Compiere Blog

Special Limited Time Offer: Free Compiere Reporting eLearning

Learn about Compiere's reporting capabilities from the convenience of your desk. For a limited time, Compiere is offering you free access to the popular Information & List Reports eLearning module.

In just fifteen minutes the Information & List Reports eLearning module shows you how to:

• Get answers quickly about inventory level, credit status and more with information windows
• Create and save standard reports and queries
• Probe into your reports using Compiere’s exclusive “Drill Across” and “Drill Down” features
• Customize report parameters such as display order, grouping and formatting…all without programming

The Information & List Reports eLearning module, a $75 value, is available at no charge to you through June 15, 2008. Act now to learn about Compiere reporting through this limited time free offer.

Information & List Reports is one of twelve interactive Compiere eLearning classes available on-demand via the Internet.

Recent buzz about Compiere from Spring '08 Training

Compiere Spring ’08 Intensive Training just ended a few days ago. The attendees were a diverse mix of both Compiere users and Partners and represented countries from all corners of the globe. Here’s what some of the recent attendees had to say about Compiere:

“I am impressed by the depth of Compiere…it is very impressive” – Compiere user

“Compiere is now a contender in our market for SAP and NetSuite…one of our recent new customers chose Compiere over NetSuite and are happy with their choice” – Compiere Partner

“I see no show-stoppers with Compiere…it is malleable and easy to customize for our needs. We love the freedom from vendor lock-in” – Compiere user

“I was pleasantly surprised to see how easy it is to add a vendor; it is so difficult with SAP. And the Web UI is much easier to use for newbies” – Compiere Partner

Thanks to the attendees for their questions, excitement and encouragement. We are also very excited about Compiere and look forward to more feedback from the Compiere Community. It is this kind of feedback and excitement that motivates us to provide an even better product and services.

To find out about upcoming Compiere events including training, please visit the Compiere web site.

Compiere eLearning: New Open Items and Payments

In response to our customer’s learning needs, Compiere is providing a new eLearning Module that covers Open Items and Payments. The latest eLearning module teaches users to quickly retrieve information on the current “Open” or unpaid invoices as well as past due invoices. This module will also cover adding a bank and a bank account, receiving payments from customers, and submitting multiple payments to multiple vendors at once.

The new eLearning module is included in the Compiere eLearning series. You may purchase the entire series or simply purchase the “Open Items and Payments” eLearning module separately.

Learn more about all twelve modules by visiting the eLearning Page. To try eLearning products before purchasing, check out ‘Navigation in Compiere’ free of charge.

Compiere eLearning: New Information and List Reports

In response to our growing customer base, Compiere is providing a new eLearning Module that covers reporting, one of the most asked about capabilites of Compiere. The latest eLearning module teaches users to quickly access valuable information using the information windows. It also teaches users how to search for specific information and print the information.

List Reports in Compiere also provide useful information and Compiere includes several standard reports for that purpose. You may also run more specific reports or simply customize a report to view only the necessary information. In addition, List Reports in Compiere incorporate features such as the ability to drill down to more specific information or drill across to “where used.” You can also export the information to Excel CVS, HTML, XML, Postscript, and PDF or simply archive the information as needed. The “Information and List Reports” eLearning module includes lessons on the various reporting functions and more.

The new eLearning module is included in the Compiere eLearning series. You may purchase the entire series or simply purchase the “Information and List Reports” eLearning module individually.

All of our eLearning modules are available online at eLearning page on compiere.com. To test drive an eLearning module before making a purchase, visit our website today and try ‘Navigation in Compiere’ free of charge.

Better Productivity Through eLearning

Working in the Learning Services Division for Compiere, Inc., I quickly found that with our number of customers and partners reaching across the globe, it became rather important that we provide alternative methods of training to reach as many people as possible. Currently, Compiere provides quarterly, instructor led trainings as well as an array of free product demos. However, as interest in our product increases, so must the provision of educational materials.

In response to our growing educational needs we’ve decided to utilize some of the technology available today and provide a suite of eLearning modules. The ability to educate as many people as possible on our product is not only valuable; it’s exciting to us as well. As a result, it is becoming much easier to reach as many people as possible, especially in an educational format.

Since the introduction of our suite of eLearning modules, we have noticed business partners, customers, and prospects have taken interest and have used the eLearning modules as a tool to fill the gap between our quarterly, instructor-led trainings and the present. We’ve also noticed a higher level of product knowledge in those who have reviewed the eLearning modules.

