my business case for OfBiz use

[Ron Wheeler]

To take a break from moaning/ranting about documentation, I would like
to discuss my actual business case that I am trying to solve.

Artifact resells and supports the best LMSs ever built - Saba SEC and
Saba Cloud.
These are typically sold as a 3 year deal with annual payments based on
number of users.
This means that we have to track license renewals, ask for the cash, get
paid, and remit some of it to Saba.
Automating the tracking and creation of sales tasks (could be an
integration to Sugar CRM)  would be nice.
Each year the fee can change based on revised number of users so there
is some manual work to be done before an invoice can be generated.

The bigger problem is administering the training and support services
that we sell.
In addition to the support that we provide for free as part of the
licenses, our clients purchase blocks of time that we use up on their
behalf as they require training or consulting services which are not
part of the license.
As we use the time, I would like to automatically e-mail them a
statement of what we used, what we did for them and how many hours are
left in their bank.
I would like to be able to do this for each transaction - e-mail is
cheap and I want the clients to know where they stand at all times.
Would be nice to turn this on and off on a per client basis. Each bank
of hours needs a party associated with it for administration in addition
to the company party used for billing and finding the bank of hours in
the UI for timekeeping, reporting, etc..
My staff needs to know whether the client has any time left as well
before doing the work.
We have an obligation to warn the client when their bank runs low so
they can work their magic with purchasing to send us more cash.
Each day, the support staff should be able to enter time spent on both
paid and unpaid (license support) work.

I would like to be able to report the cost of the free license support
for each client as well as the revenue by client for the consulting.

I am sure that many of the people in this forum understand this sort of
business but if I have been unclear about my need, please feel free to
ask questions.

Is this something that OfBiz can do OOB? Where should I look for
discussions/documentation that relates to this?
http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=165695&type=member&item=5885029179249950724 
is a link to the same question on LinkedIn, if you prefer to join the
discussion there.

--
Ron Wheeler
President
Artifact Software Inc
email: [hidden email]
skype: ronaldmwheeler
phone: [phone], ext 102

[Anil Patel-3]

Yes, OFBiz supports your business needs. This means, OFBiz data model and business services can be used to _build_ a solution for business described below.

There are many ways to design solution for your requirements, Based on limited information I will trying to help. Please see my comments inline.

Thanks and Regards
Anil Patel
COO
Hotwax Media Inc
http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/
ApacheCon US 2014 Silver Sponsor
http://na.apachecon.com/sponsor/our-sponsors

On Jun 18, 2014, at 10:10 AM, Ron Wheeler <[hidden email]> wrote:

> To take a break from moaning/ranting about documentation, I would like to discuss my actual business case that I am trying to solve.
>
> Artifact resells and supports the best LMSs ever built - Saba SEC and Saba Cloud.

You sell Digital (refer to productId="GZ-NEWS-1MO” in DemoProduct.xml) and Professional Services (refer productId="SV-1000” in DemoProduct.xml) product.

> These are typically sold as a 3 year deal with annual payments based on number of users.

This requirement can be handled in many ways. One simple design will be to Model it as one order that will remain open for 3 years and will have multiple shipments/fulfillments.  
Next line item on your requirement will help us better understand the fulfillment process.  

> This means that we have to track license renewals, ask for the cash, get paid, and remit some of it to Saba.

Do one Order item with "1 year license” Digital product on it. Move item to completed status. Order Item status change will trigger Invoicing and Payment collection.

Setup Agreement between your company and Saba for Commission/Royalty for all sales. Commission run process can be used to calculate commission and expense it to your GL and then issue Payment.

All this is supported at Data Model and Services level. Even though UI exists, I recommend you build custom UI.

You may have to do some workflow adjustments. OFBiz uses built in trigger mechanism aka SECA, ECA.

> Automating the tracking and creation of sales tasks (could be an integration to Sugar CRM)  would be nice.

“Automating” is subjective term.

OFBiz has ootb services for creating tasks for sales team. I don’t know of any integration with Sugar CRM. You may have to develop it.

> Each year the fee can change based on revised number of users so there is some manual work to be done before an invoice can be generated.

If we maintain one orderItem for one year license fee, then at time of billing you can adjust qty and price on order item and then complete the order item.

