xTupler #28 | February 2013
Dear Community —
If you're using any edition of xTuple to run your business, or even if you're just kicking the tires, we'd like to ask for your help. You're probably aware of Sourceforge, the open source community portal which is one of the primary ways we distribute xTuple PostBooks and various other free software to the world. I am happy - and proud - to say that PostBooks was nominated as a finalist for the March 2013 SourceForge "Project of the Month."
Votes are being accepted until February 21, and our primary competition is a racing video game. This is outstanding community recognition for xTuple - SourceForge has over 320,000 projects to-date.
Please take a minute and vote for us. One note: their method of ballot-box-stuffing-prevention is to require everyone who votes to use Twitter. So if you do not have one, please sign up for a Twitter account first. Hey, why not follow @xTuple while you're at it!? OR create a free, no obligation account and vote via email.
Speaking of our open source community... way back in 2008, we issued a press release about 13 significant enhancements to the xTuple code base contributed by customers and community users over the previous four years. We made it look like a "Greatest Hits" album, which was fun (and a little goofy). You can tell we did it before we had any real professional graphic artists or marketing professionals (I can say that because I did it!) Well, here we are four years later, and we think it's high time for "Greatest Hits Volume Two." If it was good enough for all those bands in the 1970s, it is certainly good enough for us.
Here are the fan favorite "Greatest Hits Volume Two" classic enhancement(s) made during 2008-2012.
In all seriousness, fun activities like these help to highlight the hugely important role our global community of open source users plays in the ongoing development and improvement of xTuple. You - the tens of thousands of dedicated ERP, CRM, accounting and technical professionals who use xTuple software - are our greatest single asset as we disrupt the cozy, bloated world of traditional ERP software. You make our product better every day, and you keep us honest. In return, I hope you feel we provide a good value for your business and conduct ourselves in an open and transparent way.
Thank you for your trust in us, and for your participation in what we proudly call the "World's #1 Open Source ERP." Over the next few months, you will hear more about that phrase - and how we intend to measure ourselves against that standard.
Thank you for all your support over this past year - you played an important part in xTuple's successful 2012 - and we look forward to an even more exciting 2013.
Thanks again,
Ned Lilly
President and CEO
IN THIS ISSUE
- SourceForge vote!
- Hungry for xTuple
- Customer Corner
- Video en Español
- Cintas Discounts
FEATURED EVENTS
- Macworld recap
- New BizDev shows
- FREE Webinars
- Upcoming Training
- Power Users Online
JOBS & INTERNSHIPS
Hiring:
Where's Wally? Just back from Macworld!
Once again, the numbers demonstrate this is the premier event for the intersection of Apple and Apple-related technology, business, culture, education and art. Unlike many technology-oriented trade shows, this one seems to be on the rise!
See xTuple photos from Macworld 2013.
Macworld/iWorld 2014 will take place February 1 - February 3, 2014 in San Francisco.
Contact us now if you missed the event and want to make "the list" for free passes next year.
Where's xTuple? Look for us at these upcoming events:
xTuple is a corporate sponsor of Start Norfolk 3, and CEO Ned Lilly serves as judge at this weekend long event with the goal of building viable startups, March 22-24, 2013.
VP Business Development Marc O'Brien, at:
The Small Business Web Summit, making the Open Web the best place to build, find and sell software for small businesses. San Jose, California, February 18-20, 2013.
Open Source Think Tank, the industry's only by-invitation event for senior executives, meets in Calistoga, California, March 21-22, 2013.
The B2B CFO® Annual Meeting, the organization whose purpose is to eliminate the cost of a full-time CFO, is held at Disneyland California, April 25-27, 2013.
VP Sales Wally Tonra and Account Executive Stacey Pandeloglou at:
National Association of Electrical Distributors' South Central Regional Conference meets in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 25-27, 2013.
The Annual Showcase for IMARK GROUP, Inc., a member-owned and -governed cooperative made up of independently owned electrical distributors throughout the U.S. is held in Chicago, Illinois, April 9-12, 2013.
