SugarCRM proving bittersweet
September 23, 2014 11:21 AM Subscribe
Is your business or non-profit happily running along with SugarCRM CE? Obviously, server-side CRM systems are not fashionable at the moment but I would be grateful for suggestions for a good alternative or guidance on success with CE. I am okay with a lot of CRMs but the need for a server based solution requires some digging into what is out there. Either recommend a pathway for effective business management use of SugarCRM CE, or please suggest an alternative CRM solution.
It does not need to be cheap.
It does not need to be cheap.
I'm in the early stages of helping a non-profit with stepping up from spreadsheets and we are looking closely at CiviCRM
posted by rjd at 12:25 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by rjd at 12:25 PM on September 23, 2014
In our sector the #1 recommendation currently seems to be Salesforce. We're on CiviCRM, and my only recommendation there is, as the link above says, budget plenty for support. Like if you had a CiviCRM specialist who did mostly/completely that, it would be great. (Here is my previous discussion about what it takes to make CiviCRM run and a few more posts tagged CiviCRM.)
Whatever the system, they seem to need plenty of TLC and ongoing maintenance/upkeep to keep them ticking.
posted by flug at 1:12 PM on September 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Whatever the system, they seem to need plenty of TLC and ongoing maintenance/upkeep to keep them ticking.
posted by flug at 1:12 PM on September 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
For the past 5 years we followed the following cycle: Realize our system sucked, look at SalesForce, decided it wasn't a fit, and used something else. Then about 6 months later do it all over again. We've gone through Sugar, Microsoft, Highrise, Bantam, Pipeline, and then Nutshell.
Last year, we stopped the madness and switched to Salesforce.
It's uglier than sin, expensive, and a royal pain to set up, but our sales, marketing and customer service people are finally all happy. It works well, and it makes our company better. If we had started using it from the start we probably would have saved a lot of money and time.
posted by kaefer at 1:45 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Last year, we stopped the madness and switched to Salesforce.
It's uglier than sin, expensive, and a royal pain to set up, but our sales, marketing and customer service people are finally all happy. It works well, and it makes our company better. If we had started using it from the start we probably would have saved a lot of money and time.
posted by kaefer at 1:45 PM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
The reason I suggested the analysis report upthread is because it makes recommendations of suitable tools based on your organisation's profile, looking at size, technical resources, list requirements, budget, etc. It's easy to say "Salesforce!" or "CiviCRM!" but those may not be appropriate for your organisation and staffing needs.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:23 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by DarlingBri at 2:23 PM on September 23, 2014
I'm a Salesforce Business Analyst and I've used the tool in three previous jobs. I think it's the bees knees.
Salesforce has a non-profit version, but it's limited. It may be perfect for your needs.
The website is okay to at least see what it looks like. Check out You Tube for tutorials.
The good news is that because of its ubiquity, lots of people know it, and there's a really robust community.
It's worth checking out.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:49 PM on September 23, 2014
Salesforce has a non-profit version, but it's limited. It may be perfect for your needs.
The website is okay to at least see what it looks like. Check out You Tube for tutorials.
The good news is that because of its ubiquity, lots of people know it, and there's a really robust community.
It's worth checking out.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:49 PM on September 23, 2014
Take a look at https://basecamp.com
posted by Mac-Expert at 9:20 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by Mac-Expert at 9:20 PM on September 23, 2014
Salesforce is free for non-profits but you have to pay for the customization. There's a thriving market aimed at non-profits to implement Salesforce, so if you do something quite common (run a tuition centre, animal shelter etc), there's probably a Salesforce solution for sale that needs only to be tweaked a little to fit you, rather than doing it from scratch.
posted by viggorlijah at 10:07 PM on September 23, 2014
posted by viggorlijah at 10:07 PM on September 23, 2014
Response by poster: We got SiuiteCRM and it is working out on day one, still a few kinks to work out.
posted by parmanparman at 10:31 AM on September 25, 2014
posted by parmanparman at 10:31 AM on September 25, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:13 PM on September 23, 2014