OPEN-BUSINESS-MODEL

The Open Business Model is an attempt to generate an opensource collection of frequently used data or attributes of business entities primarily in Small Enterprises operating in African Markets. Open Business Model (OBM) is built from experience in attempting to build varied business data centric applications which often times need to exchange data. A very common example is the use of Enterprise Applications with various components which may be used as standalone modules and also as a combination producing a solution suit. Thus we may have an Accounting module being used alone or have an Accounting module which may be connected (that is uses data) from a Customer Relationship Management tool. In most Small and Medium size businesses, cost of acquiring off the shelf solutions for such enterprises needs are beyond budget of affected departments or business arms. Alternatives to these off the shelf solutions, such as Cloud or web based solutions do not easily fit the business environment of most African Start-ups as connectivity cost and quality adds to overall cost undermining the overall value of the solution. These challenges faced by business operators requires a more pragmatic approach to solving data related business demands in a way that minimizes software production cost while also enabling business clients and end-users have better access to critical information using robust software tools. There is also another consideration for the Open Business Model beyond the need of exchangeable data between business applications or components. This second consideration arises from observation of software production pattern for most business applications. Three sections exist in business applications namely: Data Layer, Frontend Interface, and Business Process. These three sections broadly defines code base for most applications whether they are standalone or enterprise systems. The Data Layer (DL) deals with issues arising from data storage, data models, queries and such related tasks that primarily answer the questions such as: “WHAT IS...”, “HOW MANY...”, and other questions that readily falls into statistics and numbers for business decision. The Frontend Interface (FI) is concerned with the user’s experience and focuses on how easy is the designed system for the various categories of users. The Business Process Layer (BPL) deals with various algorithms for solving business problems captured as data or system entities. BPL defines how information flows, how information is derived from data, which can access business information and other requirements that a business may place on the system. In summary, the BPL is the agreed functional requirements of the application written as algorithms. Irrespective of the software solution in view, it is safe to conclude that a user interface will be required, a set of data will be stored and retrieved, and a combination of algorithms will be used for processing data, producing chart, controlling process, and performing a task. These three layers appear in all business software irrespective of the media (Web, Cloud, private network, stand alone), device (mobile, tablet, PC), and users. Open Business Model aims to fast track business application development by providing a library of Business Objects, classes, or componentes which can be readily used with front-end libraries and data stores. These Business Objects specifies both attributes and contracts which can be further extended or composed to suit particular business demands. The Open Business Model will be provided in multitple langauages namely: Python, PHP, JavaScript. Implementation for other programming languages will be provided in future releases.