Re: CRM Software - Open Source / Free / Shareware Needed!
Just a quick update on my experience with Sugar Open Source so far -
Sugar Open Source Crm works okay for contacts, project info etc. Installed okay on our webserver, just need to make sure you have the right versions of php and mysql provided by your webhost - sugar gives a list of min system requirements..
I had to design a custom front end in Access, and setup a separate Mysql db on the webserver, to accomplish the estimates, invoicing and quotations requirements we have. I now have an Access form with tabular layout for this purpose, designing queries and output reports in Access as required also.
For the Access front end to work I needed a secure tunnel (which I use Putty for), the separate mysql db for the estimates/invoices/quotations set up on our webserver, the local vista/xp machines needed odbc drivers for mysql installed - oh, and I think Sqlyog comes in handy too.
In short, if you've got a few years database/web development behind you, then you can customise Sugar yourself (or more accurately as I did, essentially adding on extra modules / databases). Or you take what they offer for free. Or you pay them annually for the package that suits your needs.
I'm currently looking at using php to accomplish the same thing entirely via the web browser. It feels a bit like re-inventing the wheel sometimes, but I spent literally hours and hours looking for something which does exactly what we want, and couldn't find it. Sugar was about as close a match as I found. Either I compromise on functionality, pay for someone to do it for us, or I do it myself.....it's keeping me out of trouble at the moment anyway!
Darren
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