[OFBiz] Users - OFBiz Case Studies and Testimonials

[David E. Jones]

For many users of OFBiz the price, source code, transparent  
development, community, and other factors are important, but so is  
the issue of privacy and independence from sometimes over-controlling  
software vendors. For some users of OFBiz it is not an option to  
reveal what they are doing with the software, but for those who are  
not in this situation I have a special request...

The 3.5.0 release will be out soon. I was hoping for this week but  
with increased client needs and such I'm way behind on keeping up  
with reported bugs and cleaning things up. So, it will probably be  
out next week or possibly the following. We still want to make sure  
it is out a few weeks before the conference, and that is the other  
big thing coming up.

To prepare for this release and the conference and to take advantage  
of the marketing opportunities that can go with these, we really need  
help from those who are using OFBiz.

We have received many bug reports and fixes and all sorts of help  
recently, without which the upcoming release simply couldn't be what  
it will be. Whether or not you have been able to participate in this,  
you can add to the value of OFBiz immeasurably by spending a half  
hour writing a testimonial, or perhaps a bit more time to put  
together a more detailed case study.

There are various reasons for this:

1. Grow the community! New users feel much more comfortable with  
software if they can see the successes that others have had with it.  
A larger community means more and faster progress in the project,  
which means more features and more stability for you with less and  
less cost to each member of the community.

2. A chance to learn from others in the community. There are so many  
things that can be done with OFBiz, but like any medium of expression  
creativity and skill can be applied to produce amazing results.  
Sharing the results with others or reading about what others have  
done edifies everyone involved.

So, please send us information about what you are doing with OFBiz  
and how you have overcome the obstacles and supported the important  
things for your organization. A selection of these will be put on the  
Marketing page of the ofbiz.org site, and the rest will be linked to  
from that page. There are a few testimonials up there now, but they  
are fairly dated and there are SO many live deployments of OFBiz now  
that it would be great to dramatically expand this.

We would also like to represent the global nature of the community,  
so for those outside the USA we need you too!

Part of the upcoming users conference will be dedicated to this, so  
if you are planning on coming and sharing there please get started in  
advance! This will generate more interest in what you are doing, and  
increase attendance at the conference as well.

Which brings me to my last point... Many users of OFBiz are services  
organizations who are often looking for new clients. Writing Case  
Studies and Testimonials will increase your exposure on the ofbiz.org  
site, and in other community marketing efforts.

-David

P.S. Over the next day or so I will also be sending personal requests  
to those who I know have done great things with OFBiz, so don't be  
surprised if you see that. And, if I don't send something to you it  
may be because I'm not very aware of what you are doing... all the  
more reason to write something up and send it over!

P.P.S. Don't worry if you don't have live sites or deployments to  
reference, a write-up of your experiences with OFBiz and what you  
have done with the project or are doing with it is also quite valuable.