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.
