The object of this study is a comprehensive review of the open source customer relationship
management (CRM) systems. The open source softwares have become one of the most
important trends in the software industry recently. Similarly, the CRM systems are
applied more
increasingly in several fields of economy. The CRM is not merely a subsequent software
technology and application in the field of Business Intelligence, but rather a novel,
comprehensive customer-centric approach to an organization’s philosophy in dealing
with its
customer for the sake of realization of short- and long-range business target contrary
to the
traditionally widespread product-centric approach. Following a short synopsis of the
theoretical
and practical aspects of the CRM systems we analyse the scope of CRM-supported business
activities and processes, then the actual market forecasts and the range of the effective
and
potential users of the proprietary and open source CRM solutions. We make an attempt
to give
a general overview of the advantages and disadvantages of applying open source CRM
software
solutions including the discussion of user benefits and costs and the applied software
technologies.
