[Vtigercrm-developers] [OT] 15 things to know about vtiger CRM

[carlo beschi]

Hi all,

based on my personal experience as a vtiger CRM user, consultant and
developer, I've written this small text.

Any feedback is appreciated.

It's been originally posted on our company's blog, here:
http://synthesisblog.com/2009/04/05/15-cose-da-sapere-su-vtiger-crm/

Thank you Flavia for translating it in English.

Carlo Beschi (aka carloz)


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15 things to know about vtiger CRM

·  It is a software. Therefore, it is a tool. It supports human
intelligence but it can not replace it.

·  It is opensource. Software's source code is available and any user
can read, re-use, modify it – it is provided under Vtiger Public License
(an open source license which comes from Mozilla Public License).

· It is free. The official and full version of the software can be
freely downloaded from vtiger.com website. Microsoft Office, Microsoft
Outlook, Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbid plugins too are free.
Additional modules, plug-in and bridges to other platforms are freely
provided by commmunity developers on a dedicated web portal (vtiger forge).

· It is stable. It is built on the Apache Mysql Php stack – a webserver,
a database and a programming language which are recognized as
international standard. This kind of choice offers a solid and shared
development basis and makes vtiger CRM completely multi platform (vtiger
server can run both on Linux, Windows and Machintosh OS).

·  It is client/server. It is possible to have a great number of clients
for each server installation.

· It is web-based. It allows working easily on a shared platform,
without the need to install anything on the workstations. People can
access it as it were a web site, using Mozilla Firefox, Internet
Explorer or any other browser. Moreover, vtiger CRM takes full advantage
of the power of the hypertestuality (I.e. links between pages and entities).

· It is multi-user. Actually, users can be unlimited. There are no ties
either technical or linked to the license. Users can be one, ten or
hundred: each one with his username and password, and assigned to a role
and profile. It is possible to define access rules, which are specific
for any system entity.

· It is modular. The software provides 20 base modules – Leads,
Accounts, Contacts, Proposals, Invoices, Calendars, Webmail are just
some of them. Each module can be fully customized. It is possible to
disable modules which user is not interested in and install new
additional modules.

·  It is flexible. There are no many software on the market as easy to
re-design as vtiger CRM. Users can manage it accordingly to their own
needs. Most of changes and customizations (I.e. creation of new fields,
filters and custom reports) can be made directly through web interface,
by accessing the system with administrator privileges.

·  It is beautiful. It is a really user friendly system; it is easy to
use, with a familiar and pleasant interface.

·  It is complete. It is an operational, collaborative and (quite)
analytical CRM system. Modules and functionalities cover the entire sell
cycle from the leads acquisition to the post-selling customer support.

· It is easy to learn. A user who normally deals with a computer could
learn how to navigate among the modules and functionalities of the CRM
in just two hours. After one or two weeks he/she deals with it, he/she
can feel…at home!

·  It is complex. The basic functionalities allow users to manage the
main CRM activities they could need. Anyway, it is just by learning how
to use advanced functions that we can take advantage of the full
potentials of the tool.

· It is reliable. Thousands of installations in production environments
all over the world. A development team consisting of 20 coders. A
network of official partners in all the main countries. Hundreds of
developers which work constantly every day in the international
community. This means: extended and accurate tests on the product, and
capability to intervene in order to correct bugs and eventual problems
almost in real time.

·  It is not perfect. Although it is beautiful, reliable and complete,
vtiger CRM is not the perfect software, even if it is developing quickly
and it is improving itself every day. Code cleaning and documentation
are the most important things to arrange as soon as possible.