping cart functionality — for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer sales.
After all, who doesn't want to sell more stuff online? But, it's so much more than that!
451 Research Impact Report: xTuple brings commerce to the supply chain
xTuple is doing rapidly something its larger rivals can only do very slowly and incrementally — adapt to the realities of customer-driven dynamic supply chains — and in particular its digital commerce capabilities, reports 451 Research’s Alan Pelz-Sharpe.
“xTuple has a clear vision as to how ERP will be leveraged in the future — that's more than many of its competitors can boast,” says Pelz-Sharpe.
Read the complete 451 Research Impact Report on xTuple.
IN THIS ISSUE
EVENTS
BLOG SERIES | Mike Atherton
Speaking from Experience
BLOG SERIES | Jim McCluskey
New in Custom Development
HOT TOPICS
- Release Notes: xTuple ERP 4.9.2
- Comparing Sage with xTuple
- xTAU Replaces xTuple Server
- The pros of outsourcing payroll
- New PostBooks® licensing
- Four Pillars of Commerce
- plv8 in xTuple version 4.9
- New look in 4.9.0
- Disruptive technologies & open architecture tools
- New Order-to-Cash video series is "on the money"
Where's Wally? Helping the U.S. Supply Chain
Trending topic? How to meet consumer demand, and remain agile amid instability and unpredictability in the business-to-business marketplace. xTuple solves this very real problem with an ERP-integrated customer-facing Web platform to help companies automate — and deepen — customer experiences and trading partner relationships.
Much more than a simple shopping cart, xTupleCommerce is an affordable real-time solution to deliver a competitive advantage for every business.
Pictured: Cassie Smith of xTuple customer Blair Companies visits Wally's booth, APICS 2015.
Distribution Duo & the 800-Pound Gorilla's Baby
Sr. Distribution Engineer Tom Atkins and Rick Murchake, director of special projects, introduced xTupleCommerce — xTuple's solution to that 800-pound problem — at Equity Plumbing's annual meeting, an organization comprised of independent wholesale plumbing / PVF distributors with a collective purchasing power of $2 billion annually.
Pictured (left to right): Phil McIntosh of Friendly Systems; Anthony Milelli, president of New Jersey-based TPS Supply; Anil Cherian of SDG Consulting at the xTuple booth, 2015 Equity Plumbing meeting.
Real-time Sales & Customer Service Access for Business-to-Business (B2B)
xTupleCommerce — the xTuple ERP-integrated Web-based tool for automating your sales and marketing interactions with prospects, customers, business partners, and more — is now available to test with our unlimited Free Trial. We even have a "getting started with xTupleCommerce" video series.
As new customers launch their sites, we'll share the best-of-the-best — and their experiences — here.
Customer Conversations: xTupleCommerce
People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it
From Rebecca Shapiro, director of business applications at ASSET STEM Education™, a leading national science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education improvement nonprofit established by the Bayer Corporation and community partners —
xTuple is a team of accomplished technologists that provide affordable ERP for small and mid-sized business. The open source model enables the customer to self-serve with the knowledge that professional services are available.
Committed to delivering hands-on, minds-on professional development from initial design to final delivery, xTuple’s Web Services Group developed a new ASSET website — built with xTupleCommerce — to provide a more user-friendly and efficient experience. Their customers are now able to:
- Review detailed product information
- Manage account information and view past and pending orders
- View scheduled events and courses
- Purchase seats and register educators
- Download invoices
Year-End Strategy > Help your Customers Love You More
How? Automate your sales and marketing. Deliver real-time sales and customer service access. Conduct business transactions and build relationships via the Web. Claim your competitive advantage over traditional "brick-and-mortar"-only storefronts.
Partners Annual Awards Presented
Partner of the Year/Dan Means Memorial Award —
Charles Schley of U.S.-based ERP Implementation Consulting Group (ERPICG)
Elite Partner Awards —
AKA Consulting, New York (USA) — Alex Kleyff
Core Services Group, Michigan (USA) — Scott Zuke
Friendly Systems, Georgia (USA) — Phil McIntosh
Paladin Logic, Limited, Texas (USA) — Will Bralick
SDG Consulting, Illinois (USA) — Anil Cherian
Soluciones Empresariales Open, Mexico — Alfredo Martinez
Contact Partner Channel director Danielle Kerner for details
xTupleR Staffer Features
Chris Tucker
Job Title: Web Developer
Social: LinkedIn
Joined: January 2015
Mission: Create beautiful sites and services with clean, streamlined user experiences. Turn customers’ Web dreams into reality.
CV: BA in English from University of Mary Washington. Worked for 4 years in the non-profit field as a developer before coming to xTuple.
Personal: Originally from Fairfax VA, now lives in Ghent with his girlfriend of 3 years.
Hobbies: Mountain Biking, SCUBA diving, 3-gun competition
Why technology as a career? Has always come naturally and been fun for me. Being a developer is a great mix of engineering and design implementation, and I love the feeling of taking peoples’ ideas and building them into something tangible.
Learn from xTuple subject matter experts on wide-ranging topics — setup and configuration to tips and tricks and deep-dive seminars. High-definition xTupleU videos help you get started faster, explore complex topics, answer frequently asked questions, and provide dependable training for new employees.
Ever wondered how easy is it to get started using xTuple? 25 minutes or less
xTuple Classroom – Training Combo
Coming in MARCH 2016
Power User Training (PUT)
Coming in MAY 2016
Enjoy 25% OFF Savings when you combine both SCO and PUT classes for best value. **
xTuple Distance Learning – Training Combo
Online 2-day live course || December 2-3, 2015
Add to any Classroom Training, get PMIM at 50% off **
**DETAILS on Promotional Training Package
Class size is limited. You may send multiple people from the same company to take advantage of this combined class offer. This promotion may not be combined with any other discounts.
xTuple Webinars [complimentary]
NEW: What is ERP, Why Do I Need It, and Which One is Right for My Manufacturing Business? Video
New: What is ERP, Why Do I Need It, & Which is Right for My Distribution Business? Video
Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits are available for every training event offered by xTuple, unless otherwise noted, authorized by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA).
Learn more about the xTuple Knowledge Series and view past events on xTuple's YouTube Channel.
About xTuple
Grow Your World® with the world's #1 open source ERP — the award-winning provider of commercial open source business management software for small- to mid-sized companies. Connect with the company, including the developer and partner community, at xTuple.com.