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Re: Features information

Jacques Le Roux
Administrator
Hi David,

I just read the 3 1st chapters this morning and I think I found an error.

Should the sentence
    In other words, if you build the whole solution yourself the 20% of the functionality that is custom to your business will
likely require about 20% of the total solution cost.
not be
   In other words, if you build the whole solution yourself the 20% of the functionality that is custom to your business will likely
require about 80% of the total solution cost.
?

I have changed it, if you feel I'm wrong please revert. I will continue to check all the document tomorrow...

BTW I think we could use this information somewhere (even if of course it's not perfect, like anything on earth anyway)
I think about this page (OFBiz for me, cost related sections), and the OFBiz site main page as well
https://www.ohloh.net/p/162#cocomo
https://www.ohloh.net/wiki/project_codebase_cost

Jacques

From: "Jacques Le Roux" <[hidden email]>

> Done at http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/hgM#IsOFBizforMe-SomequestionsandanwserscollectedonuserML
> I have also added links from Table of Contents, and removed the line
> Written By: David E. Jones, [mailto:[hidden email]]
> Please feel free to re-add if you think it should stay
>
> Jacques
>
> From: "Jacques Le Roux" <[hidden email]>
>> Hi David,
>>
>> I'd see this detailled explanation in a wiki main ENDUSER page like "Some questions and answers about OFBiz to help you make your
>> choice"
>>
>> Jacques
>>
>> From: "David E Jones" <[hidden email]>
>>> On Mar 31, 2009, at 2:05 AM, [hidden email] wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi colleagues,
>>>>
>>>> I am writing to the list to request information concerning OFBiz. I am
>>>> doing a eCommerce Software comparative between the main commercial and
>>>> open source products.
>>>>
>>>> I have achieved to find information about client segmentation (use of
>>>> groups), campaign managment (through Marketing Manager and  promotions),
>>>> stocks management (Facility Manager), product catalog (Product  Manager),
>>>> order management (using Order Manager application), content management
>>>> (through Content Manager)...
>>>>
>>>> However, there are other features I have not been able to document. I
>>>> would be very grateful if you could send me details about the  following
>>>> features:
>>>>
>>>> - Reports & analytics capabilities
>>>
>>> OFBiz currently has a few dozens pre-written reports OOTB, and more  can be added using the OFBiz tools, or an external
>>> reporting
>>> tool  (which is still very common, ie companies that use something like  Crystal Reports or Business Objects will use that with
>>> their OFBiz  applications). OFBiz has tools in the framework to facilitate building  of user interfaces, and these same tools
>>> are
>>> used for building  reports. This provides a high level of efficiency, and allows  developers to use the same tools they are used
>>> to... and in some cases  scripts and other things can even be reused in reports.
>>>
>>> OFBiz also includes some BI infrastructure to support defining and  populating star schemas, which can then be used for ad-hoc
>>> or
>>> pre- written reports. A limited star schema exists, and work is going on to  extend it.
>>>
>>>> - Integration and Interoperability (SOA Architecture, Web Services  offered)
>>>
>>> The OFBiz logic layer is itself a Service-Oriented tool, and all  primary logic in OFBiz is implemented as services. Many of
>>> these services can be exposed externally as web services automatically, and  the more complex ones can be exposed as web
>>> services
>>> (or call web  services) through web services code that maps to them.
>>>
>>>> - Usability (for final customers, and administrators)
>>>
>>> Usability is very subjective, but I'll try to answer in a helpful way.
>>>
>>> OFBiz is often customized for larger organizations, and in those cases  the best usability is achieved by analyzing processes
>>> and
>>> then  building user interfaces to directly support those processes. This  results in something specific to end-user requirements
>>> and is far  better than any OOTB user interface that even the best designers could  create without specific requirements.
>>>
>>> That is the main design goal behind OFBiz: easy customization since  the only way to get a really good UI is to do so based on
>>> very  specific requirements... and those requirements tend to change  dramatically between organizations, in many cases even
>>> organizations  in the same industry.
>>>
>>> The OOTB user interfaces are primarily meant for easy reuse in custom  user interfaces, so they mostly avoid automating any
>>> specific process  and are instead meant to fit into any process desired. However, using  the OOTB interfaces is pretty common
>>> and
>>> is usually best done by  documenting where and how to do common tasks according to the  processes of the organization. In other
>>> words, instead of creating a  custom UI when you are on a tighter budget you can simply document how  to use the OOTB
>>> interfaces,
>>> and while not usually excellent this way  it is quite adequate for smaller organizations and gives them more  functionality and
>>> ability to automate things than they would have in  most software, allowing them to avoid large numbers of spreadsheets  and
>>> such. Overall this results in tools to keep track and automate  organizational information that are far more efficient and
>>> usable
>>> that a hodge-podge of various systems.
>>>
>>>> - Personalization potential
>>>
>>> Personalization is an extremely general term, broadly meaning behavior  or data that changes according to the user. There are
>>> hundreds of  features in OFBiz ecommerce and the OFBiz back-end (manager) apps that  would fit this description.
>>>
>>> Please feel free to send over more details and I (or others) will be  happy to comment on them.
>>>
>>>> - Multidevice sites available?
>>>
>>> It is pretty easy to build sites targeted at different devices, and  there are some available OOTB. If by "device" you mean a
>>> specific UI  then the hhfacility component is a good example. If by "device" you  mean specific hardware control (like cash
>>> drawers and CC scanners),  then the pos component (point-of-sale) has some good stuff.
>>>
>>>> - Accessibility considered?
>>>
>>> In ecommerce the templates are often changed so much that  accessibility ends up more in the hands of the designers and
>>> developers who customize the system (so make sure you have a good  service provider!). The OOTB ecommerce templates do a pretty
>>> good job  of this by using styled text instead of images, alt-text on images,  and so on.
>>>
>>> For the OOTB back-end functionality, accessibility is considered, and  to be maintained it must be considered in customizations.
>>> These are  primarily web-based applications and to improve accessibility are very  text-heavy, etc.
>>>
>>>> Thank you for your help in advance.
>>>
>>> No problem, best wishes in finding a solution that meets your needs.
>>>
>>> -David
>>>
>>
>>
>
>