>
> The bigger problem is administering the training and support services that we sell.
> In addition to the support that we provide for free as part of the licenses, our clients purchase blocks of time that we use up on their behalf as they require training or consulting services which are not part of the license.

OFBiz has good project management capabilities. It includes tasks management, time logging, Invoicing etc.


> As we use the time, I would like to automatically e-mail them a statement of what we used, what we did for them and how many hours are left in their bank.

OFBiz has email notification system. Again, you will have to setup right hooks to trigger email on certain events. I know this is not much helpful if you are looking for something Pre-Build exactly for your vertical market.

> I would like to be able to do this for each transaction - e-mail is cheap and I want the clients to know where they stand at all times. Would be nice to turn this on and off on a per client basis. Each bank of hours needs a party associated with it for administration in addition to the company party used for billing and finding the bank of hours in the UI for timekeeping, reporting, etc..
> My staff needs to know whether the client has any time left as well before doing the work.
> We have an obligation to warn the client when their bank runs low so they can work their magic with purchasing to send us more cash.
> Each day, the support staff should be able to enter time spent on both paid and unpaid (license support) work.

OFBiz data model and service have all you need. UI/UX and workflow will be custom implementation.

>
> I would like to be able to report the cost of the free license support for each client as well as the revenue by client for the consulting.

This should be easy, You will run report on Invoice/Invoice items and use Product/InvoiceItemType filters.

>
> I am sure that many of the people in this forum understand this sort of business but if I have been unclear about my need, please feel free to ask questions.
>
> Is this something that OfBiz can do OOB? Where should I look for discussions/documentation that relates to this?
> http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=165695&type=member&item=5885029179249950724 is a link to the same question on LinkedIn, if you prefer to join the discussion there.
>

In short, OFBiz as Platform for Enterprise Application supports your business requirements. It is not complete OOTB solution for your vertical market. Depending on your expectations you will need 1000 hours or more to get it ready for production.  


> --
> Ron Wheeler
> President
> Artifact Software Inc
> email: [hidden email]
> skype: ronaldmwheeler
> phone: [phone], ext 102
>

[Jacques Le Roux]

Just to confimr Anil's sentence "There are many ways to design solution for your requirements"
You could also use the Subscription sub-data-model. I let you discover it...
https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/Subscription

Jacques

Le 18/06/2014 22:00, Anil Patel a écrit :

