SugarCRM Bundles Functions for Resellers, Enterprises

SugarCRM is repackaging its functionality to target both companies that wish to resell SugarCRM to their own customers as well as large-scale enterprises that wish to manage multiple instances of the application through one console.

Its new product, Sugar Data Center Edition, bundles existing software, systems management, monitoring, subscription and license management tools as well as activity reports so partners and customers can control the deployments.

“The partner can create, manage and monitor cross-instance reporting of entirely different versions of SugarCRM,” said Martin Schneider, the company’s director of product marketing. The Data Center Edition “offers great visibility and drives out a lot of the complexity and costs of offering SaaS,” he told CRM Buyer. “We are calling it ‘SaaS in a box.'”

Partner Play

With much of this functionality already existing in the SugarCRM product lineup, this package appears to be aimed at bolstering and developing its partner network, said Rebecca Wettemann, vice president of Nucleus Research. “SugarCRM’s challenge is to differentiate itself from other SaaS providers to its customers and partners,” she told CRM Buyer.

Sugar Data Center Edition is currently in beta testing with a few partners and enterprise customers.

It will become generally available this summer and can be used to support Sugar Community Edition, Sugar Professional and Sugar Enterprise editions. One early adopter is Centurio CRM, a reseller of on-demand CRM applications in the Nordic region, which reports that DCE’s systems management technology allows it to support more customers in a more cost-effective and scalable manner.

“With Sugar DCE, Centurio CRM can provide a complete on-demand service offering to our customers,” stated Michael Duffy, CEO of Centurio CRM.

Two Versions

Sugar DCE will be delivered in two versions — one for partners and one for customers. Features of the application include the following:

• templates that allow users to design brand new SugarCRM templates based on vanilla or custom images of the SugarCRM application;
• provisioning capabilities that allow users to create and deploy a brand new SugarCRM instance with one click;
• management functionality including the ability to clone instances, create sandbox or test instances, manage licenses, audit and archive instances.
• reporting tools that allow users to monitor usage across instances, including number of users, system performance and response times.

SugarCRM updated its flagship application earlier this month with the release of 5.1. Enhanced reporting; a mobile client and a new interface were among the changes.