xTuple Expands, Updates Cloud Service Offerings

xTuple, a provider of commercial open source business management software for small to medium-size businesses, announced the release of the latest version of the company's flagship product and the expansion of the xTuple Cloud service. New features of the open source ERP software include a QuickStart Wizard for improved system set up configuration and an xTuple Desktop interface with sample graphical workflows for sales, CRM, accounting, purchasing, and manufacturing.

Expanded features and enhancements include xTuple Desktop, a loadable package that is customizable and allows users to create their own favorite places in the application, as well as customized workflows for defined business processes and summary dashboards of key business metrics. Another upgrade is the QuickStart Wizard, an add-in package that complements the Desktop with a guide for setting up a company from scratch. It is available for purchase on the xTuple xChange for $30 for users with locally installed databases. It is also included with the xTuple Cloud service at no additional charge.

xTuple PostBooks is the free open source offering, which is aimed at small businesses. xTuple Standard is a midrange commercial offering, which adds inventory control, warehousing, and other features to the core package.  xTuple Manufacturing is the company's most advanced commercial offering, which is aimed at manufacturing companies in both discrete and batch process production, make to order, make to stock, or mixed-mode, and job shops and engineer-to-order.

Existing xTuple users can also elect to move their onsite database to the cloud. Red Wolf LLC, a provider of contract assembly, machining, and fabrication services, said they would be migrating its current five-user Manufacturing database to the xTuple Cloud service. "As a small business with limited IT resources, we're happy to have our xTuple business software run in a reliable cloud environment," said Red Wolf president Kim Sutton.  "We have seen significant improvements in our business since initially implementing xTuple, and look forward to continued success with this new service."

xTuple Cloud Service also enables users across all three editions of the software to run their database in the cloud via Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). Recently, xTuple also announced the release of the xTuple Web Portal and the Time and Expense add-in package. The Web Portal enables xTuple users to utilize their website to work directly with customers, suppliers, or other business partners.  The Time and Expense package provides companies with project accounting functionality by integrating billing and vouchering for professional services.

"Today's release makes our solution significantly more accessible to small to midsized businesses without major internal IT resources. The software is easier to use, less intimidating and more accessible for the average user," said xTuple CEO Ned Lilly. "Life beyond QuickBooks doesn't have to be hard."