Vtiger CRM
Encyclopedia
vtiger CRM is an open source
CRM
application that was forked from SugarCRM
with the intention of being a fully open source CRM application with comparable functionality to SugarCRM
and Salesforce.com
. It offers reporting, a customer portal and an Outlook plugin in its free edition, whereas those functions are in paid versions of the other CRM applications.
of version 1.0 of the SugarCRM
project launched on December 31st, 2004..
User interaction features include:
In addition, vtiger features multiple database support, security management, and various web forms. The project is available in over 15 different languages.
Interface similarities between vtiger and the CRM module of the Zoho Office Suite
have been noted. However, this seems to be attributable to common corporate sponsorship, not to a common software code base.
/WAMP (Linux/Windows, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) stack with code from other open source projects such as SugarCRM
. The core development team of vtiger CRM is based in Bangalore, India.
provided they have the correct version of PHP and mySQL already installed. From 5.x, the package comes bundled with PHP/MySQL installations, fully customisable. The procedure involves downloading the .tar files from the vtiger CRM website and then using the control panel file manager to upload and untar the source files.
vtiger CRM is also offered as a hosted service which does not require installation on your own web server. vtiger CRM On Demand is delivered using Amazon's EC2 platform.
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
CRM
Customer relationship management
Customer relationship management is a widely implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing,...
application that was forked from SugarCRM
SugarCRM
SugarCRM is a software company based in Cupertino, California. They produce the web application Sugar, also known as SugarCRM, which is a customer relationship management system that is available in both open source and Commercial open source applications.Sugar's functionality includes sales-force...
with the intention of being a fully open source CRM application with comparable functionality to SugarCRM
SugarCRM
SugarCRM is a software company based in Cupertino, California. They produce the web application Sugar, also known as SugarCRM, which is a customer relationship management system that is available in both open source and Commercial open source applications.Sugar's functionality includes sales-force...
and Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com is an enterprise cloud computing company headquartered in San Francisco that distributes business software on a subscription basis. Salesforce.com hosts the applications off-site...
. It offers reporting, a customer portal and an Outlook plugin in its free edition, whereas those functions are in paid versions of the other CRM applications.
History
vTiger was launched as a forkFork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
of version 1.0 of the SugarCRM
SugarCRM
SugarCRM is a software company based in Cupertino, California. They produce the web application Sugar, also known as SugarCRM, which is a customer relationship management system that is available in both open source and Commercial open source applications.Sugar's functionality includes sales-force...
project launched on December 31st, 2004..
Features
In its most recent version 5.2.1 (current as of November 16, 2010), vtiger offers all the usual CRM functions:- Sales automation (customizable product entries, inventory management, quotations, billing, and trouble ticketingIssue tracking systemAn issue tracking system is a computer software package that manages and maintains lists of issues, as needed by an organization...
) - Customer support & service functions, including a customer self-service portal
- Marketing automation (lead generation, campaign support, knowledge bases)
- Inventory Management
- Analysis and reporting
User interaction features include:
- Integration with corporate E-mail systems (plugin for Microsoft OutlookMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
, Mozilla ThunderbirdMozilla ThunderbirdMozilla Thunderbird is a free, open source, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The project strategy is modeled after Mozilla Firefox, a project aimed at creating a web browser...
extension) - Support of the AsteriskAsterisk (PBX)Asterisk is a software implementation of a telephone private branch exchange ; it was created in 1999 by Mark Spencer of Digium. Like any PBX, it allows attached telephones to make calls to one another, and to connect to other telephone services including the public switched telephone network and...
PBX phone system - CalendaringCalendaring softwareCalendaring software is software that minimally provides users with an electronic version of a calendar. Additionally, the software may provide an appointment book, address book, and/or contact list. These tools are an extension of many of the features provided by time management software such as...
