SugarCRM is open source software developed for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions. It was initially an open source project on the website Sourceforge and it quickly became one of the more popular projects on the site.

The SugarCRM Company has become one of the leading providers of CRM solutions since. This is a product that deals with customer relationship management and is designed to maximize profits and customer satisfaction. It concentrates on areas such as sales, marketing, customer service, and training. SugarCRM provides a flexible and cost effective solution that allows companies to customize the software based on their own needs. There are three basic versions of the SugarCRM software, the Sugar Community Edition, Sugar Professional, and Sugar Enterprise. Of the three, Sugar Community Edition is the only free software. Sugar Professional and Sugar Enterprise have annual subscription rates. However, the Community Edition is estimated to have 85% of the functionality of the other two programs. The basic functionality of the software helps users in sales, marketing, collaboration, and reporting. It can run on a variety of platforms as long as it compatible with Apache, MySQL and PHP. The SugarCRM Community Edition software is a good alternative for companies that need flexibility in their software. Compared to proprietary software, the Community Edition version can be adapted to differing business environments. There are wealth of customization options available, which are essential in tailoring the software to the business’ needs. The deployment of the software comes in many forms. For example, the CRM platform can either be installed or hosted on the company server. The full range functionality is still retained for both of these deployment options. This is very helpful as it provides ease of use for users coming from different backgrounds. Aside from those two options, there are additional products that can aid in the deployment process. Sugar On-Demand allows SugarCRM to host the information. This is helpful for companies without an adequate IT staff. Sugar Cube is a plug and play CRM appliance for a firewall. It can be accessed through a web browser but the database information is kept in house. Since the Community Edition is free, this is a cost effective option for companies that don’t require a large user base. However, this means that the software must be developed and customized by those with the technical skills to do so. Sugar Professional and Sugar Enterprise editions have monthly licensing fees, but there is the option to acquire a license for a whole year at a lower price. These two versions contain more features that are not found in the free open source version, so companies can save on time and effort if they choose this route.