SugarCRM Adds Social CRM, iPhone App
Open source customer relationship management vendor SugarCRM today took the wraps off its first mobile CRM app for Apple's iPhone and also unveiled new social CRM features.
The company, which started out as an open source CRM project before adding paid support and enterprise editions, claims to be the fastest-growing CRM vendor, adding 2,500 customers this year for a total of 7,000, said SugarCRM senior communications director director Martin Schneider.
The iPhone app is the company's first mobile app; until now, users have been limited to browser-based mobile access. The company will eventually add an iPad app, but Schneider said the iPad doesn't have the form factor limitations of the iPhone, so the company started with the iPhone and also plans BlackBerry and Android apps.
SugarCRM is also expanding its Sugar Feeds social networking tool to add better Twitter and LinkedIn support for contact management and social media monitoring and CRM. The collaboration and social media monitoring tool allows sharing of any type of external data, including video, social networking information, or any records from the CRM system.
“We're trying to empower the way you do business in a social world,” Schneider told eCRM Guide.
The iPhone app is a premium feature, but the new social media features are available to users of the open source community edition, said Schneider. Sugar Mobile for iPhone can be downloaded from the Apple Appstore, and free trials are available.
Schneider said SugarCRM's open source core saves paying users money. The enterprise edition sells for $50 a user per month, while a pro version costs $30.
“We're amazingly price competitive for the functionality you get,” he said. “We don't penalize you for being successful with your CRM, as other companies do.”
The latest version of SugarCRM also ups the number of supported languages to 14; Schneider calls the release “global mobile social.”
Sugar 6 also offers integration with Microsoft Outlook 2010 and stronger support for all IMAP email protocol offerings such as Gmail from within the Sugar email module. The CRM software also gets support for the Google Chrome browser.
Paul Ferrill has been writing for over 15 years about computers and network technology. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering as well as a MS in Electrical Engineering. He is a regular contributor to the computer trade press. He has a specialization in complex data analysis and storage. He has written hundreds of articles and two books for various outlets over the years. His articles have appeared in Enterprise Apps Today and InfoWorld, Network World, PC Magazine, Forbes, and many other publications.
