Enterprise:Systems:Solutions

Contents 1 Navigation 2 Related categories 3 About this page 4 IT solutions for the Enterprise 4.1 CRM solutions 4.2 ERP solutions 4.3 Document/Knowledge Management Systems (DMS/KMS) 4.4 Groupware Systems 4.5 Content Management Systems (CMS) 4.6 Other IT solutions for the Enterprise 5 EAI process integration resources 6 E-Business solutions 7 CRM, ERP and market trends 8 Supply Chain Management (SCM) 9 Virtualization technology 9.1 SUN's VirtualBox Virtualization platform 9.2 Microsoft Application Virtualization platform 9.3 Microsoft Hyper-V 9.4 XEN 9.5 VmWare ESX 9.6 FreeVPS Linux Virtualization Platform 9.7 Linux Virtual Server 9.8 SWSoft Virtuozzo 9.9 Altiris Software Virtualization Solution 10 Enterprise Search Engines 11 Application acceleration

Navigation

Related categories

About this page

We apologize for the little information we provide, this page is still under construction. Please stay tuned.

IT solutions for the Enterprise

• Open Source ERP solutions for the SME [1]
• Open Source Supply-Chain solutions (local copy)
• Ten Significant CRM Implementations [2]
• Resources and vendors dealing in ERP systems software [3]

CRM solutions

• SugarCRM Open Source CRM system that integrates with the Asterisk PBX [4]
  • Hosted SugarCRM - 25users/$150/mo [5]
  • Arguments against SugarCRM [6]
• OpenCRX - a J2EE Open Source CRM solution [7] and comparison with other CRRMs like Compiere, sugarCRM, salesforce, siebel, etc
• Commercial Goldmine CRM solution [8]
• Commercial Sage CRM solution [9]

ERP solutions

• A Comparison of Open Source ERP Systems [10]
• ERP5 Open Source ERP [11] [12]
• Commercial OpenMFG ERP Suite and OpenRPT report writer [13] providing case-studies for SME implementations
• Semi Open Source Compiere ERP+SCM solution for SME (Oracle-based) [14] (forum)
  • Kompiere Libero Manufacturing Solution (Compiere with PostgreSQL) [15]

More Kompiere Libero resources on sourceforge and tarballs

• • "Compiere in a box", based on Postgres [16]
  • Adempiere Open Source Compiere fork (sept 2006) on Sourceforge
• The OFBiz Open Source ERP,CRM,SCM suite [17]
• The OpenPro ERP solution fully based on Open Source components (including Asterisk)
• Sapforge - an open-source fork of the SAP DB version 7.3, 7.4 and client libraries.

Document/Knowledge Management Systems (DMS/KMS)

• Aukyla Document Management System [18]
• Free Document Management System [19]
• Open Document Management API - for interoperability of standard desktop applications with DMS [20]
• ODMA-Compliant DMS Integrations [21]
• Document Management Interoperability Exchange (wedbdav, ODMA, etc) [22]
• Open Documentation Cataloging Project [23]
• eDMS - an Open Source DMS for regulated industries [24]
• OPenEDMS - a commercial DMS solution [25]
• Knowledge Tree - the an Open Source DMS/KMS [26]
• The Commercial Knowledge Tree solution [27]
  • Knowledge Tree PDF indexing plugin [28]
  • Knowledge Tree .doc, .xls, .ppt indexing plugins [29]
• The OWL DMS supporting .pdf and .doc indexing [30]
• DocMGR - a web-based DMS with support for allows workflows and keywords for files [31]
• The X1 commercial desktop search (DTS) solution for enterprise KM [32]

Search-indexing of existing enterprise legacy information - email, shared documentation folders or other sources

• KnowledgeManagement - overview and resources [33]
• SmartSimple Wiki Systems for Knowledge Management applications [34] (allows custom fields)
• Open Text Corp.'s LiveLink Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution for Microsoft Environments

Groupware Systems

• eGroupWare - multi-user Web-based Open Source Groupware suite [35]

eGroupWare is a multi-user web-based groupware suite written in PHP and providing extensibility APIs.

