[Vtigercrm-developers] Is 4.x a mature version or?

[Mike Crowe]

Per,

I'll give you some thoughts:

1)  When evaluating CRM solutions, look at current capabilities vs. your 
needs.  When I selected vtiger, it was due to the customization 
capabilities.  We needed *lots* of custom fields, and no other CRM tool 
had the customization of vtiger.
2)  IMHO, *NO* CRM tool meets anybody's need out of the box.  The object 
of a CRM tool is to gather your information and present your way.  I 
think every CRM tool out there started as a solution to solve a specific 
need for some company, and evolved into an attempt to meet a wide amount 
of user's needs.
3)  As you evaluate the CRM tool you want to use, evaluate the community 
around the tool.  There are quite a few resources here available to you, 
should you choose to do it.  Many people on this list are resources you 
can use if you get into a bind.
4)  Regarding the bug database, no argument.  However, my impression is 
most of the users of the forums and mailing lists are working despite 
these "bugs".  For me, my only bugs have been self-created bugs.  Again, 
a little digging in the forums will probably yield solutions to most of 
these issues.
5)  Overall, the core vtiger team is a great bunch of guys doing their 
best to build vtiger into a fantastic product.  I think they/we made a 
strategic error with the next release, and created a situation where we 
have a major revision pending, and a need for support of the existing 
revision.  To provide the best customization possible, they decided to 
add the UI enhancements to the next release.  As they dug deeper, it 
turned into a major (or major^2) revision to add Smarty as a templating 
engine.  If you look at the mailing list right now, you will see us 
hashing this out.

Hope this helps!
Mike

Per Jessen wrote:

>Gents,
>
>I'm currently trying to chose CRM software and decide whether to 
>
>1) go with vtiger or
>2) opt for a commercial, mature product or
>3) roll our own until it grows too big
>
>I would much prefer to avoid 3) altogether, but that's purely a
>cost-issue if 2) turns out to be too much - and 2) is only an option if
>we decide we can't risk it with 1). 
>
>Judging by the state of the bug-database, the response (or lack thereof)
>to one of two of my reported bugs, some of the confusion as to which
>mailinglist to use, plus recent postings here, I hesitate to call 4.x a
>mature release, although a 4.x version number would appear to indicate
>just that. 
>
>Obviously, I'm more than a little worried about the current state of
>vtiger.  I run a service business based 99% on OSS, and we're fairly
>dedicated to sticking to that.  
>It's still a little open if vtiger will fit our requirements - e.g. we
>need multiple currencies and multiple VAT rates, but my initial
>assumption was that we'd be able to develop features locally, with the
>aim to produce patches for inclusion into the core at a later date. 
>However, in order for that to work in a reasonable way, the development
>processes and the product itself must be somewhat mature.  
>I was quite disappointed when vtiger didn't even run properly after I'd
>completed the installation.  This turned out to be down to bug# 1013. 
>
>I believe vtiger has great potential, but as Matthew Brichacek wrote,
>the project is an absolute mess and I too think a fork is highly
>likely. 
>
>Well, thanks for listening to my ramblings - just needed to gather my
>thoughts and vent a little.  
>
>
>/Per Jessen, Zürich
>
>
>  
>