SugarCRM is bridging
the distance between mobile phones and PCs with a new version of its Web-based
customer relationship management software now available for beta testing.

In SugarCRM 5.1, the company is coming out with a better interface for mobile
devices with standard HTML (hypertext markup language) browsers, said Chris
Harrick, vice president of product marketing. It will let users view the same
number of standard SugarCRM modules, or sets of information, on their smart
phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants) as on their PCs. Supported devices
include the Apple iPhone
and Research in Motion BlackBerry,
two of the platforms in highest demand among SugarCRM's customers, Harrick said.

More enterprise tasks are finding their way to mobile phones as the devices
grow in processing power, connection speed and browser sophistication. Research
in Motion has wooed third-party developers to bring applications to the popular
business and personal device, and iPhone users are eagerly awaiting software
to be developed using Apple's recently released iPhone SDK (software development
kit). But SugarCRM is using the browsers of those devices and others, just as
it uses standard browsers on PCs.

SugarCRM is available in a hosted SaaS (software-as-a-service) version as well
as a version that can be hosted in a customer's own data center, but there is
never any special software to load on client systems, Harrick said. Last week,
BT said it would offer SugarCRM as well as the NetSuite
on-demand ERP (enterprise resource planning) product as a hosted service for
small and medium-sized businesses, SugarCRM's core market.

SugarCRM lets sales people and executives view and modify information in a
series of modules, essentially databases that each contain a certain type of
information. Those may include contacts, information on sales leads and histories
of customer purchases. Previously, users of SugarCRM on mobile phones were only
able to use about five to eight modules, he said. With the new interface, they
can use more than 20, the same standard ones available on a PC. In the future,
custom modules that enterprises create will be available on their mobile devices,
Harrick said.

The Version 5.1 beta release also includes Complex Reporting Sets, the ability
to compile reports from data in multiple modules. For example, a single report
could provide information about sales leads that responded to a particular advertising
campaign and later became customers. Other new features include Run-Time Filters,
which let users change the terms of complex reports and get the new results
on the fly, and easier integration of SugarCRM data into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.

SugarCRM offers both a free community edition of its software and a more fully
featured version that is sold on a subscription basis. Both are open source.
Anyone can participate in the Version 5.1 beta test for free at SugarCRM's Web
site. The company expects the new software to emerge from beta at the end of
June.

IDG News Service

• Email
• Print
• Share
  • Slashdot
  • Digg
  • Stumble
  • Reddit
  • Newsvine