There are many websites about CRM Systems and there are many websites about open source software. But, there is very little information on what happens when Open Source Software meets CRM. Read on for a quick but comprehensive overview of what's shaking up the world of CRM systems: Open Source CRM.
What CRM Systems Can Do:
Combine information from different departments to get a unified view of the customer
Help companies with many contact points-e-mail, phone, direct marketing, online, mass media-present "one face" to consumers.
Find the most profitable customers and help a company nurture a relationship with them.
The Power of Open Source CRM Systems
Customer Relationship Management software, usually known as CRM, are designed to help companies and their customers get more out of their interactions with each other. For the customer, pre-buy product evaluation, ordering, payment, service and reordering is ideally a more enjoyable experience. For the business that uses CRM Systems, better contact management, problem resolution tracking, an understanding of marketing campaign ROI, and insight into customers' needs and habits are just some of the results of a good CRM Systems suite. CRM systems can be housed on a company's computers, or, can be completely online in what's called CRM on demand, also know as hosted CRM.
Pros:
Relatively low cost compared to traditional CRM software vendors.
Available as on-premise software or hosted crm service.
Completely customizable to meet a business' unique needs.
Cons:
The low- or no-cost CRM software can be offset by the expensive man hours of a development team?/li>
As an emerging industry, there is not always the support, training, and infrastructure of more established companies.
There is not the range in open source applications that there is in proprietary software.
The Power of Open Source Software: Exactly as it sounds, the code that powers open source software is available for anyone to look at, modify, or use however they see fit. This modification isn't necessarily easy; CRM software is a complex application that strives to look simple. The power of open source CRM is that if the solution is well-designed and easy-to-use to start with, a minimal investment in programming hours can yield powerful modifications that makes the CRM solutions a perfect "fit" for the company.
Run-down on Open Source CRM:
Although an emerging field, there are some good "out-of-box" open source CRM solutions available.
Especially good for technically-savvy companies that have the in-house know-how to customize and maintain open source CRM without having to hire outside consultants.
There are both web-based (hosted) open source CRM solutions and non-hosted solutions that sit on a company's server.
A Winning Combination: CRM and Open Source: At least in theory, open source and CRM are a match made in heaven. CRM, after all, is about managing and understanding large numbers of interactions and the huge amounts of data mined from those interactions. Open source software is also about making transparent what used to be invisible, and making simple what used to be complex. Open source and CRM share the same over riding goal: To make life easier, and better, for the end user.
