[September 21, 2005] iRadeon Launches on-Demand Services for Open Source CRM; On-Demand Alternative Opens Door for Widespread Adoption of CRM Tweet ROSEVILLE, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Sept. 19, 2005 -- iRadeon, a provider of on-demand services for open source business software, today announced support for Sugar Open Source(TM) CRM version 3.5. iRadeon's on-demand services allow businesses to take advantage of the enormous cost-savings and power of open source CRM while eliminating the complexity associated with deploying, managing and securing Web-based software. iRadeon plans to build on its on-demand services in the coming months with releases of the latest versions of open source project management and learning management software. iRadeon's on-demand services make it possible for companies to easily switch from costly proprietary solutions such as Salesforce.com to Sugar Open Source, a browser-based, feature-rich customer relationship management tool. iRadeon's on-demand software services are priced to fit any business budget, starting at just $75 per month for 10 users. A recent independent ROI case study by Nucleus Research found one iRadeon customer achieved an ROI of more than 600 percent by migrating from Salesforce.com to iRadeon, reducing overall software costs and leveraging the value of customer information for a broader group of users. "By making the switch to iRadeon we've lowered our annual subscription cost by more than 80 percent, with a user-friendly interface and features that match what we were accustomed to with Salesforce.com," said Tim Krozek, director of sales for Efficient Frontier. "As a small business, we measure value not only in cost and time, but also in quality of information -- if data is not accessible, it's not valuable. Using iRadeon's on-demand services for Sugar Open Source, more people have access to customer data and we are able to get more value from our CRM solution for less money." In addition to attracting customers from proprietary on-demand solutions like Salesforce.com, iRadeon's pricing is driving an expansion of the CRM market. Many of iRadeon's customers are first-time CRM users in the underserved small business market (1-99 employees). Because of the high cost and complexity of proprietary solutions, only a small percentage of these businesses have adopted CRM to date. According to AMI Research, there are 40 million small businesses worldwide and 7.5 million in the U.S., yet just a small fraction of this potential market is utilizing on-demand CRM solutions. "Increasing competition in the on-demand CRM market means vendors will be challenged to differentiate themselves based on the value they provide as well as compete on price," said Rebecca Wettemann, vice president of research for Nucleus Research. "iRadeon's solution provides a high level of functionality at a significantly lower per-user price than competitors, enabling large and even smaller organizations to take advantage of the benefits of enterprise-wide access to CRM." "Businesses of all sizes still have information-sharing problems that limit productivity in today's team-driven workplace. The emergence of reliable and user-friendly open source solutions for customer relationship management, project management and learning management offers businesses a powerful new way to bridge information gaps in their operations," said Jeff Minich, vice president of strategy, iRadeon. "iRadeon's on-demand services give organizations the ability to turn on these productivity-enhancing technologies in near real time, without the heavy cost burden of consulting, hardware or expensive licensing schemes." iRadeon's on-demand services include: -- Near Real-Time Deployments -- iRadeon's Auto Deployment System, or iRADS, enables customers with up to 100 users to order online at iRadeon.com and begin using its Web-based software within 10 minutes of purchase. -- User-Friendly Account Management -- iRadeon's customer control panel gives clients a single integrated view of their account, allowing them to easily access their software, add new applications, upgrade service plans, request support, perform database downloads, manage billing information and more. -- Security, Management and Support -- iRadeon offers support for issues such as bug reporting, troubleshooting and network and application performance 24 hours a day. Plans include managed firewall protection, SSL encryption and free automated backups to iRadeon's remote servers. A highly trained team of experienced professionals monitors network operations 24 hours a day. iRadeon plans to expand its on-demand services to support a full line of open source business software over the coming months. With an extensive customer base acting as a focus group, iRadeon is highly responsive to user feedback and will rapidly integrate new customer requirements into its on-demand offerings. Upcoming releases will include project management, learning management and human resources software. Pricing and Availability iRadeon's on-demand services are available now with plans as low as $75 per month for 10 users. From September 19, 2005 through October 31, 2005, iRadeon will offer Salesforce.com customers a 90-day free trial and up to a 90 percent reduction in CRM costs. For more information on this 90/90 promotion, please contact iRadeon Director of Sales Brian Baglietto 916-787-1931. About iRadeon (www.iradeon.com) Founded in 1999, iRadeon provides on-demand services for open source business software that deliver the benefits of enterprise applications such as CRM for a small fraction of the cost of proprietary vendors. With iRadeon's on-demand services, companies can deploy open source business software via the Web without costly hardware investments, consulting or license fees. iRadeon is a privately-held company headquartered in Roseville, California. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]