Applied Technology Research Center

What Is ATRC ERP?
ATRC ERP is a complete web based accounting/ERP system that requires only a web-browser and pdf reader to use. It has a wide range of features suitable for many businesses particularly distributed businesses in wholesale and distribution. It is developed as an open-source application and is available as a free download to use. The feature set is continually expanding as new businesses and developers adopt it. The growth of ATRC ERP adoption has been entirely through word of mouth testimony - there has never been a
marketing or advertising push to "sell" ATRC ERP. Of course there are no funds nor commercial incentive to do so for free software. Instead this growth is built on reputation and solid practical functionality that works as tried and tested by an increasing number of businesses. Reliability - A Function of Software Design and Quality An accounting system, more than any other system, needs to be reliable. The ATRC ERP code has been extensively peer reviewed but more importantly extensively tested in the field. The result is rock solid stability and a program that does exactly as it is supposed to. All development is reviewed and the project is led by UK qualified Chartered Accountants both with experience in senior management roles in business. The emphasis is on practical features that businesses really need. To produce a solid application it is necessary to build upon solid foundations. ATRC ERP is developed using the PHP (PHP Hypertext Pre-Processor) web development language. Again PHP is an open source development environment and the rigour applied to its development and review of its code is the
reason why it has become one of the most popular∞ and respected web-development platforms.
Performance of well written PHP applications in a web-environment are arguably without peer. ATRC ERP is no exception. ATRC ERP scripts are developed with consistency and simplicity in mind so that the PHP scripts that make up ATRC ERP are readable with only a basic knowledge of PHP scripting and the ATRC ERP structure. Every opportunity is taken to remove abstraction from the code to make the logic as clear as possible to the reader of the code. Simple code makes for reliable code. It also makes for easily modifiable code should another function be required.
It can be easily configured on any operating system and the computer processing requirements are surprisingly light. With web-hosting so competitively priced, 3rd party hosting external to the business effectively minimizes any internal IT costs of maintaining the server. Then only a connection to the Internet is required to use ATRC ERP.
Improve Your Business's Profitability
For those old enough to remember, it was a long time before accounting software evolved from DOS based systems to take advantage of modern graphical capabilities. Similarly, it has taken some time for accounting software to graduate from X tier client-server technology that replaced the old DOS systems and fully realize the benefits of a truly web-based business application. Whilst many systems now have the option of a web "front end", they remain, essentially, client server applications. Due to the intensive processing required for client server applications the infrastructure for many businesses requirements might include:
• A complex load balancing server farm with server management software
• Costly OS licensing
• Large bandwidth fibre-optic connections required between branches
• Dedicated and knowledgeable/expensive IT staff/contractors - to administer and run the
infrastructure
This infrastructure is a serious burden for many businesses. It could be so much easier and business could be so much more profitable. ATRC ERP neatly side-steps all of that, leveraging the simple beauty of HTML to render graphical screens anywhere in the world with minimal overhead and the integrity of centralized database processing of the data.
Secure access to real-time company records any-time, almost anywhere provides significant tangible advantages to a business. Answers when you need them, where ever you may be, inventory, pricing, credit history, profitability, sales analysis. This is all possible right now from any Internet connected device with ATRC ERP.

Platform Agnostic for both Server and Client Access
ATRC ERP is flexible in its platform and configuration. It can be configured on virtually any web-server, operating system or computer. It is also flexible because it is easy to develop functionality to meet precisely the requirements of your business. ATRC ERP developers are keen to work with your business to develop solutions you need. It makes no difference to ATRC ERP's operation where it is accessed from. Be it a desktop, lap-top, PDA or Internet cafe. In labour markets where it is increasingly difficult to retain good staff this flexibility in where work is performed can be a key advantage to employers. It has translations to many different languages - each user can see the screens in their own language and in their own graphical theme.
Why ATRC ERP?
ATRC ERP is an Open Source project. As such there are no fees associated with using the system! What is more, there is competition between service providers to provide the best and most cost effective support. Service providers are more readily available because the availability of the source code enables those with PHP knowledge (the web-programming language used by ATRC ERP) to be able to identify exactly what processing is performed by the system. In proprietary systems this information is often not available even to licensed support providers - they need to communicate back to the software vendor for a response. With the information available to support people, the quality of the support is likely also to be better.