Intelestream, an official SugarCRM (News - Alert) partner in Chicago, has announced that the group "Everything SugarCRM Chicago" held their first meeting recently.

 

"Everyone said the meeting was a tremendous help. There were people there who were considering various CRM options and just wanted to learn more about Sugar, people who are already using the application, and programmers interesting in learning more about SugarCRM code. I believe these regular meetings benefit all," said Jason Green, Founder and CEO of Intelestream.

 

Included on each month's agenda are the latest tips and tricks for making the most out of SugarCRM, a question and answer session with SugarCRM experts, and current information about software patches and new releases. From absolute beginner to expert administrator, the meet-up is open to all interested in learning more about SugarCRM.

 

Meetings are free of charge and take place the last Thursday of each month between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. Registration for the group can be found at http://opensource.meetup.com/86/.

 

"There is a radical transformation going on," SugarCRM CEO John Roberts (News - Alert) told industry observer Nathan Eddy recently.

 

The leader of the largest open source customer relationship management (CRM) company said he thinks Sun Microsystems' (News - Alert) acquisition of MySQL was a "bold move" for Sun and a "win-win deal" for both companies: "This destroys the proprietary thinking Silicon Valley has been based on," he told Eddy.

 

Roberts characterized Sun as the "ideal" company to acquire MySQL. "Sun is a company that understands how to run very successful open source projects," he told Eddy. "I have a suspicion [Sun CEO] Jonathan [Schwartz] and Marten will lead the company on the ideals MySQL was based on."

 

Roberts believes that open source and the Internet are making it possible for developers to collaborate on software globally and reduce the cost of distribution, which is translates into lower costs for the customer. "The companies of the lock-in mentality are not going to be able to compete. In five to 10 years, they won't be around," he predicts. "I think this is the future of software, and another proof point that the industry is changing for the better," he says.