> Yes, OFBiz supports your business needs. This means, OFBiz data model and business services can be used to _build_ a solution for business described below.
>
> There are many ways to design solution for your requirements, Based on limited information I will trying to help. Please see my comments inline.
>
> Thanks and Regards
> Anil Patel
> COO
> Hotwax Media Inc
> http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/
> ApacheCon US 2014 Silver Sponsor
> http://na.apachecon.com/sponsor/our-sponsors
>
> On Jun 18, 2014, at 10:10 AM, Ron Wheeler <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>> To take a break from moaning/ranting about documentation, I would like to discuss my actual business case that I am trying to solve.
>>
>> Artifact resells and supports the best LMSs ever built - Saba SEC and Saba Cloud.
> You sell Digital (refer to productId="GZ-NEWS-1MO” in DemoProduct.xml) and Professional Services (refer productId="SV-1000” in DemoProduct.xml) product.
>
>> These are typically sold as a 3 year deal with annual payments based on number of users.
> This requirement can be handled in many ways. One simple design will be to Model it as one order that will remain open for 3 years and will have multiple shipments/fulfillments.
> Next line item on your requirement will help us better understand the fulfillment process.
>
>> This means that we have to track license renewals, ask for the cash, get paid, and remit some of it to Saba.
> Do one Order item with "1 year license” Digital product on it. Move item to completed status. Order Item status change will trigger Invoicing and Payment collection.
>
> Setup Agreement between your company and Saba for Commission/Royalty for all sales. Commission run process can be used to calculate commission and expense it to your GL and then issue Payment.
>
> All this is supported at Data Model and Services level. Even though UI exists, I recommend you build custom UI.
>
> You may have to do some workflow adjustments. OFBiz uses built in trigger mechanism aka SECA, ECA.
>
>> Automating the tracking and creation of sales tasks (could be an integration to Sugar CRM)  would be nice.
> “Automating” is subjective term.
>
> OFBiz has ootb services for creating tasks for sales team. I don’t know of any integration with Sugar CRM. You may have to develop it.
>
>> Each year the fee can change based on revised number of users so there is some manual work to be done before an invoice can be generated.
> If we maintain one orderItem for one year license fee, then at time of billing you can adjust qty and price on order item and then complete the order item.
>
>> The bigger problem is administering the training and support services that we sell.
>> In addition to the support that we provide for free as part of the licenses, our clients purchase blocks of time that we use up on their behalf as they require training or consulting services which are not part of the license.
> OFBiz has good project management capabilities. It includes tasks management, time logging, Invoicing etc.
>
>
>> As we use the time, I would like to automatically e-mail them a statement of what we used, what we did for them and how many hours are left in their bank.
> OFBiz has email notification system. Again, you will have to setup right hooks to trigger email on certain events. I know this is not much helpful if you are looking for something Pre-Build exactly for your vertical market.
>
>> I would like to be able to do this for each transaction - e-mail is cheap and I want the clients to know where they stand at all times. Would be nice to turn this on and off on a per client basis. Each bank of hours needs a party associated with it for administration in addition to the company party used for billing and finding the bank of hours in the UI for timekeeping, reporting, etc..
>> My staff needs to know whether the client has any time left as well before doing the work.
>> We have an obligation to warn the client when their bank runs low so they can work their magic with purchasing to send us more cash.
>> Each day, the support staff should be able to enter time spent on both paid and unpaid (license support) work.
> OFBiz data model and service have all you need. UI/UX and workflow will be custom implementation.
>
>> I would like to be able to report the cost of the free license support for each client as well as the revenue by client for the consulting.
> This should be easy, You will run report on Invoice/Invoice items and use Product/InvoiceItemType filters.
>
>> I am sure that many of the people in this forum understand this sort of business but if I have been unclear about my need, please feel free to ask questions.
>>
>> Is this something that OfBiz can do OOB? Where should I look for discussions/documentation that relates to this?
>> http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=165695&type=member&item=5885029179249950724 is a link to the same question on LinkedIn, if you prefer to join the discussion there.
>>
> In short, OFBiz as Platform for Enterprise Application supports your business requirements. It is not complete OOTB solution for your vertical market. Depending on your expectations you will need 1000 hours or more to get it ready for production.
>
>
>> --
>> Ron Wheeler
>> President
>> Artifact Software Inc
>> email: [hidden email]
>> skype: ronaldmwheeler
>> phone: [phone], ext 102
>>
>
>

--

[taher]

Hi,

One of the specialpurpose components (project) implemented invoicing
through timesheets. These timesheets are dependent on the rate of each
person applying the job. This is another way to track time spent on your
services.

