Hello Ilma Your message has been moderated, else it would not have reached this Mailing List.
Please subscribe to the user/dev ML and then use your email client. See why here http://ofbiz.apache.org/mailing-lists.html. Regards, Gil Le 31/05/26 03:32, Ilma masroor a écrit : > Hi all, > > I strongly support this proposal. > > As OFBiz continues to evolve beyond a traditional ERP into a broader > enterprise automation platform, business participation becomes increasingly > important. Many discussions on the user mailing list are not purely > technical—they involve accounting, procurement, inventory, manufacturing, > logistics, and operational workflows where domain expertise can be just as > valuable as technical expertise. > > Rather than starting with a formal committee, perhaps we could begin with a > lightweight Business Advisory Working Group. A practical first step could > be a quarterly virtual roundtable focused on a specific business domain > (e.g., Inventory Management, Procurement, Manufacturing, or Finance). > > The outcomes could be documented as: > > - > > Common business challenges > - > > Reference workflows and best practices > - > > Functional gaps and enhancement opportunities > - > > Candidate roadmap items for community discussion > > This would allow us to gauge interest, attract business practitioners, and > build a knowledge base of real-world requirements before establishing a > more formal structure. > > I believe this is a timely idea and worth exploring further. > > Best regards, > Ilma Masroor > > On Fri, May 29, 2026 at 5:00 PM Divesh Dutta <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Hello everyone, > > > > Over the past few years, the OFBiz community has continued to invest > > significant effort in modernizing the platform and keeping it relevant for > > today's technology landscape. > > > > We have seen ongoing improvements across the framework and applications. > > More recently, the community has been exploring opportunities around REST > > APIs, AI-assisted development, coding agents, MCP integrations, modern > > deployment architectures, and other initiatives that help position OFBiz > > for the future. > > > > As a result, I believe OFBiz is increasingly evolving beyond its > > traditional ERP perception and is becoming a powerful open enterprise > > automation platform. > > > > While our technical community continues to grow and evolve, I wonder if we > > have a corresponding business community helping shape the future direction > > of OFBiz. > > > > Today we have developers, contributors, committers, implementers > > participating in the ecosystem. We have the developer mailing list for > > technical discussions and the user mailing list where users can seek > > support and ask questions. > > > > However, we seem to have limited participation from business practitioners > > and domain experts such as: > > > > > > - Supply chain specialists > > - Inventory management professionals > > - Manufacturing practitioners > > - Logistics experts > > - Procurement professionals > > - Accounting and finance experts > > - Retail operations leaders > > - Enterprise operations professionals > > > > > > Yet these are often the people closest to the real-world problems that > > enterprise software is intended to solve. > > > > Many of us work with customers every day and help solve complex operational > > challenges. Through those projects, valuable business requirements, > > workflows, process improvements, and industry insights are created. In many > > cases, these discussions remain within customer implementations, private > > repositories, or individual consulting engagements. > > > > This is completely natural, but it also means that the broader community > > may not always benefit from the knowledge being generated through those > > experiences. > > > > As OFBiz continues to evolve as an open enterprise automation platform, I > > believe business participation may become increasingly important in helping > > guide future priorities and opportunities. > > > > One idea I have been thinking about is whether it makes sense to create an > > Apache OFBiz Business Advisory Committee (ABC). > > > > The purpose of such a committee would be to create a forum where business > > practitioners and domain experts can engage with the OFBiz community and > > help us better understand modern operational challenges. > > > > Members might include supply chain leaders, manufacturing experts, > > inventory specialists, retail operations professionals, consultants, > > enterprise architects, and others willing to share experiences and discuss > > industry challenges in a generic and non-confidential manner. > > > > The goal would not be to discuss specific customer implementations, but > > rather to explore common business problems, emerging trends, operational > > challenges, and opportunities for innovation. > > > > These discussions could take place through periodic online meetings, > > roundtables, or open community sessions. > > > > As contributors and engineers, we could then use those discussions to: > > > > > > - Better understand real-world business challenges > > - Capture requirements and reference workflows > > - Identify gaps and opportunities > > - Help shape future OFBiz roadmaps > > - Build reusable community solutions > > - Strengthen OFBiz as an open alternative to proprietary enterprise > > platforms > > > > In many ways, this is similar to what many of us already do within customer > > projects. The difference is that the discussion would happen in an open > > community setting where the resulting knowledge could benefit the broader > > OFBiz ecosystem. > > > > I believe this could also introduce a new type of contributor to the OFBiz > > ecosystem: business practitioners who contribute domain expertise, > > workflows, requirements, and operational insights, just as developers > > contribute code and technical expertise. > > > > I understand that building such a community would not be easy, and > > participation would likely take time to develop. However, I believe it may > > be worth exploring. > > > > If successful, it could help us grow the business side of the OFBiz > > community, attract new participants, strengthen our understanding of modern > > enterprise challenges, and ultimately help OFBiz evolve into an even > > stronger enterprise automation platform. > > > > I would be interested in hearing what others think. > > > > Do others see a similar gap in business participation within the OFBiz > > community? > > > > Would a Business Advisory Committee provide value? > > > > How might we attract more business practitioners into the conversation? > > > > Have other Apache projects experimented with something similar? > > > > Looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts. > > > > Thanks > > -- > > Divesh Dutta > > www.hotwaxsystems.com > >