Provides modules for Email, Adressbook, Calendar, Infolog (Notes, Todo, Phone Calls), CMS, Forum, Bookmarks, Wiki, Knowledgebase and Polls

• GForge - multi-user web-based PHP-based Open Source Groupware suite [36]

Provides basic functionality for Project Management, Issue Management, Document and Release management

Provides functionality for discussion forums, newsgroups, personal task and time management

Integrates with revision control systems like CVS and Subversion and issue managers like Bugzilla

Extensible through a PHP-based plugin framework, can take advantage of MS Project XML-based integration frameworks like MPXJ

Deployed in large organizations like SAP AG, TM Forum, INRIA and National Cancer Institute

• Commercial GForge Advanced Server version - adds workflow management, role-based access, integration with Microsoft Project and Eclipse
• BSCW (Basic Support for Cooperative Work) - Open Source web-based 'shared workspace' [37]
• Google Sites free enterprise portal, integrating with GoogleApps and being an attractive alternative (except for workflow management) to Microsoft's Sharepoint.
• The Open-Source Outreach Project Tool(OPT), developed by CSO Lanifex GmbH for internal use and made available in the public domain

Content Management Systems (CMS)

• Some Listings and comparison of different CMS solutions [38]
• PHP-based Open Source CMS solutions [39]
  • Joomla - Open Source Content Management System and portal - Mambo fork
  • Drupal - Open Source Content Management System and portal - Mambo fork
  • PHP Nuke - Open Source CMS
  • Typo3 - Open Source CMS for the SME, with powerful role-based access features
• Java-based Open Source CMS solutions [40]
  • OpenCMS - Professional-grade Open Source CMS, powered by XML and Oracle DB technologies
  • Apache Lenya - provides revision control, multi-site management, workflows and scheduling
  • Alfresco - a most promising CMS developed by veterans of the industry
• Content Management Resources from dmoz.org [41]
• The METRIX Open Source CMS (Windows-based) [42]

Other IT solutions for the Enterprise

• ACCPAC addons & Flash ERM - commercial [43]
• SQL Ledger - an Open Source double entry Accounting and ERP system [44]
• Casewise "Corporate Modeler" - business process modeling tool [45]

Provides design, simulation and interface with requirements-management & data-modeling tools

• Open Source web based timesheet and payroll system [46]
• Online training - Manhattan Virtual Classroom course management [47]
• SAS Business Intelligence product suite [48]
• Task vision groupware productivity tool [49]

A Microsoft sample application useful as a personal task management assistant

• The Software Process (PSP) Dashboard, a desktop-based time- and task-tracking tool.
• Request Tracker Helpdesk Management System - [50] and Introduction
• Plesk 7 "Reloaded" control panel software for IT professionals and Hosting Providers
• CPanel - a semi-commercial, Open Source, control panel for Hosting Providers (here there is some background information)
• Virtuozzo - a commercial, high-performance, OS-level hypervisor-model virtualization solution for Windows and Linux, held in high esteem by Hosting Providers
• Screenbook - a free tool for creating visual tutorials and eBooks
• ZenDesk - a hosted, subscription-based helpdesk solution, designed around the ITIL practices
• My Virtual Paper - an online publishing platform and service for enterprises
• Rival Map - a Competitive Intelligence online knowledge management service leveraging the collective organizational knowledge and experts' advice
• Amanda - an open-source backup solution for Linux, Windows, Solaris and OS-X, featuring also an enterprise-grade, commercial edition
• Krugle Enterprise - software-asset management for companies doing software development and indexed access to public-domain source code from the Krugle.org directory
• NetDirector - Management and configuration of Linux and Solaris servers
• Comparison of Closed- and Open-source market leaders for each market segment

EAI process integration resources

• Data Interchange Standards Association [51]

Home to numerous organizations developing e-business standards, for improving business processes

