Call it the ultimate double play: Open source coupled with software as a service (SaaS). Using that formula, SugarCRM is striving to double its size this year, asserts CEO John Roberts.
During a phone interview earlier today, Roberts declared the age of proprietary, closed software to be nearing its end. He asserted that even traditional SaaS deployments from companies like Salesforce.com will face intense pressure from open-source SaaS alternatives.
A prime example: SugarCRM has lined up more than 125 integration partners; roughly 20 of those partners now host SugarCRM and offer it as an on-demand service to their customers. SugarCRM itself hosts its software in Silicon Valley, and plans to introduce a hosted offering at a European data center soon, Roberts added.
Still, Roberts welcomes head-on SaaS competition from SugarCRM’s own partners — because customers are demanding “infinite knowledge” and want to evaluate every aspect of a SaaS service before choosing a partner, he added. And plenty of companies continue to deploy SugarCRM on-site. But SaaS coupled with open source, it seems, is the story everyone wants to talk about — from Silicon Valley to Wall Street.
So, what is SugarCRM’s biggest challenge? Apparently, it’s finding talent. “We’re at over 150 employees now and growing like crazy,” declared Roberts. “All I hear about is recession talk, but we’re growing like mad and working hard to keep up with demand and stay focused. I suspect we’ll double in size this year.”
Longer term, Roberts hopes SugarCRM manages to launch an initial public offering within a year or two. In the meantime, the company just secured another round of funding.
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Seems to me there is some disconnect when you need integrators to install open source software. Where is easy to install, easy to use? Thanks Ann
Hi Ann, Thanks for posting the comment. Perhaps it’s unfair to say SugarCRM is “easy” to deploy, but it sounds like early adopters would say it’s “easier” to implement than traditional, closed-source options (Oracle, Siebel, PeopleSoft, SAP, etc.).
Generally speaking, SugarCRM has great momentum because customers can customize it as much as they want. And they can activate it quickly if they prefer outsourcing CRM to a SaaS partner.
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Maybe I’m just nit picking, but why isn’t there a very easy to see link to sugarcrm anywhere in the article.
[...] SugarCRM: Doubling Revenues Through Software as a Service? | MSP Mentor (tags: opensource saas sugarcrm business) [...]
Dan: your wish is our command. SugarCRM link has been added to the article.
do you think that sugarCRM will encounter huge headwinds down the road when it starts to compete more directly w/ salesforce?
the big move in salesforce is really furthering the development of the PaaS (platform as a service) for creating custom applications.
maybe sugarCRM is well positioned to capitalize on its open-source base and build out an open-source platform as well?
i wrote up a summary of a presentation for salesforce.com’s PaaS solution force.com here: http://www.positionmakers.com/2008/01/18/salesforcecom-expands-its-core-business-paas-and-the-future-of-app-develpment/
love to hear your thoughts.
Messels: A few quick thoughts…
1) There is plenty of room in the market for both SugarCRM and Salesforce.com to succeed. Often, the press (myself included) spend far too much time focused on “Winner Take All” scenarios. In fact, there can be multiple winners in SaaS CRM.
2) Yes, Salesforce is becoming a platform for developers and partners. But SugarCRM has thousands of eager open source developers in its camp. Even if SugarCRM itself doesn’t take on a “platform” mentality, thousands of open source partners are already thinking that way.
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[...] deployments, Windows Server remains quite popular for running open source applications. SugarCRM, the fast-growing open source application provider, is quick to note that many of its business developments occur on Windows Server. And Microsoft [...]