[sf-lug] Small business automation and internet presence.

[David Sterry]

Hello Robert,

I'm in a similar boat as yourself. I've been using something that I
built myself using Access but wanted something web enabled that I could
get to from a few different trusted computers and make the system
accessible to partners/employees.

What I found was that packages like Compiere and SugarCRM are pretty big
and really too much for what I needed. I wanted something that I could
get in a tweak mainly to do job time tracking and automated invoices.
The best one I found was phpBMS. It's under active development and the
coding by the developers has impressed me as I work with it. It's not a
really mature project but it does quite a lot from a business operations
standpoint. You can check out the online demo at phpbms.org. Since
you'll likely be living with this system for a while, I'd advise going
through every operation you can think of on a test setup of whatever
packages you narrow down to.

I'm currently doing a module for phpBMS that allows invoice line items
to be entered over time and that will be automatically assembled into an
invoice and emailed when the time is right. It's a good thing if you
bill variable numbers of hours over time.

Finally, once you decide to go live, definitely use SSL and .htaccess to
secure it at a minimum.

-Dave


Robert Briley wrote:
> Greetings Everyone,
> 
> I am trying to set-up a small business and I need to meet a few technology challenges.  The first is that I need to have an internet presence complete with online ordering, and second that my bookkeeper who will be helping me set up and monitor my finances is in another city and we both should have access to the accounting and inventory info.
> 
> My plan at this point is to start off using Yahoo or one of the other small business hosting services for ecommerce and and I will have to flounder on the phone to the bookkeeper as I set-up and use quickbooks.  But in the long-run I will probably be better off with a web-based ERP package and perhaps some form of e-commerce software if it is not built in.  Right now I am a one-man show and will probably remain so for at least a year. I don't need anything fancy, but I think an integrated and web-enabled  package will require less work and maintenance in the long run.  At this point I have been looking at SQL ledger, Tiny ERP and Compire.  
> 
> I use to be a DBA, and I enjoy technology, but I need to focus on getting things done with a minimum of hassle, and I don't have money for a lot of consulting.  While any comments on the above scheme are appreciated, I would most like to know 1) am I buying more or less headaches by moving to a small ERP?   2) Do any of you have experince with a web-based package that you could comment on for or against?
> 
> Again, any insights will be appreciated.
> 
> TIA   
> -R
> 
> 
> Robert 
> (415) 806-0705     
> 
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