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Re: Features information

David E Jones-3

On Apr 16, 2009, at 4:04 AM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:

> Hi David,
>
> I just read the 3 1st chapters this morning and I think I found an  
> error.
>
> Should the sentence
>   In other words, if you build the whole solution yourself the 20%  
> of the functionality that is custom to your business will
> likely require about 20% of the total solution cost.
> not be
>  In other words, if you build the whole solution yourself the 20% of  
> the functionality that is custom to your business will likely
> require about 80% of the total solution cost.
> ?
>
> I have changed it, if you feel I'm wrong please revert. I will  
> continue to check all the document tomorrow...

I'm not sure which document you're referring to exactly, but...

It IS wrong to change that. The original is correct. The scenario for  
that sentence is where the company builds EVERYTHING themselves. In  
that case the 80/20 rule wouldn't apply because they're starting from  
scratch.

-David

> BTW I think we could use this information somewhere (even if of  
> course it's not perfect, like anything on earth anyway)
> I think about this page (OFBiz for me, cost related sections), and  
> the OFBiz site main page as well
> https://www.ohloh.net/p/162#cocomo
> https://www.ohloh.net/wiki/project_codebase_cost
>
> Jacques
>
> From: "Jacques Le Roux" <[hidden email]>
>> Done at http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/hgM#IsOFBizforMe-SomequestionsandanwserscollectedonuserML
>> I have also added links from Table of Contents, and removed the line
>> Written By: David E. Jones, [mailto:[hidden email]]
>> Please feel free to re-add if you think it should stay
>>
>> Jacques
>>
>> From: "Jacques Le Roux" <[hidden email]>
>>> Hi David,
>>>
>>> I'd see this detailled explanation in a wiki main ENDUSER page  
>>> like "Some questions and answers about OFBiz to help you make your
>>> choice"
>>>
>>> Jacques
>>>
>>> From: "David E Jones" <[hidden email]>
>>>> On Mar 31, 2009, at 2:05 AM, [hidden email] wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi colleagues,
>>>>>
>>>>> I am writing to the list to request information concerning  
>>>>> OFBiz. I am
>>>>> doing a eCommerce Software comparative between the main  
>>>>> commercial and
>>>>> open source products.
>>>>>
>>>>> I have achieved to find information about client segmentation  
>>>>> (use of
>>>>> groups), campaign managment (through Marketing Manager and  
>>>>> promotions),
>>>>> stocks management (Facility Manager), product catalog (Product  
>>>>> Manager),
>>>>> order management (using Order Manager application), content  
>>>>> management
>>>>> (through Content Manager)...
>>>>>
>>>>> However, there are other features I have not been able to  
>>>>> document. I
>>>>> would be very grateful if you could send me details about the  
>>>>> following
>>>>> features:
>>>>>
>>>>> - Reports & analytics capabilities
>>>>
>>>> OFBiz currently has a few dozens pre-written reports OOTB, and  
>>>> more  can be added using the OFBiz tools, or an external
>>>> reporting
>>>> tool  (which is still very common, ie companies that use  
>>>> something like  Crystal Reports or Business Objects will use that  
>>>> with
>>>> their OFBiz  applications). OFBiz has tools in the framework to  
>>>> facilitate building  of user interfaces, and these same tools
>>>> are
>>>> used for building  reports. This provides a high level of  
>>>> efficiency, and allows  developers to use the same tools they are  
>>>> used
>>>> to... and in some cases  scripts and other things can even be  
>>>> reused in reports.
>>>>
>>>> OFBiz also includes some BI infrastructure to support defining  
>>>> and  populating star schemas, which can then be used for ad-hoc
>>>> or
>>>> pre- written reports. A limited star schema exists, and work is  
>>>> going on to  extend it.
>>>>
>>>>> - Integration and Interoperability (SOA Architecture, Web  
>>>>> Services  offered)
