August 22, 2011
OPEN-SOURCE CRM
The Market
While open-source has exploded in Web development and content dissemination more broadly, the uptake in open-source CRM, albeit steady, has been slower. Largely dependent on support services for their products as the chief source of revenue, many vendors don’t pull the kind of dollars that non-open-source vendors, who are selling licenses, can. Their revenue models are focused on small to medium-sized businesses—a CRM sector yet to reach maturity.
Compounding that, open-source also faces challenges from software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendors, such as Zoho, that target the SMB market with competitive pricing schemes. Those factors tend to inhibit growth, and that is reflected in the low revenue numbers across the board.
Nevertheless, open-source provides some enticing benefits: the potential for full customization to meet the needs of a business, low up-front costs, and strong third-party development.