Contact us now if you need information on any event.
xTupleR Staffer Feature
Dave Cramer
Enterprise Solutions Architect
Officially joining xTuple in May 2012, Dave has been a familiar "virtual face" having worked on and off for xTuple since 2004. As an Enterprise Solutions Architect, currently Dave works on building out the next-generation infrastructure for the xTuple Cloud.
When asked what he likes best about working at xTuple, Dave says "it's the positive atmosphere and very optimistic goals."
Dev-foosball at xTuple Open House, October 2012
What got Dave into technology? "I started out fixing pinball machines when I left high school. Ended up going to college to take electronics to understand that better. Found out I preferred programming to electronics." We'll say. He is a longtime open source rock star in the PostgreSQL database community and still maintains the PostgreSQL JDBC driver.
Dave works remotely from the small town of Orangeville in the cultural capital of Dufferin County, Ontario, where he lives with his wife Cyndi and two dogs, Lexi and Seth.
Hungry for xTuple, the Natural Fit
If you process food, if you buy and sell food products, if you sell to national grocery chains, you understand about the often complicated regulatory and operational needs of food manufacturers and distributors.
Food is a big deal, and, according to recent research released, the food industry is one of the fastest-growing economic sectors in the world.
The dietary supplement market is projected to be the fastest growing market segment in the global industry over the next five years, and it also the largest market segment of the nutraceutical industry in the U.S. The global organic food market is expected to grow from US$ 57.5 billion in 2010 to US$ 104.7 billion in 2015 at an estimated Compounded Annual Growth rate (CAGR) of 12.9%.
xTuple does sophisticated lot/serial tracking, catch weight, data interchange, and more of the features highly sought after in the food industry, where not just any ERP software will do.
Organic burrito from xTuple customer
Cedarlane Natural Foods
xTuple is actively seeking professional food product managers and technical resources to help serve this market.
Read more about job opportunities and xTuple for the Food Industry.
xTuple Partner Feature: Soluciones Empresariales Open
Partner of the Year, Alfredo Martinez of Soluciones Empresariales Open based on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, recently sent a member of his team to training at xTuple HQ. We chatted with Alejandro Fuentes during a break and asked him, en Español, about his xTuple experience:
"What interested us most about xTuple was a solution that works well and makes sense to programmers -- we can select any detail within the application and discover how it works from the programmer point of view, and we can then figure out custom solutions based on open ideas."
Direct video link with translations in English and Spanish.
xTuple Customer Corner: Good-Lite Company
During a recent training class, Tim Collins of Chicago, Illinois-based Good-Lite, spoke with Scott Church, xTuple Sales and Support Engineer. Good-Lite is a manufacturer of eye charts and eye test equipment, working with ophthalmologists, optometrists and school nurses since since 1930.
"Obviously, we do a lot in Europe, so we must be CDC-certified. Essentially it's [MYOB] nothing more than an account ledger. But we had no way to keep current track of our customers. We could not keep track of returns, shipping. There was a lot of extra work involved. We looked at Infor. We'd been talking to Epicor and also was looking at open source solutions which Openbravo was one of them, an online version, which was NetSuite. We looked at all of the open source ones, and there really wasn't much behind it. Infor was very disappointing. The cloud modules actually wouldn't talk to each other. And very expensive. Epicor, which we were seriously looking at, was very expensive, and it's PC-only application. And we are Mac-based. We found xTuple online. I also went to the Apple store in Schaumburg, Illinois (IL), just right outside Chicago and talked to their business developer there. And he recommended xTuple which really kind of reaffirmed what [I was looking at]. I was able to get xTuple running and play with it and see if I really liked it or not. If you go with the other commercial vendors, you cannot do that. You really have to look at their screen shots and listen to their salesman and then you have to make sure {rolls eyes} 'is this really the route I want to go?'"
See and hear more: xTuple's Good-Lite video interview
Do you or your company want to be a featured xTuple Customer?
Share your story with xTuple's Marketing Department.
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