Taher Alkhateeb
On Jun 19, 2014 10:19 AM, "Jacques Le Roux" <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> Just to confimr Anil's sentence "There are many ways to design solution
> for your requirements"
> You could also use the Subscription sub-data-model. I let you discover
> it...
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/Subscription
>
> Jacques
>
> Le 18/06/2014 22:00, Anil Patel a écrit :
>
>> Yes, OFBiz supports your business needs. This means, OFBiz data model and
>> business services can be used to _build_ a solution for business described
>> below.
>>
>> There are many ways to design solution for your requirements, Based on
>> limited information I will trying to help. Please see my comments inline.
>>
>> Thanks and Regards
>> Anil Patel
>> COO
>> Hotwax Media Inc
>> http://www.hotwaxmedia.com/
>> ApacheCon US 2014 Silver Sponsor
>> http://na.apachecon.com/sponsor/our-sponsors
>>
>> On Jun 18, 2014, at 10:10 AM, Ron Wheeler <[hidden email]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>  To take a break from moaning/ranting about documentation, I would like
>>> to discuss my actual business case that I am trying to solve.
>>>
>>> Artifact resells and supports the best LMSs ever built - Saba SEC and
>>> Saba Cloud.
>>>
>> You sell Digital (refer to productId="GZ-NEWS-1MO” in DemoProduct.xml)
>> and Professional Services (refer productId="SV-1000” in DemoProduct.xml)
>> product.
>>
>>  These are typically sold as a 3 year deal with annual payments based on
>>> number of users.
>>>
>> This requirement can be handled in many ways. One simple design will be
>> to Model it as one order that will remain open for 3 years and will have
>> multiple shipments/fulfillments.
>> Next line item on your requirement will help us better understand the
>> fulfillment process.
>>
>>  This means that we have to track license renewals, ask for the cash, get
>>> paid, and remit some of it to Saba.
>>>
>> Do one Order item with "1 year license” Digital product on it. Move item
>> to completed status. Order Item status change will trigger Invoicing and
>> Payment collection.
>>
>> Setup Agreement between your company and Saba for Commission/Royalty for
>> all sales. Commission run process can be used to calculate commission and
>> expense it to your GL and then issue Payment.
>>
>> All this is supported at Data Model and Services level. Even though UI
>> exists, I recommend you build custom UI.
>>
>> You may have to do some workflow adjustments. OFBiz uses built in trigger
>> mechanism aka SECA, ECA.
>>
>>  Automating the tracking and creation of sales tasks (could be an
>>> integration to Sugar CRM)  would be nice.
>>>
>> “Automating” is subjective term.
>>
>> OFBiz has ootb services for creating tasks for sales team. I don’t know
>> of any integration with Sugar CRM. You may have to develop it.
>>
>>  Each year the fee can change based on revised number of users so there
>>> is some manual work to be done before an invoice can be generated.
>>>
>> If we maintain one orderItem for one year license fee, then at time of
>> billing you can adjust qty and price on order item and then complete the
>> order item.
>>
>>  The bigger problem is administering the training and support services
>>> that we sell.
>>> In addition to the support that we provide for free as part of the
>>> licenses, our clients purchase blocks of time that we use up on their
>>> behalf as they require training or consulting services which are not part
>>> of the license.
>>>
>> OFBiz has good project management capabilities. It includes tasks
>> management, time logging, Invoicing etc.
>>
>>
>>  As we use the time, I would like to automatically e-mail them a
>>> statement of what we used, what we did for them and how many hours are left
>>> in their bank.
>>>
>> OFBiz has email notification system. Again, you will have to setup right
>> hooks to trigger email on certain events. I know this is not much helpful
>> if you are looking for something Pre-Build exactly for your vertical market.
>>
>>  I would like to be able to do this for each transaction - e-mail is
>>> cheap and I want the clients to know where they stand at all times. Would
>>> be nice to turn this on and off on a per client basis. Each bank of hours
>>> needs a party associated with it for administration in addition to the
>>> company party used for billing and finding the bank of hours in the UI for
>>> timekeeping, reporting, etc..
>>> My staff needs to know whether the client has any time left as well
>>> before doing the work.
>>> We have an obligation to warn the client when their bank runs low so
>>> they can work their magic with purchasing to send us more cash.
>>> Each day, the support staff should be able to enter time spent on both
>>> paid and unpaid (license support) work.
>>>
>> OFBiz data model and service have all you need. UI/UX and workflow will
>> be custom implementation.
>>
>>  I would like to be able to report the cost of the free license support
>>> for each client as well as the revenue by client for the consulting.
>>>
>> This should be easy, You will run report on Invoice/Invoice items and use
>> Product/InvoiceItemType filters.
>>
>>  I am sure that many of the people in this forum understand this sort of
>>> business but if I have been unclear about my need, please feel free to ask
>>> questions.
>>>
>>> Is this something that OfBiz can do OOB? Where should I look for
>>> discussions/documentation that relates to this?
>>> http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=165695&type=member&item=
>>> 5885029179249950724 is a link to the same question on LinkedIn, if you
>>> prefer to join the discussion there.
>>>
>>>  In short, OFBiz as Platform for Enterprise Application supports your
>> business requirements. It is not complete OOTB solution for your vertical
>> market. Depending on your expectations you will need 1000 hours or more to
>> get it ready for production.
>>
>>
>>  --
>>> Ron Wheeler
>>> President
>>> Artifact Software Inc
>>> email: [hidden email]
>>> skype: ronaldmwheeler
>>> phone: [phone], ext 102
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
> --
>