Because of it is global nature, Compiere needs to be adapted to local requirements. This is what the partners need to do in order to get local customers interested in the project. The current European Compiere partners (see reference list on Compiere website) have indicated that there is a need for a European Compiere Association which is intended to become a platform for European partners. In a ’’founders’’ meeting in Bonn, Germany Q1 2004, the general purpose of this platform was divided into the following tasks (in random order).

• Task 1 : Information:
  In order to develop the market for the Compiere services and create awareness, the Association needs to inform and educate the European SME's. Because there is no real marketing budget in OpenSource software, this needs to be, at least, a joint effort by the partners.
• Task 2 : Development:
  In order to let the European SME’s take advantage of the free Compiere software, there are typical, local (European) issues. These issues are, for example, legal, financial or quality requirements to which every SME in Europe has to comply. Especially in the new European countries there is a need for a low cost, free to use software solution which can provide a guideline to the "European way" doing business.
• Task 3 : Community building:
  By building a user community in Europe, the ECA can create an information marketplace where users and developers can exchange ideas and join efforts to explore possibilities and create solutions. These solutions can be, according to the philosophy of OpenSource, beneficial to all European SME's.
• Task 4 : Platform:
  For any project to be successful, it is necessary to be able to form a common point of view towards external issues. The ECA aims to provide this platform in order to defend the interest of the European Compiere users and partners on any issue.

http://www.audaxis.com	http://www.comdivision.com
http://www.actfact.nl	http://www.action42.de
http://www.castletechnology.net	PharmaNord http://www.pharmanord.com