ERP Systems Diffusion among SMEs: Does Development of Open Source ERPs Play a Role

There is an increasing interest in open source, which also goes for enterprise resource planning (ERPs) systems, especially when it comes for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). In this article, the focus is on the combination of open source and ERPs, and specifically on what role development of open source ERPs plays in diffusion of ERPs among SMEs. In an effort to be able to explain the interest in open source ERPs, an investigation about challenges, which a proprietary ERP vendor suggests exist in ERP development today, were used. These challenges were then compared with the open source ERP alternative. It may not be clear whether an interest in open source ERPs is a result of dissatisfaction with proprietary ERP systems or a result of maturity of the open source phenomenon, however, the article aims at providing some new knowledge in this area. The research combines literature reviews, interviews with executives in an ERP software vendor and an investigation of a distribution channel of open source projects. In this article, the focus is on differences between proprietary ERP development and open source ERP development and if, and if so, how these differences could influence future ERP diffusion among SMEs. Based on the identified challenges, the discussion is then on if and how open source ERP systems have a potential for SMEs in the future. It can be concluded that open source ERP development has a great deal to offer, but the main conclusion is that the difference is mainly on the development side, which means that it can be suggested that for the actual diffusion of ERPs among SMEs, it does not matter whether the ERP is open source or proprietary, however for SMEs open source ERPs could probably increase their interest in ERPs and thereby act as an influential factor in diffusion of ERPs among SMEs.