How xTuple Ignited the Global Open Source Community in 2013

NORFOLK, VA

Standing-room only xTupleCon13 — xTuple’s inaugural open source ERP user conference — showcases software advances and highlights community achievements

Promoted as the “ultimate user conference for the world’s #1 open source ERP community,” the first ever “xTupleCon” drew together attendees from every corner of the globe, including customers, value-added resellers, technology partners, and users of the free and open source (FOSS) xTuple PostBooks. xTuple CEO Ned Lilly welcomed the overflow crowd into downtown Norfolk, Va., home to the company’s corporate headquarters.

Lilly detailed the history and accomplishments of the company to-date and addressed the company’s development roadmap for the future.

xTuple’s Annual Community Awards were presented at the closing ceremony by Wally Tonra, vice president of sales; Danielle Kerner, director of partner channel development; BC Wilson, director of product strategy; and CEO Lilly.

Presentation of “Elite Partners,” selected via a thorough annual analysis by a core group of xTuple staff, kicked off the ceremony. Elite assessment categories cover achievement in sales, marketing, technical expertise, and customer support; a minimum score of 80 out of 100 possible points; and at least one new successful implementation project in the past twelve months.

Reaching Elite Partner status again for 2013

  • Soluciones Empresariales Open, Mexico, also 2012 Partner of the Year — accepted by Alfredo Martinez
  • Next ERP, California (USA) — accepted by Dan Means
  • Jim McCluskey of Georgia (USA)
  • J2M Manufacturing Solutions, Washington (USA) — accepted by John Mertlich
  • Magical Custom Programming, Texas (USA) — accepted by Larry Cartee
  • Core Services Group, Michigan (USA), also 2012 award recipient for Implementation of the Year —  accepted by Scott Zuke
  • Muse Systems, Northern California (USA) — accepted by Steve Buttgereit
  • Paladin Logic, Limited, Texas (USA) — accepted by Will Bralick

New Elite Partners for 2013

  • eMethods for Business Management, Philippines — accepted by Cristy Llacer-Oreta
  • Pentuple, New Zealand — accepted by Dave Anderson

The 2013 Partner of the Year award goes to a new Elite Partner, Philippines-based eMethods for Business Management (eMBM), and was presented to Cristy Llacer-Oreta, Joy Rivera and Cris Cabal. eMBM’s award was earned through their ongoing sales and marketing efforts, which have introduced xTuple to tens of thousands of companies in Southeast Asia. eMBM also hosts Pacific Rim training events and is heavily invested in development of extensions and add-ons for the core xTuple software. Their sales efforts have expanded xTuple’s reach into the aerospace manufacturing industry segment.

Community Awards for 2013

  • Partner Rookie of the Year — CPC Software Solutions, Paul Rolfes of Ohio (USA)
  • Top Partner Sales (for the second consecutive year) — Next ERP, Dan Means of Southern California (USA) and Brian Sankey of Northern California (USA)
  • Outstanding Implementation, joint award presented to global food business Richmond Wholesale, one of the largest distributors on the U.S. West Coast, and Next ERP
  • Developer of the Year, Pentuple
  • Community Member of the Year, Dustin Romey of Romey, Inc. (Puerto Rico)
  • Customer of the Year, EMSEAL Joint Systems based in Massachusetts (USA) and Ontario, Canada, accepted on behalf of the company by Keith Rauseo

Conference Highlights

Session presentations ranged from the highly technical “Automating Complex Data Transfer Processes” and “QuickBooks Data Migration” to operational-specific panel discussion “On-Time/On-Budget/On-Spec: Piloting is Fundamental for Implementation Success with xTuple's Methodology.” Senior developer Ben Thompson debuted the company’s new REST-based API (Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface) and collaborated with xTuple partner Artsmith Media to introduce the REST-based integration with Drupal, the world’s most popular open source content management framework used by millions of websites and the power behind version 2.0 of xTuple’s Web Portal product.

Keynotes included Dr. Michael Meskes, PhD, CEO of new xTuple partner credativ and the international Open Source Support Center (OSSC), and xTuple product evangelist Mike Atherton on “Innovation is Open — ISO Certified and Beyond — Using ERP Strategically for Your Business.”

“Integration Central” is a special series of sessions presented by software companies who are integrated with xTuple ERP, and included a special appearance and demonstration by Sujee Saparamadu, CEO and co-founder of OrangeHRM, touted as the world's most popular open source human resource management software.

Saparamadu noted during his presentation that the rationale for the use of open source has evolved from simple cost savings to a true recognition that open source delivers higher quality software, “Why are people from Wall Street moving towards open source? Not for money, but for stability."

Noted enterprise application analyst Cindy Jutras shared her assessment of the company and its impact as a business management software provider with xTuple: A Small Company with a Big Reach.

About xTupleCon

Held at xTuple’s downtown Norfolk, Virginia, headquarters and adjacent conference hotel, xTupleCon covered Thursday-Saturday, October 10-12, 2013. Participants enjoyed a VIP evening event at xTuple Headquarters, keynotes from industry leaders, multiple awards honoring community accomplishments, and nearly 40 training sessions covering tracks in accounting, development and business operations. Activities include a golf tournament and local brewery tasting and tour, analyst dinner and special “xTuple Night” at the Norfolk Admirals Hockey game. Read about the 2012 xTuple Partner Conference and Awards.

Conference Photos

On xTuple's Flickr Page

On xTuple's Facebook Page

Tweets

Global #opensource #ERP community members gather at World Headquarters to learn, network, honor accomplishments via @xTuple | http://bit.ly/xTupleCon13recap 

 

About xTuple, the world’s #1 open source ERP

Award-winning xTuple, makers of the world’s leading suite of open source accounting, Corporate Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), is supply chain management software for growing businesses to control their operations and profitability. xTuple integrates all critical functional areas in one modular system: sales, financials and operations — including customer and supplier management, inventory control, manufacturing and distribution — the powerful tools to Grow Your World®.

As a commercial open source company, xTuple works with a global community of tens of thousands of professional users. xTuple gives customers the ability to tailor solutions with multi-platform support for Windows, Mac, Linux and mobile as well as flexible licensing and pricing options. Connect with the company at www.xTuple.com, and join the innovation conversation with the open source community at www.xTuple.org.