Open Source CRM

by: Aina Neva Fiati - www.ThinkAboutCRM.com

In a nutshell, open source CRM software is any sort of program which deals with CRM – Customer Relationship Management – and can be changed by any software developer or even user themselves thanks to the publicly available source code. A couple of years ago, open source CRM software wasn’t even thought about and it was used mainly for other things. However, things have changed and now open source CRM software is gaining increased respect and popularity.

For those wanting to build their own or make a few changes to the existing CRM software, free contact program management is ideal. Open source software will not provide as much as the high-end CRM software will but open source CRM’s high flexibility makes it the ultimate choice of an awful lot of businesses. In addition, over the past few years open source CRM has come quite a long way in terms of providing to businesses.

Today, there are numerous open source CRM solutions, and some of the most notable ones include the names of SugarCRM, Daffodil CRM, vTiger, Anteil CRM, Centric CRM and SellWinCRM. Obviously, it is up to individual businesses to decide whether or not to adopt open source CRM. The major factor when it comes to acquiring management software is whether the IT department of the company is able to effectively handle open source software. The IT people should have some experience with installing and operating an open source product.

Should the IT department of your company need a great deal of direction from the software developers, then you might not want choose open source. There’s absolutely no hand holding which goes hand-in-hand with management software. Nevertheless, if your IT department is seriously good with open source and your company needs some flexibility to freely tweak the program for specific purposes, open source may then be a preferred option.

In addition, open source software relies heavily on the vast user community so that you should without a doubt research the product thoroughly before you make a purchase. You should find out exactly what other organisations are signed up for the same open source CRM and how well they are likely to fit in with such vastly different needs and wants.

Open source software for CRM is a viable alternative to higher-end products for 2 major reasons i.e. cost and flexibility. Over the past couple of years, open source CRM software has come such a long way and it is now very well-respected and commonly used. With that said, you have to be careful and research every single CRM product before deciding to buy one.