Our eLearning modules cover lessons from the Initial set up of Compiere to Purchasing Products and Sales. A learner could purchase all of the eLearning modules in one series or simply purchase the individual eLearning modules that best suit their learning needs. Learners will find that each module incorporates interaction as well as quizzes in order to provide a full, engaging, learning experience. Learners may also repeat a lesson or return to the module anytime within 120 days.

So far, we have found the interest in eLearning is increasing and we are adding more eLearning modules to our suite often. We also plan to provide an eLearning option to educate users on every capability within Compiere as we move forward.

All of our eLearning modules are available online at www.compiere.com. We have found it to be a valuable addition to our services and a great way to gain product knowledge as well as useful skills related to Compiere ERP and CRM and ultimately become more productive sooner rather than later. To test drive an eLearning module before making a purchase, visit our website today and try ‘Navigation in Compiere’ free of charge.

Compiere Expansion

Compiere announced today our expansion into Europe in addition to expanding Compiere's executive team.  Having an office in Germany will allow us to better serve the Europe, Middle East, and African markets with a local presence to focus on sales, support and solution delivery for our channel partners and customers throughout the EMEA region. As general manager of Compiere EMEA, Yves Sandfort will lead efforts to further increase our reach and the productivity of our partner network to our 20+ authorized partners within the EMEA region. With our expansion into Europe, we will also begin holding training classes in Europe again with the first class tentatively scheduled for the June / July timeframe.  We will post more details about the training class on our website in the next few weeks after we have finalized the dates and logistics for the training session.

We also announced the addition of three people joining our executive team in our U.S. corporate office:

• Kyle Rosier, director of sales for the Americas, will oversee channel activities and lead direct sales in the Americas.
• Sunny Gosain, vice president of development and customer support, has global responsibility for product development, customer support and information technology.
• Bill Freedman, director of marketing, will lead outbound marketing efforts globally.

When Compiere had only a few people employees, the number of initiatives we could focus on was very limited. This expansion gives us the ability to focus on a larger number of initiatives including more focus on product development, support, global sales programs, and marketing.

We welcome Yves, Kyle, Sunny, and Bill to the Compiere team!

 

"I'm evaluating Compiere. Should I attend training?"

This is one of the most frequent questions we get from potential Compiere customers. The answer is: yes!  Compiere training classes are a fast and efficient way to grasp the the capabilities of the system, and to learn how to effectively deploy the software to meet your business needs.

Compiere founders Jorg Janke and Kathy Pink lead the professionally designed training classes. Their product knowledge, business perspective and passion are refreshing advantages that you can put to immediate use in your evaluation and deployment of Compiere. First, you know that your questions can be answered immediately and accurately by individuals who are intimately familiar with the software. Second, because of Jorg and Kathy's intimate product knowledge, they have a unique ability to convey the richness of Compiere's model-driven architecture. Third, the dynamic of hands-on use of the software while interacting with other classmates and the founder/instructors spurs a faster and deeper learning than you can achieve on your own.

The Compiere Intensive Training class has no formal prerequisites and covers the functional elements of Compiere. The Compiere Technical Training class picks up where Intensive Training leaves off, providing a deeper exploration of Compiere customization techniques. To learn more about the classes and to register for the upcoming April/May training classes in the San Francisco Bay Area, click here.

For those of you who can't wait until the next training class to begin your evaluation, I want to let you know about a few of the useful resources at www.compiere.com. Introductory feature tours provide a view into using Compiere for some very common business activities such as receiving materials and matching receipts to purchase orders. The functionality section of the web site provides an overview of Compiere business processes orientation that enables organizations to define and automate processes across people, departments and divisions within a business. And the Installation section provides step-by-step instructions for installing Compiere.

Training and Open Source Business Models

With our February training classes just around the corner, I have been thinking about how training fits into the overall business model of an open source company.  We tend to think about providing support, maintenance, and consulting services to generate revenue for open source companies.  I usually lump training into the broader category of services when I think about open source business models without giving it much thought; however, training can play a significant role for some open source companies.

From a business standpoint, training is a more scalable service than some of the others. The materials can be developed and used several times with only minor modifications and delivered by one of the many experts within the open source company. By contrast, support and consulting services are usually tailored to the unique needs of an individual customer requiring a slightly different approach to each problem.  I always try to look for ways to improve scalability allowing our work to be leveraged multiple times. Training seems like a relatively scalable service that can be delivered to many people in a cost effective manner.

*Caution: Shameless Self Promotion Plug Below*

We still have a few seats left in our February training classes.  The next training class is three months away, so now would be a great time to attend training!

Installation Workshop: February 11, 2007
Intensive Training: February 12-16, 2007
Collaboration Mgmt: February 17, 2007
Technical Training: February 19-21, 2007