https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2020 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2020 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Digital Service Providers
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • CHANNEL PARTNERS ONLINE
 Channel Futures

Open Source


SugarCRM CEO Change: An Open Source Setback?

  • Written by The VAR Guy 1
  • May 11, 2009
When SugarCRM announced co-founder John Roberts' (pictured) exit last week, some folks viewed the news in a vacuum -- wondering what's right (and wrong) with the open source CRM provider. But The VAR Guy is looking at the bigger open source picture and he sees some reasons for concern.

john-roberts-sugarcrmWhen SugarCRM announced co-founder John Roberts’ (pictured) exit last week, some folks viewed the news in a vacuum — wondering what’s right (and wrong) with the open source CRM provider. But The VAR Guy is looking at the bigger open source picture and he sees some reasons for concern.

First, let’s zoom in on SugarCRM. After Sun Microsystems acquired MySQL (the open source database) for $1 billion in January 2008, some folks (including The VAR Guy) assumed SugarCRM was the open source company best positioned to launch an initial public offering (when financial markets permitted).

SugarCRM founder John Roberts sounded pretty darn upbeat in this June 2008 podcast with The VAR Guy’s sister site, MSPmentor. And many employees praised Roberts. But if things were so sweet at SugarCRM, why did two top employees head off to GroundWork Open Source and Pentaho, respectfully, in 2008? And why is founder Roberts leaving now?

Not even Matt Asay, a SugarCRM advisor, has immediate answers.

The Bigger Picture

Although the open source industry remains full of promise for solutions providers (see The VAR Guy’s Open Source 50 report for details), there are signs of trouble across the open source landscape.

Consider the following anecdotes:

  • GroundWork Open Source and SugarCRM have been busy cutting prices and/or introducing lower-cost options.
  • And now, SugarCRM CEO Roberts has resigned, with no long-term successor in place. An angel investor, Larry Augistin, is serving as a short-term CEO until Roberts’ long-term replacement can be found.
  • Meanwhile, venture capitalists appear to be consolidating their open source investments. Two recent examples include the mergers of XAware with Sparxent, and SpringSource acquiring Hyperic. Are venture capitalists losing faith in some of their open source investments? Or are they worried financial markets won’t recover anytime soon to support IPO exit strategies?

Alas, Red Hat remains the only pure open source company that’s publicly held and consistently profitable. What does that say about the broader open source industry? Is the recession purely to blame?

Or is Roberts’ resignation from SugarCRM a sign of larger challenges for the open source business model?

The VAR Guy is updated multiple times daily. Don’t miss a single post. Subscribe to his newsletter, RSS feed, Twitter feed , Webcasts and Resource Center.

Tags: Cloud Service Providers Digital Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Open Source

Related


  • cloud data
    Your Cloud Data Is Protected, But Is It Portable?
    Why flexibility and containerization are the new must-haves for cloud data.
  • Spinoff Company
    IBM Names CEO of New Managed Services Spinoff
    The former IBM CFO is well-known to those within NewCo.
  • JEDI lightsaber
    AWS Still Chasing JEDI, Blasts Trump Administration Again
    AWS still wants to get JEDI from Microsoft. And there’s a new alliance in town. Plus, an update from iXsystems.
  • CEO Andy Jassy during keynote at AWS reInvent 2020
    AWS Partners Flooded with New Capabilities, Opportunities at re:Invent
    Channel head Doug Yeum introduced services, competencies and more ways for the channel to team with the cloud provider.

7 comments

  1. Avatar Frankie Says May 11, 2009 @ 7:59 pm
    Reply

    Nice to see The VAR Guy no longer drinks SugarCRM’s Kool Aid. They’re a great company but you’re on the mark when you describe bigger issues at hand here. Other than Red Hat do we really know if any commercial open source providers are profitable?

  2. Avatar The VAR Guy May 11, 2009 @ 10:14 pm
    Reply

    Frankie Says: Thanks for the note. The VAR Guy expects some news from a few other open source companies on the channel front this week.

    Does that mean open source companies are generating profits? Not necessarily. But progress, nonetheless, will be announced soon. And once SugarCRM names a long-term CEO, our resident blogger will get a reality check from that company…

  3. Avatar Andrew Dailey May 12, 2009 @ 2:16 am
    Reply

    MGI Research shares the VAR Guy’s view that 2009 will be a tough year for open source companies. In the end, it’s about profits, and open source companies do themselves a disservice by not marketing a tangible ROI or credible TCO model.

  4. Avatar John who? May 12, 2009 @ 1:43 pm
    Reply

    When a company grows as fast as Sugar has, since Sugar became profitable so quickly, there is often a need for a different type of Management style / CEO.