• Enterprise application integration messaging [52]
• The ebXML intitiative - messaging protocols for e-business integration [53]
• OpenXchange Business Process Automation framework [54]
• Electronics Industry Data Exchange (EIDX) - Forecasting using Agilent’s OAGi BODs and RosettaNet PIPs [55]
• Open Applications Group, Inc. (OAGi) - process-based XML standards for both B2B and A2A integration [56]
• Application Integration Maturity Model [57] formerly from AMS now CGI
• The Open Group - a vendor/technology-neutral Boundaryless Information Flow framework [58]
• The Open Group Service Integration Maturity Model (OSIMM) [59]
• The Extended Enterprise - e-Business Gateways - an ATKearney report [60]
• The Rossetanet - B2B global supply-chain process integration [61]
• The FIPA community for interoperability of industrial agent systems [62] and presentation
• OASIS Universal Business Language (UBL) - eCommerce message-exchange standards and resources
• The Ipedo XIP EII Files - Building and Leveraging Web APIs and Integration Insider blogs
• The Apache Fuse EAI solutions based on IONA open-source technologies and application support:
  • The FUSE ESB, based on Apache ServiceMix - an open source enterprise service bus
  • The FUSE Message Broker, based on Apache ActiveMQ - an open-source high-performance JMS platform
  • The FUSE Services Framework, based on Apache CXF - an open-source framework for creating JAX-WS 2.0 web-services
  • The FUSE Mediation Router, based on Apache Camel - an open-source rule-based routing and process mediation engine

E-Business solutions

• European e-business report [63]
• Gartner report - Collaborative Business Process Implementation Best Practice [64] (local copy)
• EU C-ECOM - "Cluster for electronnic comerce" project [65]

CRM, ERP and market trends

• Aberdeen report - "Making Sense of the CRM Jungle" (local copy)
• Forrester report - vendors selling SCM applications "by the bite" (local copy)
• Meta Group report - Exposing the CRM/ERM/SCM Intersection (local copy)
• CRM/SCM convergence with demand chain management (DCM) (local copy)
  • Service Integration Maturity Model (SIMM) - an introduction [66]
  • [www.opengroup.org OpenGroup] SIMM presentation [67]
  • IBM article on SIMM [68]
• CRM industry resources [69]
• Strategis' "Lean Logistics" report [70]
• Morgan Stanley CIO Survey Entreprise Techn. 2005 [71]
• Extensive OECD report - "Perspectives des technologies de l'information de l'OCDE" [72]
• EU-funded MEDIAT-SME project - introduction of innovative e-Business solutions in SME's [73]
• Links to a list of resources and vendors dealing in CRM systems and services [74]
• CRM and ERP white papers & articles (needs registration) [75]
• Resource center for CRM resources and knowledge base [76]
• Another CRM resource center at CIO.com [77]
• SAP Articles and white papers on CRM [78]
• Microsoft Dynamics SL (Formerly MS Solomon) : a Microsoft ERP product for SME
• SAP BusinessOne - a SAP ERP product for SME, with pros and cons

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

• Supply Chain Management resources [79]
• The SCL Journal (Supply chain & logistics) [80]
• The Supply-Chain Council & Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) [81] and related organizations
• Open Source Supply Chain solutions [82] (local copy)
• CIO.com - SCM resources and an ABC of SCM article
• List of resources and web sites that deal with SCM technologies and solutions [83]
• A registration based resource of white papers on Supply Chain Management. [84]
• Resource center and knowledge base for Supply Chain Management Systems [85]
• White papers and articles on SCM [86]

Virtualization technology

Enterprises can significantly cut infrastructure costs and CAPEX/OPEX by deploying their IT solutions on virtualized environments, either in-house or using application hosting with specialized providers.
Here are some resources of general interest on virtualization:

• David Marshall Virtualization Report on InfoWorld
• Virtualization Info - Virtualization trends in 2007 and industry predictions for 2008
• Fusepoint managed virtualization services and certified VmWare service provider

SUN's VirtualBox Virtualization platform

VirtualBox is a virtualization problem specifically designed for the x86 architecture. It was initially developed by Innotek and later on acquired by SUN Microsystems for powering its xVM Server, based on a OpenSolaris hypervisor architecture. VirtualBox installs on top of a host OS among Windows XP/Vista, Linux, Solaris, MAC OS X and OS/2 Warp. VirtualBox set of supported guest OS include different BSD flavors, Linux, Solaris, Windows and OS/2 Warp. In 2007 VirtualBox was the third most popular virtualization solution for running Windows programs on Linux desktops.

Microsoft Application Virtualization platform

Formerly known as Microsoft Softgrid, it is based on acquired Softricity technology and allows applications to be deployed in real-time to "client" workstations from a central virtual application server, removing the need of locally installing and maintaining the applications on every desktop. Each application runs in a "sandbox" execution environment, all application data being stored on the central server.

