BANGALORE, INDIA: The recessionary time has forced businesses to minimize their IT expenditure. Enterprise spending on proprietary applications too took a hit. Today in any business scenario, as enterprise applications like ERP and CRM have become key success enablers, organizations can't shun them away.

To their rescue comes the Open Source community that provided applications for ERP and CRM software. The advantage is that organizations are not dependent on one solution provider; they can download software and customize it based on their business needs, and it the organization's work flow and business processes.

Most Open Source software are web based, and as a prerequisite require a database and web server configured before installation. To further ease the installation, the Open Source solutions are available as packaged installers that will do the entire database and web server setup for you. Apart from that these solutions are available as virtual appliances as well, just mount them on a virtual machine and your ERP/CRM solution is up and running.

Just type in the address or intranet URL where ERP/CRM is running and your employees can access the application. The benefit of such a virtual appliance is that in future if you wish to upgrade the system or change the platform, all you need to do is save the instance of the appliance and mount it on new virtual machine and you can start from that very point onwards.

Thus, saving the hassles of re-installation and re-configuration. The concern with Open Source solutions is of support. Prominent Open Source solutions have a good community built around them, which include contributors who consult the clients as well. So, even if you want to have a free solution and don't want to opt for paid technical support from Open Source providers, you can always avail the help of the global community for it.

Apart from lower implementations costs, Open Source ERP systems are ideal for enterprises whose business requirements are not generally covered by standard proprietary software.

Had there been an ideal ERP solution that would have worked for every business, then every organization would have opted for that very solution. But, that is not the case, since each organization would have unique business needs, and for that you need ERP solutions that can be customized to fit such needs. Free Open Source ERP solutions like OpenBravo or Compiere can be downloaded freely and installed on your system. You can then configure and manage them according to your needs.

Today organizations have reached a point where they feel CRM software is a necessity for their success and to remain competitive in business. Regardless of the organization being small or large, salespersons need to keep track of customer leads and require information like customer's details and past records, which will help them drive sales. Open Source CRM packages can range from simple customer tracking software to high-quality interactive sales and marketing management software.

Whichever Open Source ERP or CRM solution you choose, to make sure that you have researched about them very well. With Open Source becoming a hot thing in business community, there are some small communities coming up with software solutions that offer some interesting features and functionalities.