Yan Huang @ Renderhosting

Many Windows users would agree that Microsoft Vista meet with all the hype that surrounded it. Although there were many great improvements from Windows XP, it had many bugs. Many Windows users still use Windows XP with Internet Explorer 6. In fact, according to my Google Analytics, most people still use IE6. Now they are coming up with an IE8?

http://www.activewin.com/awin/comments.asp?HeadlineIndex=37964

There has been a swirl of hype on Digg with screenshots of a supposably alpha stage IE8, which turns out to be a hoax Although the news that an IE8 is coming is not a hoax.

A former associated ask if I could recommend him some software to manage his clients. What he meant to say was he had to get away from using that Excel spreadsheet he had for 5 years. I did some research for him and came to the obvious conclusion that almost all CRM software are overpriced.

Of course, I did not want to simply point him to the most expensive suite of tools since his business is still a “startup”.

Here are some of the CRM packages out there:

• ACT! By Sage Premium 2008 - $369.99
  http://estore.act.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=ACTX2008_ES&campaignadcode=ACT10ESTORE
• NetSuite - $4800
  http://www.netsuite.com/portal/home.shtml
• Commence Suite for Small Business - $495 per license
  http://www.commence.com/purchase.asp

I realized how much of a demand CRM software is and how much vendors can mark up their prices.

I found an open source solution called SugarCRM–I installed and tested it out myself and everything seemed great! Got him to sign up with Renderhosting’s business plan, installed it for him and now he is one happy fellow.

SugarCRM - User Demo - Admin Demo

It feels good to offer people solutions that doesn’t cost hundreds or thousands of dollars! Exactly why I’m open to giving this offer to whoever is reading this blog entry.

CRM Solution - $19.95