Open Source vs Enterprise

[shannonw]

I am looking at implementing SugarCRM and have been considering the Enterprise version however, after due diligence, I'm starting to think that the open source version might be all we need.

I'm hoping someone in this forum can offer me some guidance as to directing me closer to a decision.

What do I need from the software?

1. A system to store customer/account information
2. A system to link customers/accounts to staff/contact information
3. The ability to store infinite information against a customer/account record (we have 30 different departments, all with specific information about their interaction with the customer)
4. Ability to report on accounts/customers based on product usage (i.e. show me all customer who have NOT bought product X)

Some of the concerns I have that I'm not sure I can address approriately with open source are:

1. We need to tweak the system a little to achieve what we need - can we contract someone to do this for us from sugar or a partner if we go open source? (yes I could get someone internally to do it but there is a distinct urgency with this project)
2. In the area of accounts and contacts, what does enterprise deliver that open source can not?
3. Is open source to a level that could be considered useable in production in an organisation of 380 people?

Look forwarrd to hearing some views and opinions on this topic

Thanks

[metapin]

It is possible to do. If you are interested just let me know via Private Messages

Kind regards,

Met

[susiewilliams]

Hi there,

I can answer some of your questions:

1. Regarding the differences between editions, you can check out this webpage or this podcast for a description of what each edition has to offer. In general terms, the Pro/Enterprise editions have quoting, advanced reporting, support for teams, plus several other features that may be of interest to you.

2. Regarding customizations to the product, our Professional Services team is not available for Open Source edition customizations; however, I would think that you'd be able to find many partners or independent developers who would gladly take on the work for a fee. When you get to this point in your project, post a detailed description of what kind of work you're looking to have done in the Classifieds section of this forum and you'll get plenty of responses.

3. Regarding scalability, I will let others in the community chime in regarding how many users they have running their systems, but I can tell you that as long as your system is properly sized and tuned (including the network, database, and web server) that's not an outrageous number of users at all. You might want to check Jacob's "CTO Series" for tips and tricks on tuning and scalability.

Hope this helps,
-Susie

[sacramentojoe]

Hi there, in my experience, you need to have your server tuned perfectly or you'll experience issues running that many users on one instance.

Sorry Sugar, but this has been my experience over the past 2-3 years.

[andydreisch]

Hey sacramentojoe, your nearly 350 posts grants you some authority on this topic, so no need to apologize!

Also, we find that the total user count, while interesting, is less meaningful than the concurrent user count. Our rule of thumb is that about 10-20% of the total user base will concurrently access the system -- meaning that they're logged in and are actively using the system in some way.

Thoughts on this?

Andy

[longreach]

For sure - there can be light 380 users, or 380 heavy users - all depends what their job function is, how many hours a day of usage they typically have. Will they will be using email? Are they are onsite or offsite - using SSL or VPN, or open LAN access? Once you reduce the requirement to an anticipated number of concurrent users, you can also begin to make comparisons to the number of concurrent users for several other php-based workgroup type applications. But it is fair to assume you should think in terms of lots of RAM, and n-tier implementation.

[sacramentojoe]

Hey sacramentojoe, your nearly 350 posts grants you some authority on this topic, so no need to apologize!

Also, we find that the total user count, while interesting, is less meaningful than the concurrent user count. Our rule of thumb is that about 10-20% of the total user base will concurrently access the system -- meaning that they're logged in and are actively using the system in some way.

Thoughts on this?

Andy

Andy, I agree on the concurrent users as being the issue. We have a client that runs a telesales company and he's got all of his 50 +/- users hitting the system from 8am - 6pm. They have about 100 custom fields and over 100,000 records in the leads module. We did index the search fields along with the deleted field. This client averages about 24 seconds on a leads listview when pulling all the records.
I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

In my previous life, we were Java & MSSql and the time for a similar query was under 10 seconds.

I'd like to add that the CTO series that Susie linked is a GREAT place to start and did help improve our performance.