| Open Source ERPs vs. Tally ERP | ||
| Feature | Open Source ERPs (e.g. Adempiere, Odoo, ERP Next, Dolibarr etc.) | Tally ERP 9 |
| Target Clientele | Process driven mid and large size organisations with best GRC practices | Small size, family managed, individual centric conservative businesses with poor GRC practices |
| USP | Standardisation of the Enterprise-wide business processes and efficiency in management control & decision making | Ease of operations for the clerical staff and cooking books of accounts for tax filing only |
| IFC / ICoFR (C.A. 2013) / SOX / Clause 49 (Listing Agreement) compliant | Can be configured for global best practices (COSO / CoBIT) in ITGC and Automated Application Controls (ITAC) | Since main focus is on ease of use for the clerical staff and cooking books of accounts for tax filing, controlling features are very weak. |
| Application Architecture | Industry standard Modern 3 Tier Architecture (Frontend - Application Logic - DBMS) | Single Tier proprietary architecture, developed in 80's |
| Development Environment & DBMS | Industry standard open source development environment (HTML, Java Script, PHP, Java, Phython etc.) & DMBS support (e.g. MySQL, Maria DB, PostgreSQL, Oracle etc.) | Proprietary development environment (TDL) without any separate DBMS |
| User Interface (UI) | - Modern Web based GUI with several appealing themes - Multiple windows of the same application or other applications can be opened simultaneously |
- Out-dated text only UI developed in 80's for DOS based PCs - User can work on single window at a time. Other applications can not be opened without minimising Tally |
| Support Eco-system | Supported by a strong worldwide community of open source evgangelists with brillient technical & domain expertise | Supported by the small-time hardware vedors without any technical or domain expertise |
| Cost of ownership | No licence fee for the application, OS & development environment | Heavy upfront licence fee and AMC / add-on charges for application and Windows OS |
| Operating Environment | Supports Linux and Windows based servers and workstations | Supports only Windows based servers and workstations |
| User Profile | Loved by the professionals with past experience in tier I ERPs and SOP driven professionally managed MNCs | Non-qualified user base in family owned conservative organisations never exposed to industrial best practices and professionally managed MNCs |
| Updation | Application and the supporting environment (i.e. DBMS, development framework etc.) are being continuously improved by the community | Monopolistic profit-oriented corporation only focus on bringing tax-compliance features |
| Speed and data handling | - Based on power of Apache web server and leading DBMSs which can handle any amount of transaction volume / data size / no. of users - Application and database servers can be separately installed. |
- Based on the proprietary single tire source code & DBMS which slows down with transactions volume, data size, no. of users etc. - Application and database servers can not be separate. |
| Installation base | World-wide installation base including developed countries | Presence in India and undeveloped Asian & African countries only |
| Data Sharing | Easy & real-time two-way data-sharing any other business applications like HRMS, CRM, POS, Web-stores etc. via ODBC, JDBC, Jboss, Web services etc. | One-way manual flat file based data sharing can be created via proprietary TDL programming only |
| Interface with other applications | Easy & real-time interface with any other business applications like HRMS, CRM, POS, Web-stores etc. via simple and open API | Manual interface with other applications can be created via proprietary TDL programming only |
| Customisation / Enhancement | Easy customisation through freely available source code | Customisation can be done by the authorised partners in separate developer's edition only |
| Pricing | Entire Application and its source code is free | Differential pricing on the basis of the version, no. of users, add-on etc. |
| Cloud installation | Can be installed on any public or private cloud having web server, PHP and DBMS facility | Cloud feature can be obtained through Tally only |
| Access Controls | - Role based complex access controls matrix can be implemented - Administrator and technical staff's access on the business transactions & reports can be restricted |
- Very basic user based access control - Administrator's and technical staff's access can not be restricted |
| Deletion of transaction | Transactions can only be reversed with verifiable trail in system | Transactions can be deleted easily without any trace |
| Audit Trail on the transaction | Audit-trail on the transactions can be maintained with user ID and time stamp | No transaction-wise user trail available |
| Portable devices access | Can be accessed via any Android / Apple OS based devices (e.g. Smartphones, Tablets etc.) | Available on Windows based PCs |
| Application installation on workstations | No installation on workstations. Can be accessed via any web browser | Application front-end needs to installed on the user work-stations |
| Period / Financial years wise restrictions | Complicated period / financial year based restrictions can be implemented | Only very basic back date restriction is possible |
| Backup and Restore procedure | Easy SQL file based backup and restore procedure | Complicated corruption-prone backup and restore procedure with proprietary format |
| Mass data input | Mass data can be imported internally via CSV import or direct DBMS import | Mass data input is not supported |
| Prepared by : CA. Vivek Verma, FCA, CISA, DISA, MCSE | ||
Tally erp vs. the open source erps
Vivek (CA ) (2368 Points)
29 October 2018
CAclubindia
