SugarCRM, the open source CRM company founded in 2004, has announced the release of their latest version, Sugar 6. With this release, SugarCRM is trying to focus on making it easier and flexible for users to use CRM systems. In fact, many users are completely lost when it comes to using CRM.
With Microsoft and Salesforce.com locked in market and legal combat, the "open-source" (see update below) SugarCRM is quietly building its own empire. The company has landed over 6,000 customers with its focus on customization and openness. With the newly released SugarCRM 6, the company is attempting to improve its user experience while retaining the flexibility that's gotten it this far. Also, SugarCRM is also now available on Windows Azure and has integrated document collaboration via Box.net.
After four months of beta availability and testing, SugarCRM today officially announced the general availability of its Sugar 6 CRM customer relationship management platform. Sugar 6 includes an open source community edition as well as commercially licensed professional and enterprise editions.
In Episode 2 of our Extreme CRM Makeover - Open Source Edition, we are going to look at SugarCRM, which is the "general contractor" supplying the CRM that will makeover American Bancard, the financial services company we wrote about in Episode 1.
SugarCRM today launched a major upgrade of its open source customer relationship management platform that emphasizes ease of use, information access and setup. Sugar 6, which was officially launched Tuesday, offers a simplified, Web 2.0 interface with big icons, simplified default views, a ShortCut bar and one-click access to a multitude of application data.