Tell us what training you need!

The end of the year is near and we in education department are in full span of preparing plans for the next one.

We are very happy with the enrichment of our online curriculum made in 2009. Nevertheless, we know there is always room for further improvements and innovation.

That's why we're calling upon you to submit ideas and cast your votes for courses and materials you would like to see in the upcoming year.

Help us improve and innovate Openbravo curriculum by visiting http://obeducation.uservoice.com/ and dropping an idea or a vote.

We look forward to hearing from you,
Rok Lenardic
Senior Training Specialist

Mastering Openbravo ERP development online

I recently taught the first delivery of the online advanced development course. This technical course has been completely revamped to reflect the new functionalities delivered with the 2.50 release of Openbravo ERP and also follows a more consistent learning methodology. The class was a success but even more, fun to teach.

Technical courses are always a bit harder to convert to online because publishing a bunch of powerpoints or videos just doesn't cut it. Anyone with a technical background will tell you that getting your hands dirty with practical examples wins over theory any time.

That is why we've joined a few widely available technologies together in order to design a course that is far better than an average online course with slides and videos:

• using the Wiki, we've incorporated many Howto guides into our public Developer's Manual; this is the first step towards learning a topic, step by step
• each student is provided with their own cloud instance of Openbravo ERP where development must be done; these instances are accessed, troubleshot and graded by an Openbravo Training Specialist.
• using an open source elearning platform (www.moodle.org), a virtual classroom is formed where practical assignments are given, results are submitted and problems discussed

The result is a course that is flexible in terms of time, dedication and student level while at the same time providing all the benefits of a real classroom such as a dedicated instructor, live troubleshooting and help.

Here is a testimonial from one of our students:

The Online Advanced Development course allowed me to learn all the possibilities that Openbravo ERP offers to developers. The knowledge acquired in the course will serve me as a strong foundation to create a vertical for Openbravo ERP, as well as new modules that extend the capabilities of the system.
Attending the online course has given me the flexibility to follow my own study schedule while meeting the priorities and needs of my company. The course is organized so you are not required to attend during working hours, but can devote time in the evenings or on weekends to your studies.

Esteban (Ais - Grupo Conasa)

If you would like to be one of them and learn the advance development capabilities of Openbravo ERP such as modularity, manual coding, background jobs, webservices and more, visit http://www.openbravo.com/services/training/#two .

We're looking forward to seeing you in one of our classrooms,
Rok Lenardic

QuickStart - ERP for life in a week!

The abundant functionality and complexity of an ERP application can often leave VARs and end clients reluctant to take the next step of adopting an enteprise application.

At Openbravo, we have noticed that smaller companies that are at the point of needing to switch to an integrated ERP system often hesitate to do so for the following reasons:

1. installation, implementation and management of an ERP instance can be uncertain and costly
   
   
2. overwhelming amount of features and modules to chose from and configure
   
   
3. slow learning curve to adopt the application
   

Openbravo estimated around 400 hours of consultant work were required for the standard implementation of our ERP application. Consequently, many small companies can not afford the costs and the length of the process.

In order to address the bottlenecks listed above as well as bring the number of implementation hours down to a minimum, Openbravo started an internal project codenamed Xpress earlier this year. The objective of the project was quite simple: Kick starting partners and end-customers by delivering a toolkit that leverages the modularity of Openbravo ERP 2.50 and localization efforts with a fixed scope implementation methodology.

In a nutshell, the QuickStart toolkit, as it was renamed for release, addresses the above issues with three main groups of deliverables:

1. the QuickStart template of simplified application screens and predefined roles
2. the Consultant's Manual that contains the full step-by-step guide of a fixed scope implementation
3. end user documentation and tutorials based on business process diagrams
   

Specifically, these deliverables address the hesitations stated above:

1. installation, implementation and management of an ERP instance can be uncertain and costly
   * a Consultant's Manual combined with an Initial Interview Form guides the consultant throughout all phases required to bring up an instance of Openbravo ERP and configure it according to end user requirements
   * a Professional Subscription Appliance takes care of easy and secure deployment of an instance on the cloud as well as simplifies the instance management such as backup, updates, etc
   * a localization pack that is prepackaged within the appliance offers out of the box full functionality for a specific country
   * import templates enable fast import of legacy data into the application such as customers/vendors and products of the end client
   
   
2. overwhelming amount of features and modules to chose from and configure
   * a QuickStart template preconfigures the application with rich functional footprint a smaller company should start with. Simplified windows, menu and predefined roles enable the end-users to pick up the application faster
   * the Consultant's Manual guides the consultant through a fixed scope implementation methodology
   
   
3. slow learning curve to adopt the application
   * UI Navigation Tutorial is a set of interactive videos that teach the end users how to use the application, this way cutting down training requirements
   * Business Process User Manual - an end-user manual designed to show how everyday tasks that enterprise users are well acquainted with are done in Openbravo ERP.
   

We are happy to announce that the fruits of these efforts are finally available and hope they will boost Openbravo adoption with partners and end-users even more. The toolkit aims at providing benefits to the partners as well as end customers:

1. Fixed scope implementations based on the Amazon cloud are faster, more cost effective and more clear on the deliverables and expectations > Less risk, high return for the customer
   
2. The toolkit enables partners to get up to speed and be ready to implement Openbravo quicker
3. First class business process oriented documentation for end users assists with smooth daily operations
   

For more information, please follow the link http://www.openbravo.com/product/erp/quickstart.

Rok Lenardic
QuickStart Project Manager