- Tag cloudTag cloudA tag cloud is a visual representation for text data, typically used to depict keyword metadata on websites, or to visualize free form text. 'Tags' are usually single words, and the importance of each tag is shown with font size or color...
functionality - RSSRSS-Mathematics:* Root-sum-square, the square root of the sum of the squares of the elements of a data set* Residual sum of squares in statistics-Technology:* RSS , "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", a family of web feed formats...
feed suscription - PDF document generation via the TCPDFTCPDFTCPDF is a free and open source software PHP class for generating PDF documents. TCPDF is currently the only PHP-based library that includes complete support for UTF-8 Unicode and right-to-left languages, including the bidirectional algorithm....
library
In addition, vtiger features multiple database support, security management, and various web forms. The project is available in over 15 different languages.
Interface similarities between vtiger and the CRM module of the Zoho Office Suite
Zoho Office Suite
The Zoho Office Suite is a Web-based online office suite containing word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, note-taking, wikis, customer relationship management , project management, invoicing and other applications developed by ZOHO Corporation , a US-based company. It was...
have been noted. However, this seems to be attributable to common corporate sponsorship, not to a common software code base.
Technology
vTiger is built on the LAMPLAMP (software bundle)
LAMP is an acronym for a solution stack of free, open source software, referring to the first letters of Linux , Apache HTTP Server, MySQL and PHP , principal components to build a viable general purpose web server.The GNU project is advocating people to use the term "GLAMP" since what is known as...
/WAMP (Linux/Windows, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) stack with code from other open source projects such as SugarCRM
SugarCRM
SugarCRM is a software company based in Cupertino, California. They produce the web application Sugar, also known as SugarCRM, which is a customer relationship management system that is available in both open source and Commercial open source applications.Sugar's functionality includes sales-force...
. The core development team of vtiger CRM is based in Bangalore, India.
Installation
vtiger CRM installation is done entirely from an HTML/PHP web interface. One can install vtiger CRM 4.X and 5.x on a standard webserver from cPanelCPanel
cPanel is a Linux based web hosting control panel that provides a graphical interface and automation tools designed to simplify the process of hosting a web site...
provided they have the correct version of PHP and mySQL already installed. From 5.x, the package comes bundled with PHP/MySQL installations, fully customisable. The procedure involves downloading the .tar files from the vtiger CRM website and then using the control panel file manager to upload and untar the source files.
vtiger CRM is also offered as a hosted service which does not require installation on your own web server. vtiger CRM On Demand is delivered using Amazon's EC2 platform.
See also
- CiviCRMCiviCRMCiviCRM is a web-based, internationalized suite of computer software for constituency relationship management, that falls under the broad rubric of customer relationship management...
- epesiBIMEpesiBIMepesiBIM is an open source, web based Customer Relationship Management multiuser application. BIM stands for 'epesi Business Information Manager' with the goal of providing functionality beyond the typical CRM...
- Web applicationWeb applicationA web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are...
- SplendidCRMSplendidCRMSplendidCRM produces open source Customer Relationship Management software developed in C# for the ASP.NET framework. The product is available in two editions - Open Source and Professional - the main difference between the two products is the inclusion of stored procedures and source code for a...
, an implementation on the Microsoft technology stack (Windows, C#, ASP.NET, SQL Server). - SugarCRMSugarCRMSugarCRM is a software company based in Cupertino, California. They produce the web application Sugar, also known as SugarCRM, which is a customer relationship management system that is available in both open source and Commercial open source applications.Sugar's functionality includes sales-force...
- OpenERPOpenERPOpenERP is an open source comprehensive suite of business applications including Sales, CRM, Project management, Warehouse management, Manufacturing, Accounting and Human Resources. OpenERP has separate client and server components...
- OpenbravoOpenbravoOpenbravo is a commercial open source software company. The head office of Openbravo S.L. is located in Pamplona, Spain. A sales office is located in Barcelona. The company is responsible for the development of two products: Openbravo ERP and Openbravo POS. For the worldwide distribution and...