>>>>
>>>> The OFBiz logic layer is itself a Service-Oriented tool, and all  
>>>> primary logic in OFBiz is implemented as services. Many of
>>>> these services can be exposed externally as web services  
>>>> automatically, and  the more complex ones can be exposed as web
>>>> services
>>>> (or call web  services) through web services code that maps to  
>>>> them.
>>>>
>>>>> - Usability (for final customers, and administrators)
>>>>
>>>> Usability is very subjective, but I'll try to answer in a helpful  
>>>> way.
>>>>
>>>> OFBiz is often customized for larger organizations, and in those  
>>>> cases  the best usability is achieved by analyzing processes
>>>> and
>>>> then  building user interfaces to directly support those  
>>>> processes. This  results in something specific to end-user  
>>>> requirements
>>>> and is far  better than any OOTB user interface that even the  
>>>> best designers could  create without specific requirements.
>>>>
>>>> That is the main design goal behind OFBiz: easy customization  
>>>> since  the only way to get a really good UI is to do so based on
>>>> very  specific requirements... and those requirements tend to  
>>>> change  dramatically between organizations, in many cases even
>>>> organizations  in the same industry.
>>>>
>>>> The OOTB user interfaces are primarily meant for easy reuse in  
>>>> custom  user interfaces, so they mostly avoid automating any
>>>> specific process  and are instead meant to fit into any process  
>>>> desired. However, using  the OOTB interfaces is pretty common
>>>> and
>>>> is usually best done by  documenting where and how to do common  
>>>> tasks according to the  processes of the organization. In other
>>>> words, instead of creating a  custom UI when you are on a tighter  
>>>> budget you can simply document how  to use the OOTB
>>>> interfaces,
>>>> and while not usually excellent this way  it is quite adequate  
>>>> for smaller organizations and gives them more  functionality and
>>>> ability to automate things than they would have in  most  
>>>> software, allowing them to avoid large numbers of spreadsheets  and
>>>> such. Overall this results in tools to keep track and automate  
>>>> organizational information that are far more efficient and
>>>> usable
>>>> that a hodge-podge of various systems.
>>>>
>>>>> - Personalization potential
>>>>
>>>> Personalization is an extremely general term, broadly meaning  
>>>> behavior  or data that changes according to the user. There are
>>>> hundreds of  features in OFBiz ecommerce and the OFBiz back-end  
>>>> (manager) apps that  would fit this description.
>>>>
>>>> Please feel free to send over more details and I (or others) will  
>>>> be  happy to comment on them.
>>>>
>>>>> - Multidevice sites available?
>>>>
>>>> It is pretty easy to build sites targeted at different devices,  
>>>> and  there are some available OOTB. If by "device" you mean a
>>>> specific UI  then the hhfacility component is a good example. If  
>>>> by "device" you  mean specific hardware control (like cash
>>>> drawers and CC scanners),  then the pos component (point-of-sale)  
>>>> has some good stuff.
>>>>
>>>>> - Accessibility considered?
>>>>
>>>> In ecommerce the templates are often changed so much that  
>>>> accessibility ends up more in the hands of the designers and
>>>> developers who customize the system (so make sure you have a  
>>>> good  service provider!). The OOTB ecommerce templates do a pretty
>>>> good job  of this by using styled text instead of images, alt-
>>>> text on images,  and so on.
>>>>
>>>> For the OOTB back-end functionality, accessibility is considered,  
>>>> and  to be maintained it must be considered in customizations.
>>>> These are  primarily web-based applications and to improve  
>>>> accessibility are very  text-heavy, etc.
>>>>
>>>>> Thank you for your help in advance.
>>>>
>>>> No problem, best wishes in finding a solution that meets your  
>>>> needs.
>>>>
>>>> -David
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

