Sugar 6 of SugarCRM (News - Alert), the world's premier provider of open source customer relationship management software, has been certified for deployment on the Microsoft Windows Azure platform.

 

At Microsoft's (News - Alert) Worldwide Partner Conference, the announcement of the certification was made.  The announcement coincides with general availability of Sugar 6, the latest release of the most intuitive, flexible and open CRM system on the market today.

 

SugarCRM developers and end users, with the availability of Sugar 6 on Windows Azure, will now have greater choice in deploying and developing Sugar 6 in the cloud. The ease of cloud-based deployments can be enjoyed by the users and developers.

 

The users will also have complete control over their data and application, unlike the limitations placed on them in older multi-tenant software-as-a-service deployment options.

 

"The availability of Sugar 6 on Windows Azure continues the great advancements SugarCRM has made in offering organizations and developers the most intuitive, flexible and open CRM solutions on the market," Clint Oram, vice president of products and co-founder of SugarCRM, says. "It is now easier than ever for users of SugarCRM on the Windows platform to make the move into the cloud."

 

SugarCRM will bring the power of Sugar 6 on Windows Azure to market through its expansive channel network, including leading regional value added resellers like Plus Consulting. "Deploying Sugar 6 on Windows Azure gives our customers the ability to deploy a flexible and robust CRM solution, without the headache of managing hardware and other components themselves," Heath Flicker, managing partner at Plus Consulting, says. "Windows Azure and Sugar 6 represent the future of CRM in the cloud: defined by choice, control and flexibility."

 

The value-added resellers of SugarCRM, with the global reach of Windows Azure in seven data centers around the world, have a best-in-class platform for delivering localized and industry-specific SaaS (News - Alert) CRM offerings in all geographies.

 

"Sugar 6 on Windows Azure showcases the openness and flexibility of the Azure platform," Prashant Ketkar, director of product marketing for Windows Azure at Microsoft Corp says. "With great performance coupled with the ease of deployment offered by the cloud, Windows Azure is an ideal environment for Sugar developers, users and partners alike."

 

Windows Azure, in addition to exceptional performance and service, is a true "platform-as-a-service" in that all aspects of the technology infrastructure below the application layer are managed by Microsoft as a service.

 

In related news, the companies around the world have immediately adopted Sugar 6, the latest version of SugarCRM's award-winning CRM system.