The value of Open Source
“But I can get Sugar for free!” he said. Before you think this is a new scam for the brown stuff, let me assure you: this was a prospect telling me he could download Sugar CRM, an Open Source CRM solution, for free. Instead, as you might have guessed, of paying for it with us. Now, how do you argue with “Free”? no matter what I say about our price being affordable, our price being the best in the market (of “proprietary” software), etc., there’s no way I can argue that paying for something is better than getting it for free. So what do I do? I do what I do best: lay out all the facts.
Don’t get me wrong: I LIKE Open Source. We use a lot of that in our software. We use FreeMarker and Java (of course!), our databases are DB2-C and PostgreSQL, our apps and databases run on Linux and so on. Even as recently as a month ago, we decided to use a dashboard control that’s available in the Public domain. But IMHO, prospective CRM buyers should worry about using Open Source for exactly this reason: that we use it. Let me explain: we use it because we are a software company and have the interest and skills to deal with its attendant issues. Do you?
Open Source software is usually very well-written – at least the better ones out there. As are some of the solutions that compete with us – they are, after all, written by very good programmers who are driven by a strong motive of giving back to community. Consequently, to begin with, you need to figure out what parts of a solution you need to download, where you’ll install them, how they will interact and so on. Yes, there are very good “distros” for most of these things, but to find the one that you need, you’ll need to spend a fair amount of time digging around on the ‘Net. If that’s what you want to do, instead of focusing on what functionality you need and which solution gives you that best, then you should consider Open Source.
Next, once you have the software all installed and running, there are the issues of user set-up, training, scaling, support and bug fixes. Analyses about life-time cost of software will tell you that the cost of running a system over 5 to 7 years is about 70% of the total cost of software. So, while you may have saved the 30% (Did you really?), you’re still going to be paying for all the things that make it usable over time and effective for your users. Factor that into your budget and see if an Open Source CRM still makes sense for your company.
Let me point out that the 70% assessment applies to software management, not the cost of the hardware and operating systems that you need to make it all happen. Most SaaS providers like us have a whole cluster of servers running multiple instances of the app and databases on different servers. Putting up that kind of infrastructure is not just a matter of the cost of the hardware – the real costs are in setting up and managing a cluster of servers, in terms of technical skills. Of course, you may not need that kind of access – you may be OK with losing a few days of access if your server fails. You may be OK to shut down the system every evening and over week-ends. You may be OK with a contractor, whom you’re paying by the hour, telling you he’ll come in “tomorrow” to take a look at your problems. If that’s the case, you should certainly consider Open Source CRM.
Then there’s the issue of feature growth. Open Source developers constantly roll out modules that can be integrated (by a good programmer) into a running app environment. In our case, though, we add features that make sense for our customers and their business environment. Specifically, we’re very proud of the fact that we have features and functions that apply in the Indian context. A CRM solution works well only if it fits the culture of the end-customer (not the CRM buyer) well. Open Source enhancements applying to the Indian context are few and far between right now. If your business, on the other hand, does not need to deal with Indian clients, you probably have a good chance making Open Source CRM work for you.
The point I am making is that buying into a SaaS solution is not about the cost of the software. In fact, the software itself has little to do with your using it effectively. It’s all about having a competent agency that truly partners with you for your success. Every quarter, you have the choice of walking away from our solution – that keeps us awake at nights, making sure Impel works for you and your users. That’s what you get at the click of a button on our website.
So here’s to Open Source, a significant contributor to our delivering great software at an affordable price.
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:04 am
[...] Technically, too, this roll-out breaks the stereotypical SaaS CRM model. Here we have Impel being accessed across the web, but it works behind the scenes with a server that’s sitting in the customer’s premises. And that in turn throws calls to specific agents’ desktops, for both outbound and inbound calls. On the Impel side, a call may need to be initiated due to an incoming SMS, a new campaign being uploaded, whatever – the users don’t see that complexity at all. So the solution now spans at least three physically-separate networks – the mobile network for SMS, the “cloud” for Impel and our customer’s internal network for the VOIP and call-routing. While all this is quite innovative (even if I say so myself!), it is actually just a good use of off-the-shelf technologies. And that’s what fascinates me – the fact that so much can be done with so little. And for so little! No wonder I’m a fan of open source! [...]