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Re: Features information

Jacques Le Roux
Administrator
From: "David E Jones" <[hidden email]>

> On Apr 16, 2009, at 4:04 AM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:
>
>> Hi David,
>>
>> I just read the 3 1st chapters this morning and I think I found an  error.
>>
>> Should the sentence
>>   In other words, if you build the whole solution yourself the 20%  of the functionality that is custom to your business will
>> likely require about 20% of the total solution cost.
>> not be
>>  In other words, if you build the whole solution yourself the 20% of  the functionality that is custom to your business will
>> likely
>> require about 80% of the total solution cost.
>> ?
>>
>> I have changed it, if you feel I'm wrong please revert. I will  continue to check all the document tomorrow...
>
> I'm not sure which document you're referring to exactly, but...
> It IS wrong to change that. The original is correct. The scenario for  that sentence is where the company builds EVERYTHING
> themselves. In  that case the 80/20 rule wouldn't apply because they're starting from  scratch.

OK, I changed it back. I read too fast :/ It was this paragraph

With OFBiz your customization needs can be implemented for even less than if you wrote your entire solution yourself. In other
words, if you build the whole solution yourself the 20% of the functionality that is custom to your business will likely require
about 20% of the total solution cost. If you use OFBiz and customize it to your needs you will probably be able to implement the
same functionality for 25-50% of what it would cost developing it yourself as part of a solution from scratch.

At http://docs.ofbiz.org/display/OFBIZ/Is+OFBiz+for+Me#IsOFBizforMe-AskingBuildvs.Buy

I believe it's difficult to read. Because it's not direct facts, you have to think about it. I think for such marketing
argumentations we should write something simpler, direct. But I'm not sure I'd be able to do better in English.

Did you have a look at https://www.ohloh.net/p/162#cocomo ?

