Question: Following Credera's recommendation, Vology implemented Broadleaf's e-commerce

solution (after considering Oracle and Microsoft solutions) to replace its home-grown order handling
system. Compare the two alternative e-commerce solutions with that of Broadleaf (in terms of
features, cost, etc.) and assess whether this was the best choice for a VAR like Vology.

Vology has implemented Broadleaf commerce as their e-commerce solution. It is an open source ecommerce platform which is based on Java EE platform which is based on widely adopted Spring
MVC framework. It is the leading framework used to run and build Java applications.
Other alternative e-commerce platforms vendors that Vology compared for their e-commerce
solutions were Oracle and Microsoft. Oracle ATG Web Commerce and Microsoft Dynamics are the ecommerce solutions provided by them respectively.
ATG Web Commerce is an e-commerce platform offered by Oracle. It is a Java based framework.
Provides end to end software stack for building e-commerce applications. ATG provides personalised
cross-channel customer experience.
Microsoft Dynamics is a part of Microsoft business solutions. It provides Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) and Enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications. Microsoft Dynamics
focuses on industries such as retail, sales, manufacturing, financial services and so on. E-commerce
application is delivered through reselling partners who provide specialized services.
Comparing the three e-commerce solutions:
Broadleaf

Oracle ATG

Microsoft Dynamics

Framework

Spring MVC

Spring MVC

.NET

Initial Database

Hypersonic (HSQL)

MySQL

Microsoft SQL Server

Language

database
Java

Java

Server side : C#

Free community

$500,000 for the first

Client side : javascript

$3000-$5000 cost per

edition

year, $110,000 for

user

$60,000 for enterprise

subsequent years

Implementation time

edition
4 to 5 months

6 to 8 months

13 months average

Platform

Desktop, Mobile

Desktop, Cloud

Desktop, Mobile,

Cost

Cloud

Typical Customers

Small to medium

Medium business,

Large business

Search Engine

business
Yes

Large business
Yes

3rd party

Yes

Yes

3rd party

Optimization
PCI Compliance

When analyzing the first three features of the comparison, Microsoft Dynamics seems like a good
solution to go forward with, since the framework used for Dynamics is .NET and the back-end
system for Vology i.e. SMART has been implemented in .NET. The development team for SMART
had built expertise in C#, which is also used in development of Microsoft Dynamics server side. Also,
the accounting system at Vology is built on Great Plains which is an Accounting and Finance product
by Microsoft. Hence, integration of Microsoft Dynamics solutions could be done with ease. However,
typically Microsoft Dynamics is implemented for large businesses and majority of their e-commerce
functionalities are provided by third party vendors. Microsoft essentially provides CRM and ERP
functionalities. Another major disadvantage of considering Microsoft products is the high cost and
longer implementation duration for the e-commerce solutions. Costs and timeline would further
increase as third party vendors would be involved.
Oracle ATG and Broadleaf have similar technical features such as Search Engine
Optimization(SEO), Stock Keeping Unit (SKU), intuitive user interface, PCI compliance. However,
Broadleaf is an open source e-commerce framework, which is built on top of leading open source
technologies. Integrating other applications with its technology stack would be generally easier
compared to commercial e-commerce offering by Oracle. When considering the speed of
implementation, Broadleaf tops the list. Oracle ATG also has a high cost of implementation. Whereas
Broadleaf provides a free community edition and a paid enterprise edition upgrade. In my opinion,
Vology made the right choice in selecting Broadleaf as their e-commerce solution. It fulfills all their
essential requirements and also is a cost and time effective approach. The application can first be
deployed on the community edition, without any monetary investments and then analyze the results
and performance. The organization can always move to the enterprise version offered by Broadleaf
once the requirement arises for better performance and scalability.

References:

https://www.g2crowd.com/products/broadleaf-commerce/

http://www.broadleafcommerce.com/client-stories#vology
http://www.coderanch.com/t/479584/open-source/Open-Source-ECommerce-Frameworks-Products
http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/atg/web-commerce/index.html
https://www.trustradius.com/compare-products/microsoft-dynamics-ax-vs-oracle-ebusinesssuite#likelihood-to-recommend
https://www.clarity-ventures.com/articles/article/930/enterprise-ecommerce-platform-comparison-formicrosoft-dynamics-integration-cap

URL:

broadleafcommerce.org

LANGUAGE:

Java

LICENSE:

Apache License 2.0

COST:

Free

support for wishlists

integration with Google Analytics, Facebook, Digg and

Delicious social networks

UNIQUE/NOTABLE
FEATURES:

UNDER ACTIVE
DEVELOPMENT?
DEVELOPER COMMUNITY?

support for template and customisable emails

open and click through tracking

Last stable release version 1.1.1 28 July 2010, version 1.5 coming soon

Community forum

This open source Java EE eCommerce platform is the first eCommerce framework to be
developed based on the widely adopted Spring framework, the leading framework to run and
build enterprise Java applications. Broadleaf Commerce offers simple and easy integration
with any database and back end system you currently have. Broadleaf Commerce has a userfriendly merchandising tool enabling you to manage products, promotions, designate featured
products, customise product search and reporting with ease. Broadleaf Commerce was
designed to be highly customisable and easy to configure, extend and maintain so you can
make your store stand out from the crowd with ease.

Broadleaf -Entry Level / Typical Pricing

$60,000 Enterprise Edition (24/7 support)/annum; free community edition

ATG

The cost of the platform is 500 000 $ for the first year and $ 110,000 for each
following year.
racle ATG Business User Tools are Best In Class
How likely is it that you would recommend Oracle Commerce to a friend or colleague?
9 / 10

What do you like best?

Biz users have the tools needed to tweak or change existing site experience relatively easily. You
do not need to get on the radar of your programming staff to implement changes for you. You can
improve the site user experience quickly, easily, and effectively.
What do you dislike?
It can be challenging if any of your coworkers are utilizing the same assets you are in current
projects that are not yet in production. When you go to push your project to production you have
to "update" assets that are in conflict with other open projects. This makes sense and is necessary,
but in the platform version we have (10.2) there is not an easy way to view all conflicts and
update/resolve globally instead of having to view them individually to resolve.
What business problems are you solving? What benefits have you realized?
The Oracle Platform has allowed us to include content resources and product resources on our
site in tandem with each other. Content has its own navigation structure and is searchable. This is
huge. For any product you can see the associated resources that are applicable to that product.
This feature works fantastically, and is easy to maintain and improve on. We have also been able
to ensure that site search delivers the most relevant results when site visitors use navigation or
site search. Managing these areas in ATG as a business user/administrator is easy to understand
and easy to implement. Stand Alone Categories has been a very useful tool as well. Basically you

create a navigation or product category outside of your base architecture. This can be done on the
biz. user level, without any developer intervention. Technically, what is created is not part of the
site, but it looks and functions the same for the end user. WOW!
1. Broad-leaf provide open source and enterprise platform VS Hybris comes only
come with enterprise platform.
Broadleaf target audience both B2B and B2C

ATG is a more mature commerce platform which addresses the b2c audience more than the
b2b audience

Language

Framework

Integration speed

Licens

PHP

Zend Framework

3-4 months

Java

Spring Framework

about 6 months

Java

Spring Framework

from 6-8 months

Minim

500 000 $ in the