• The Microsoft SoftGrid home page
• The "Lazy Admin" page on Microsoft SoftGrid
• Comparison of virtual machines and emulators [87]
• Comparison of server virtualization technologies [88] (local copy)

Microsoft Hyper-V

Microsoft Hyper-V is Microsoft's "Type-1" (i.e. bare-metal) hypervisor-based virtualization technology, formerly known as Viridian. It competes directly against the "incumbent" VmWare ESX server technology as well as against other known solutions like Sun's Logical Domains and Citrix/XenSource XEN. It represents the virtualization component in the Microsoft's Windows Server 2008 suite but, as a stand-alone, unlimited-CPU license it costs only $28 per physical-server. However the support for guest operating systems is limited to Microsoft's own as well as Novell's Suse Linux. More technical details are available here, courtesy of Mark Russinovich

XEN

Xen originated as a research project at the University of Cambridge, led by Ian Pratt, senior lecturer at Cambridge and founder of XenSource (acquired by Citrix Systems in October 2007). The first public release of Xen was made available in 2003. The XEN project is supported by Citrix, Oracle, IBM, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Novell, Red Hat and Sun Microsystems. As of Xen version 3.0,on certain hardware, beside Linux, unmodified versions of Microsoft Windows and other proprietary operating systems can be used as guests. Xen is included in Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 distribution, Red Hat's RHEL 5/Fedora 7, Sun Microsystems' Solaris, or Debian's Etch release. A XEN compatibility layer for Windows Server 2008 hypervisor is under development, so that systems that have been modified to run as Xen guests will be able to function on the 2008 hypervisor.

VmWare ESX

While other VmWare Virtual Infrastructure solutions necessitate the presence of a host operating system (Windows or Linux), the ESX server is a "Type-1" Hypervisor. While earlier ESX versions necessitated a general-purpose server with some disk-storage to hold the kernel and support tools, the new VmWare ESX 3i is based on a "thin architecture", with a footprint as small as 32MB and is designed to run on dedicated servers on which the hypervisor is "embedded" in the boot-rom. VmWare has already agreements with major server manufacturers for embedding the ESX 3.i "bare-bone" hypervisor directly on the hardware platforms, thus significantly enhancing the security of the deployments. However, at a price-tag of $495 per 2-CPU server license, the ESX 3i is slightly less enticing for SMB's compared to Microsoft's Hyper-V.

FreeVPS Linux Virtualization Platform

FreeVPS is a Linux virtualization platform based on Linux-VServer. The technology is based on "kernel level isolation", allowing to run multiple virtual units at once, sharing a single kernel instance, but sufficiently isolated to guarantee the required security, while efficiently using the system resources efficiently. FreeVPS is tightly integrated with the HSphere scalable multiserver web hosting solution from Positive Software (now acquired by SWSoft)

Linux Virtual Server

The Linux Virtual Server is a scalable Linux-clustering technology for high-availability applications. The Linux Virtual Server is built on a cluster of real servers, with the load balancer running at the operating system level. The architecture of the server cluster is fully transparent to end users, and the users interact as if it were a single high-performance virtual server.

SWSoft Virtuozzo

• Performance Evaluation of Xen Vs. OpenVZ [89]
• Virtuozzo - a commercial, high-performance, OS-level hypervisor-model virtualization solution for Windows and Linux, held in high esteem by Hosting Providers, based on the containers-type OpenVZ virtualization on Linux
• The Virtuozzo Wiki page
• The current state of the virtual partitioning technology on Linux

Altiris Software Virtualization Solution

The Altiris Software Virtualization Solution (SVS) is still free for personal use, even after Altiris was acquired by Symantec. Altiris/Symantec SVS is a Windows virtualization solution supported by a community forum.

Enterprise Search Engines

• The Google search appliance- provides Google-powered search across an enterprise's internal and external information sources like file shares, intranets, databases, applications, hosted services and content management systems.
• The Thunderstone Search Appliance SBE - allows contents indexing for quick search on corporate web sites

Application acceleration

Specialized appliances can be used to offload heavy processing from servers. One typical example is offloading of XML validation and parsing, like those from Layer7 Technologies