Jacques

> -David
>
>> BTW I think we could use this information somewhere (even if of  course it's not perfect, like anything on earth anyway)
>> I think about this page (OFBiz for me, cost related sections), and  the OFBiz site main page as well
>> https://www.ohloh.net/p/162#cocomo
>> https://www.ohloh.net/wiki/project_codebase_cost
>>
>> Jacques
>>
>> From: "Jacques Le Roux" <[hidden email]>
>>> Done at http://docs.ofbiz.org/x/hgM#IsOFBizforMe-SomequestionsandanwserscollectedonuserML
>>> I have also added links from Table of Contents, and removed the line
>>> Written By: David E. Jones, [mailto:[hidden email]]
>>> Please feel free to re-add if you think it should stay
>>>
>>> Jacques
>>>
>>> From: "Jacques Le Roux" <[hidden email]>
>>>> Hi David,
>>>>
>>>> I'd see this detailled explanation in a wiki main ENDUSER page  like "Some questions and answers about OFBiz to help you make
>>>> your
>>>> choice"
>>>>
>>>> Jacques
>>>>
>>>> From: "David E Jones" <[hidden email]>
>>>>> On Mar 31, 2009, at 2:05 AM, [hidden email] wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi colleagues,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I am writing to the list to request information concerning  OFBiz. I am
>>>>>> doing a eCommerce Software comparative between the main  commercial and
>>>>>> open source products.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have achieved to find information about client segmentation  (use of
>>>>>> groups), campaign managment (through Marketing Manager and   promotions),
>>>>>> stocks management (Facility Manager), product catalog (Product   Manager),
>>>>>> order management (using Order Manager application), content  management
>>>>>> (through Content Manager)...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> However, there are other features I have not been able to  document. I
>>>>>> would be very grateful if you could send me details about the   following
>>>>>> features:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - Reports & analytics capabilities
>>>>>
>>>>> OFBiz currently has a few dozens pre-written reports OOTB, and  more  can be added using the OFBiz tools, or an external
>>>>> reporting
>>>>> tool  (which is still very common, ie companies that use  something like  Crystal Reports or Business Objects will use that
>>>>> with
>>>>> their OFBiz  applications). OFBiz has tools in the framework to  facilitate building  of user interfaces, and these same tools
>>>>> are
>>>>> used for building  reports. This provides a high level of  efficiency, and allows  developers to use the same tools they are
>>>>> used
>>>>> to... and in some cases  scripts and other things can even be  reused in reports.
>>>>>
>>>>> OFBiz also includes some BI infrastructure to support defining  and  populating star schemas, which can then be used for
>>>>> ad-hoc
>>>>> or
>>>>> pre- written reports. A limited star schema exists, and work is  going on to  extend it.
>>>>>
>>>>>> - Integration and Interoperability (SOA Architecture, Web  Services  offered)
>>>>>
>>>>> The OFBiz logic layer is itself a Service-Oriented tool, and all   primary logic in OFBiz is implemented as services. Many of
>>>>> these services can be exposed externally as web services  automatically, and  the more complex ones can be exposed as web
>>>>> services
>>>>> (or call web  services) through web services code that maps to  them.
>>>>>
>>>>>> - Usability (for final customers, and administrators)
>>>>>
>>>>> Usability is very subjective, but I'll try to answer in a helpful  way.
>>>>>
>>>>> OFBiz is often customized for larger organizations, and in those  cases  the best usability is achieved by analyzing processes
>>>>> and
>>>>> then  building user interfaces to directly support those  processes. This  results in something specific to end-user
>>>>> requirements
>>>>> and is far  better than any OOTB user interface that even the  best designers could  create without specific requirements.
>>>>>
>>>>> That is the main design goal behind OFBiz: easy customization  since  the only way to get a really good UI is to do so based
>>>>> on
>>>>> very  specific requirements... and those requirements tend to  change  dramatically between organizations, in many cases even
>>>>> organizations  in the same industry.
>>>>>
>>>>> The OOTB user interfaces are primarily meant for easy reuse in  custom  user interfaces, so they mostly avoid automating any
>>>>> specific process  and are instead meant to fit into any process  desired. However, using  the OOTB interfaces is pretty common
>>>>> and
>>>>> is usually best done by  documenting where and how to do common  tasks according to the  processes of the organization. In
>>>>> other
>>>>> words, instead of creating a  custom UI when you are on a tighter  budget you can simply document how  to use the OOTB
>>>>> interfaces,
>>>>> and while not usually excellent this way  it is quite adequate  for smaller organizations and gives them more  functionality
>>>>> and
>>>>> ability to automate things than they would have in  most  software, allowing them to avoid large numbers of spreadsheets  and
>>>>> such. Overall this results in tools to keep track and automate   organizational information that are far more efficient and
>>>>> usable
>>>>> that a hodge-podge of various systems.
>>>>>
>>>>>> - Personalization potential
>>>>>
>>>>> Personalization is an extremely general term, broadly meaning  behavior  or data that changes according to the user. There are
>>>>> hundreds of  features in OFBiz ecommerce and the OFBiz back-end  (manager) apps that  would fit this description.
>>>>>
>>>>> Please feel free to send over more details and I (or others) will  be  happy to comment on them.
>>>>>
>>>>>> - Multidevice sites available?
>>>>>
>>>>> It is pretty easy to build sites targeted at different devices,  and  there are some available OOTB. If by "device" you mean a
>>>>> specific UI  then the hhfacility component is a good example. If  by "device" you  mean specific hardware control (like cash
>>>>> drawers and CC scanners),  then the pos component (point-of-sale)  has some good stuff.
>>>>>
>>>>>> - Accessibility considered?
>>>>>
>>>>> In ecommerce the templates are often changed so much that   accessibility ends up more in the hands of the designers and
>>>>> developers who customize the system (so make sure you have a  good  service provider!). The OOTB ecommerce templates do a
>>>>> pretty
>>>>> good job  of this by using styled text instead of images, alt- text on images,  and so on.
>>>>>
>>>>> For the OOTB back-end functionality, accessibility is considered,  and  to be maintained it must be considered in
>>>>> customizations.
>>>>> These are  primarily web-based applications and to improve  accessibility are very  text-heavy, etc.
>>>>>
>>>>>> Thank you for your help in advance.
>>>>>
>>>>> No problem, best wishes in finding a solution that meets your  needs.
>>>>>
>>>>> -David
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>