    The skills required to lead a startup into profitability vs. the skills to lead and grow a company the the next stage in the companies life cycle are two different skill sets. Not all managers possess both. The software world is full of examples of CEO’s being changed to accommodate rapid growth.

    Add in the horrible economy and you have a recipe for management change

  5. Avatar The VAR Guy May 12, 2009 @ 1:54 pm
    Reply

    John who?: True, companies often need to change management as they shift from one business stage to the next. But clearly, SugarCRM had deeper issues.

    The fact that the company named an interim CEO suggests that Roberts and the board did not see eye to eye, and their was no real succession plan in place…

    The acting CEO has a ton of experience. And The VAR Guy believes SugarCRM’s brand and market position remain sound.

    But if this change merely involved moving the company from one business stage to the next, the transition would not have involved Roberts leaving in silence with zero statements from him to the media.

  6. Avatar Results time laquo; Gary#39;s Blog June 16, 2010 @ 11:42 am
    Reply

    […] I saw interesting blog on the Var Guy site today#8230;.take a look at http://www.thevarguy.com/2009/05/11/sugarcrm-ceo-change-an-open-source-setback/ […]

  7. Avatar Glucosamine February 4, 2012 @ 4:28 am
    Reply

    Took me time to read all the feedback, but I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be very useful to me and I am certain to all the commenters here! It is all the time nice when you cannot solely be told, but in addition engaged! I am positive you had joy writing this article. Anyway, in my language, there arent much good source like this.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Dell Technologies Expands PowerProtect Portfolio, Embraces Data Protection Priorities
  • Wipro, Navisite, 2nd Watch Bolster Cloud Service Portfolios
  • IBM Cloud for Telecommunications to Rely on Integrators Right Away
  • WANdisco Partners Get First Formalized Partner Program

Galleries

View all

New, Changing Partner Programs: AWS, Tech Data, Avaya, Verizon

January 11, 2021

Industry Perspectives

View all

The Right Data Migration Tool Helps Schools Move to Cloud During COVID Crisis

January 19, 2021

Cloud-Based CRM: What SMBs Need to Know about Backup and Recovery

January 19, 2021

Cybersecurity: What to Expect in 2021

January 19, 2021

Webinars

View all

Blueprint for a Scalable MSSP Practice in 2021

January 21, 2021

Who’s Behind the Mask? Hacker Personas Explained

January 26, 2021

Your Network Perimeter Has Changed

February 18, 2021

White Papers

View all

Why Subscription Business Model

January 15, 2021

The Ultimate MSP Guide to Sales Efficiency

January 14, 2021

Eight Reasons Why MSPs Need IT Industry-Specific Sales Tools

January 14, 2021

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Virtual

March 2, 2021 - March 4, 2021

Channel Partners Conference & Expo

November 1, 2021 - November 4, 2021

Videos and Fastchats

View all

FASTCHAT: How SOAR Eliminates Security Challenges and Elevates Service Provider Revenues

January 6, 2021

Happy Holidays from Channel Partners & Channel Futures!

December 21, 2020

FASTCHAT: How Old, Unpatched Technologies Are Creating New Security Threats for MSPs and Their Customers

December 3, 2020

Twitter

ChannelFutures

Our latest #Cybersecurity Roundup features @BitSight and @kovrrIns, @Vectra_AI and @AppOmniSecurity,… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 20, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@solarwinds hackers target @Malwarebytes, impacting internal emails. #cybersecurity dlvr.it/RqzkZp https://t.co/aWqLjCCW9y

January 20, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@citrix $2.25 deal to acquire @wrike expands @CitrixPartners network into collaborative work management.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 20, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@Carbonite Migrate uses real-time replication to move workloads to #cloud with minimal risk and near-zero downtime… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 20, 2021
ChannelFutures

Backup and recovery is essential for #cloud-based CRMs @ConnectWise #SaaS #dataprotection #cloudbackup #databackup… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 19, 2021
ChannelFutures

You an #MSSP looking to avoid a #SolarWinds-type breach? @Asigra, @Barracuda, @CynetSystems give advice. Don’t blam… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 19, 2021
ChannelFutures

What to expect in 2021 @Webroot #cybersecurity #MSP #remoteworkforce #remoteworking #Carbonite… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 19, 2021
ChannelFutures

From #itautomation to #workfromhome, a look at 2021 trends from @BitTitan. dlvr.it/RqwFZg https://t.co/EkCeJVNAPo

January 19, 2021

MSSP Insider

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Channel Partners Online

Want more? Find more channel news and analysis on our sister site, Channel Partners.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Online
  • Channel Partners Events
  • MSP 501
  • MSSP Insider
  • IoT World Today
  • Webhostingtalk

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X