We started in 2008 and initially provided custom web app development services, but at heart we were always a product company. In 2010, we finally discovered this and shifted our strategy, we went from a team of 18 to 5 and concentrated on the product. We also started our SAAS offering in 2010 and branded as ERPNext. Since then our focus has been on the product and improving its quality, usability etc. Since last year, we have managed to get some traction and we have now more than 250 paid customers, both SAAS (75%) and open source production support (25%). Also 75% of our revenues come from outside India.
Apart from the product, we have also published an open source web app framework in Python called Frappe (Framework + Apps). It is a full stack Python and JS framework. The unique part of the framework is that unlink other frameworks that either concetrate on server side or client side, Frappe has both parts to it. Also has an ORM, migration system, deployment framework called Bench
Last year we were also listed as one of the best open source software application in the world by InfoWorld along with Wordpress and SugarCRM.
We are a small team based in Mumbai, our current size is 8 (including a couple of freshers we hired a couple of months back). We are 4 core developers. Nabin, Anand and myself are full-stack developers. I focus on the framework and UI, Nabin manages ERPNext and Anand does a bit of both. Pratik is our in-house Linux guru and devops guy. Apart from that Umair and Prakash handle support and admin.
Our development happens in GitHub - 95% of our repos are public and we manage internally using our own tool ERPNext
We also make public presetations to our community every month, and our community keenly follows those. We call it Open Day.
4. Being an India based company can you tell us about the understanding of Open Source by the new government as well as the overall atmosphere towards open source solutions?
I have heard a few states like Kerala have taken good initiatives in FOSS, but overall the scene is quite sad. The IITs which are supposed to be at the forefront, do not even acknowledge that a good project lies in their backyard. I have tried writing to a lot of people, but there is not much response. We have a pilot going on in Kenya, where ERPNext is being piloted to manage the water authority of a region. The project is funded by the UN and even they are watching. If we are able to succeed, then I think Indian government might take notice. As always, we tend to follow rather than lead.
We have users in over 60 countries! ERPNext is also available in 20+ languages and we just started a translation portal to get the community help in translations.
6. Do you work with other open source companies to offer a complete solution, or be part of their solution? Can you tell us a bit about it?
We are very clear about the model, we do not offer any services. That is left to the community and eco-system. Right now it is the users who are driving the community by bring in dev shops, freelancers to help contribute and not the other way round. There are lots of opportunities in ERPNext for development, customization, training, implementation etc. right now.
7. How do you engage with the Open Source community? Which open source projects does your product rely on and how do you work with those communities?
So when we started off, we had no idea / contacts from anyone in the community. Open Sourcing our app was not a strategic decision, it just made sense. I find it hard to justify closed source. Initially we did not reach out because you know there are tons of open source apps that amount to nothing. So we got confortable building it the open, but not with any community. But again slowly people started noticing us. We got a couple of sponsors from Germany and Australia and they were generous enough to donate $5000 each. And organically the word spread. Since 2014, community engagement is very high and we have a very passionate and engaged community. We interact mainly via GitHub and the Google forum.
We use a bunch of open source tools including Python (with a bunch of libraries), MariaDB, Nginx, and a who lot of Javascript / CSS libraries including JQuery, Bootstrap, FontAwesome etc.
ERPNext is used by companies in Manufacturing, Distribtion, Retail and Services. ERPNext has financial accounting, inventory management, CRM, Sales and Purchase Management, HR, Project Management, Helpdesk and Support and much more. Companies can even generate their websites from ERPNext and we also have an e-commerce module.
We have all kinds of customers from electronics distributors, retail chains, software companies, consumer electronics and open hardware manufacturers, fabrication shops, mom-and-pop retail stores, organic farmers, cement manufacturers and many more. We have a very eclectic bunch of users and these are people who have found us out. We have not particularly focused on any domain.
User Experience (UX) and availablity at an affordable price.
We share our copyright with all contributors and welcome new contributes and actively help them understand the product. We manage contributions via GitHub
Our business role model is Wordpress. We offer hosting services at FrappeCloud.com and this is our bread and butter. We also get revenue from production support and we have recently launched developer training and support plans
Odoo (formerly OpenERP) and a bunch of others in the Open Source space and Microsoft Dynamics, Sage. In India, it mostly Tally. People are frustrated and at the same time afraid to get away from Tally. I think changing Tally habits in India is a tough task and we don't plan on tackling it head on!
14. Where does ERPNext stand in competition with similar closed-source software targeting small and medium sized business?
The product is pretty good and we have tons of testimonials to show for it. The challenge is to make people understand open source is good for them. As one of our users put it, "the problem with ERPNext is that it is too good to be true!"
We don't since our product is free to try out. Clients use our 30 day free trials, download VMs or install it via our Bench. Almost 50 people are trying out ERPNext every day!
This is a major item on our todo. Right now manage onboarding themselves and it is a major bottleneck for an app like ERPnext. We are soon going to write scripts that can help users onboard from apps like Tally, OpenERP etc.
18. Does your company take any initiatives or conduct any programmes to spread open-soure awareness in general?
We would love to, but the opportunities are so limited! The local FOSS groups, like FSF India are pretty much laying quiet. Maybe Mumbai is not the right city for this. We believe that government organizations and utilities should be at the forefront of trying out products like ERPNext and image the amount of public money that can be saved. Even IIT Bombay is going for a proprietary ERP. Like I said, we are techonlogy laggards.
We are hosting a product conference in Mumbai on Sept 25th. Concluding from a basic online search, we might be the first Indian Software Product to host a conference in India. Please do join!
Off Record - for our own use. @. How can sites like The Mukt help in further spreading the world about the company and educate users about your solutions?
What is your readership like? I think we are a great case study of an open source project from India and we hope we can make it easy to for others who want to do this.
A few proposed revisions; have a look;
https://gist.github.com/ankitjavalkarwork/bc6cbbcbddc9a45bc9d2/revisions