Open Alternatives to Salesforce.com
One of The VAR Guy’s early mentors always said “software wants to be free.” Maybe “nearly free” is a better term to use. Somewhere between proprietary CRM software like Oracle/Siebel and modern hosted applications like Salesforce.com, a new market opportunity for channel partners is emerging.
Small open source companies such as Centric CRM and SugarCRM are carving out a niche for themselves in the application sector. Centric CRM has only 20 employees but has landed business with midsize companies and even a few enterprises. A deal with US Food Service, for instance, could eventually blanket more than 5,000 users, notes Centric CRM Chief Marketing Officer Michael Harvey. Centric CRM and its low-cost open source model serve customers that “can’t afford Siebel,” says Harvey.
But what about fast-growing Salesforce.com? Harvey estimates that Centric CRM costs half as much as a Salesforce.com. (Although The VAR Guy can’t vouch for that.) And with a hosted application, customers lose flexibility and integration with their own applications, he asserts.
The VAR Guy is not predicting a Salesforce.com implosion. But there’s no denying the growing demand for open source apps like Centric CRM and SugarCRM.
Centric’s top priorities for the rest of 2006 are shipping version 5.0 of its product and building its channel. The VAR Guy has got to wonder if Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM partners will give Centric CRM and SugarCRM a look.
CRM is essential for growing businesses, but it is important to carefully select your CRM partner. This blog article “Don’t Make a CRM Buying Mistake : 7 Points to Consider Before Selecting Your CRM Solution” has advice on selecting a CRM solution. » Commence CRM Blog
http://www.commence.com/blog/index.php/2010/01/20/dont-make-a-crm-buying-mistake-7-points-to-consider-before-selecting-your-crm-solution/
Salesforce.com is nice and easy to start with but the pricing becomes very steep very quickly. As identified here, open source alternatives almost always work out cheaper.
That said, we at Junari always strongly recommend that clients clearly define their business processes BEFORE picking a CRM product so they are clear as to how closely the product matches their needs. We always warn clients to choose a system which matches their business processes, not a system that requires them to adapt their practices to match it. We often point potential junariCRM clients to the following article: http://www.junari.com/junari-blog/15-choosing-a-crm-system.html
B Lloyd: The VAR Guy appreciates your readership. Please keep our resident blogger posted as Junari makes more moves…
-TVG