Comments on: Open source software as a customer capture tool http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/07/23/80/open-source-software-as-a-customer-capture-tool/ Inside Online Media Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:17:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Ben Tremblay http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/07/23/80/open-source-software-as-a-customer-capture-tool/#comment-76763 Ben Tremblay Wed, 05 Dec 2007 22:20:09 +0000 http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/07/23/80/open-source-software-as-a-customer-capture-tool/#comment-76763 Thanks for this. (A nice reward to me for sprucing my the "blogs" tab in my NetVibes!) I've been watching / registered on SalesForce for the longest time, and there's a lot I like. (There a lot to it!) But ... if I could figure out my reticence I'd likely blog an essay about it. So ... I'm off to check into S-CRM! Thanks for this. (A nice reward to me for sprucing my the “blogs” tab in my NetVibes!)

I’ve been watching / registered on SalesForce for the longest time, and there’s a lot I like. (There a lot to it!) But … if I could figure out my reticence I’d likely blog an essay about it.

So … I’m off to check into S-CRM!

]]> By: OpenJason» Blog Archive » SugarCRM Revenue Model http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/07/23/80/open-source-software-as-a-customer-capture-tool/#comment-53925 OpenJason» Blog Archive » SugarCRM Revenue Model Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:31:25 +0000 http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/07/23/80/open-source-software-as-a-customer-capture-tool/#comment-53925 [...] Matt McAlister has a really interesting piece examining an Open Source CRM (SugarCRM) versus Salesforce.com. He observes a trend through the lens of SugarCRM that is happening more and more - companies focused around Open Source software that drive revenue from services alone: They’ve done a really clever thing which is to build a revenue model around the added services rather than try to charge for the core software. You can download the same app that everyone else uses and install it yourself for free. But if you’re not up to the installation challenge, you can let them host it for you and get started in about 5 minutes for a $40/month usage fee. They charge more for additional services that larger groups may require…. However I just can’t help but I wonder if SugarCRM is in a position to do to Salesforce.com what Salesforce.com once did to Siebel, undercutting on price and extending efficiencies further out to the edge. The edge used to be self-serve style software as a service. SugarCRM went further and took the edge all the way out to the open source community. [...] [...] Matt McAlister has a really interesting piece examining an Open Source CRM (SugarCRM) versus Salesforce.com. He observes a trend through the lens of SugarCRM that is happening more and more - companies focused around Open Source software that drive revenue from services alone: They’ve done a really clever thing which is to build a revenue model around the added services rather than try to charge for the core software. You can download the same app that everyone else uses and install it yourself for free. But if you’re not up to the installation challenge, you can let them host it for you and get started in about 5 minutes for a $40/month usage fee. They charge more for additional services that larger groups may require…. However I just can’t help but I wonder if SugarCRM is in a position to do to Salesforce.com what Salesforce.com once did to Siebel, undercutting on price and extending efficiencies further out to the edge. The edge used to be self-serve style software as a service. SugarCRM went further and took the edge all the way out to the open source community. [...]

]]> By: eIT http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/07/23/80/open-source-software-as-a-customer-capture-tool/#comment-1739 eIT Tue, 01 Aug 2006 15:55:14 +0000 http://www.mattmcalister.com/blog/2006/07/23/80/open-source-software-as-a-customer-capture-tool/#comment-1739 Nice article, thanks...SugarCRM is one of the more often-quoted examples for business models in open source... On a slightly tangential note, making revenues from free & open source software is one of the most frequently asked questions these days. While there have been a few successful examples of companies (like MySQL, Red Hat etc) which are making money, I’d surmise that these are still very early days for open source revenue & profit models. While open source as an operational paradigm certainly has been having exceptional success against proprietary and closed-software models in the recent past, in my opinion, a lot more thought need to be given and experimentations done before the emergence of viable revenue models for the free & open source models that can successfully compete with the current proprietary software revenue model. Some specifics of the business models are emerging fast, but it will take a few years for the market to test each of these out and hopefully, the fittest will survive. A site that focuses exclusively on revenue models from free, open source software is Follars.com – Free, Open-source Dollars - http://www.follars.com ! Ec @ IT, Software Database @ http://www.eit.in Nice article, thanks…SugarCRM is one of the more often-quoted examples for business models in open source…

On a slightly tangential note, making revenues from free & open source software is one of the most frequently asked questions these days. While there have been a few successful examples of companies (like MySQL, Red Hat etc) which are making money, I’d surmise that these are still very early days for open source revenue & profit models.

While open source as an operational paradigm certainly has been having exceptional success against proprietary and closed-software models in the recent past, in my opinion, a lot more thought need to be given and experimentations done before the emergence of viable revenue models for the free & open source models that can successfully compete with the current proprietary software revenue model. Some specifics of the business models are emerging fast, but it will take a few years for the market to test each of these out and hopefully, the fittest will survive.

A site that focuses exclusively on revenue models from free, open source software is Follars.com – Free, Open-source Dollars - http://www.follars.com !

Ec @ IT, Software Database @ http://www.eit.in

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