General Guidelines

Sugar Professional and Sugar Enterprise are designed to scale without needing significant additional resources. Internal tests have shown that a single high power server with eight 86x64CPU cores, 16GB of RAM and enterprise storage running the entire application stack (Sugar application, PHP, web server and database server) can support up to 400 of concurrent Sugar users.

These sizing guidelines are based upon scalability testing performed using routine tasks, such as viewing records and occasional editing of records, with minimal use of the Sugar reporting module. More resource-intensive use of the system may result in a noticeable decrease in system performance.

Under most generally accepted use case scenarios, 400 concurrent users will represent far more named users of the Sugar system, as it is rare that all users will be accessing the system simultaneously. A common use case is to assume 25% concurrency, in which a single server described above can support 1,600 named Sugar users (400 concurrent users x 4).

Storage requirements for any CRM deployment vary greatly depending on the scope and usage of the Sugar application. Specifically, storing large amounts of email attachments, media files or other documents in the system will greatly increase storage requirements. Note that Sugar stores documents on the server file system and not in the database.

For estimating database sizing, a single record stored in Sugar will average approximately 2kB in size. With 10,000 records in the system ranging across common record types such as contacts, accounts, opportunities, a typical Sugar deployment would require at least 20MB of database storage. A pre-deployment assessment of the data to be imported into the system can insure proper storage is provisioned for the system.

Guidelines for Single Server, Virtualized, and Cloud Server Deployments

In low compute power, single server configurations where the web server and database server are deployed on the same physical or virtual machine, the number of concurrent users supported decreases significantly. Machines with less than 4GB of RAM, fewer than four CPU cores, and virtualized or consumer-grade disks will experience sharp performance drops when running both the web server and database server on the same machine.

For Sugar deployments with more than 50 named users, a single server configuration must have four or more CPU cores and eight or more GB of RAM. For more then 100 named users, please refer to the guidelines for large deployments. Please consult the table below to determine a more specific hardware configuration.

Configuration Guidelines for Single Server Deployments

Guidelines for High Availability and Large Scale Deployments

For large scale and high availability (HA) deployments, please refer to the diagram below. In general, the application stack will be partitioned across multiple servers with the web server clustered across multiple application servers and the database server clustered across multiple database servers.

This diagram describes a generic cluster configuration that will scale as more hardware is added. A base guideline of 400 concurrent users per application server will determine the number of application servers needed. The number of database servers needed depends on system usage, however tests have shown that a high-powered database cluster can typically support up to eight application servers. Note that this diagram has been designed around the Linux, Apache, PHP and MySQL (LAMP) technologies.

One way to determine if you are focusing on profitable customers is to use a simple matrix where by you categorise each of your customers based on value and effort.  I have attempted to demonstrate how this might look for a business but it can be adapted to suit your own particular business.

In the following chart we have two axis.  The vertical axis showing the amount of EFFORT from low to high.  The horizontal axis showing VALUE low to high.  By plotting your customers in one of the resulting quadrants you can determine which customers are the right kind of target for your business.

In the above example you would want to focus on the bottom right quadrant and seek to attract the type of client that sits here.

You can take this a step further by working out where the customers have orginated from and thereby establish where to focus your marketing effort.  In the following example we can see that 70% of the low value high effort sales (the worst!) came from networking and email marketing whereas only 15% of the high value low effort sales (the best!) were through these routes.  We could conclude that our time and effort is better spent advertising (45% of high value low effort business) and not waste time networking and email marketing (or at least consider the quality and approach of these activities).

You can use this system for many aspects of business including by products and services you sell.  The final chart is by product widget where, in this example, Widget A only accounts for 3% of high value sales and Widget C is a low effort sale.

Finally, if you cannot easily produce the kind of information shown here then maybe you need to review your CRM systems and processes and contact us to help you attract and acquire the right kind of customers!

Go on... I Dare you... Click on the Contact Us button at the top of this page :)

Naturally, the last thing on your mind when you're buying a new CRM system is how the data and associated information can be extracted when you want to move to another CRM system.

Ok, so by and large your decision today is based on a long term implementation that should stay with you for the forseeable future.  Right?  Maybe, but new technologies come along all the time that can steer a business away from its current system.  Notwithstanding change of course.  A change of process, expansion, a merger or acquisition etc.

When we talk about data it is not only about contact names and addresses which, moreorless, can be transfered from CRM system to CRM system as a press of the export/import buttons.  No, the real dilemmas start when transfering the associated information such as all the documents attached to contacts, the history of meetings and actions, attached support incidents, past and present sales opportunities, projects and so on.

A while back we migrated a customers CRM system from their existing Salesforce implementation over to a SugarCRM Professional implementation.  It transpired that all the Microsoft Word documents that were attached to contacts, past meetings and activity records in Salesforce were stored inside the database and were not held as file attachments outside of the database.  More to the point Salesforce provides no automatic extraction process and this meant the customer had to access each document within Salesforce (before their contract expired) and download them individually.  Needless to say the customer was not happy since all these documents were no longer associated to their corresponding CRM record.  Painful.

ETL tools like Jitterbit and Talend help overcome many of these issues but a migration should not be undertaken without considering the full implications upfront.  Including the cost.

Another factor that needs to be considered is the time taken to carry out the data transfer.  For example, will the transfer take place over night so that users can carry on in the new system without interruption.  Or will the data migration take longer and be "phased in"?  If so, how are you going to manage two different systems, with two duplicate data sets, each being updated in parallel? 

Thankfully, there are good CRM providers out there that can take this headache away from you and carry out the data migration on your behalf. It will come at a price but will ensure your most valuable asset, your customer insights, is preserved.  Make sure you include a provision for this in your CRM budget.

The wise move is to ensure the CRM system you choose allows full access to the database tables and data structure not just from within the CRM system but also from external tools such as ETL and Reporting systems.

Whether you are looking to improve your customer service or simply find new customers, SouthwestCRM offers IT-based sales and marketing support to all Devon-based businesses.  We are a CRM company in the Southwest delivering software solutions.  We specialise in CRM and Social Media marketing, email marketing campaigns and customer relationship marketing activity.

What is CRM and "Social CRM"?

CRM is an approach to doing business (It is not a technology).  "CRM technology" is there to support your own particular approach to doing business.  Everyone has some form of CRM methodology in place even if it is not IT-based.

Typically, software can be used to help a CRM approach and SouthwestCRM is the leading CRM software provider to SME's in Devon and Cornwall.

Some of the many benefits of CRM

• Customers keep coming back to You
• Easier to find (and attract) new business
• Greater sales reach
• Consistent branding and messages adds professionalism

Social CRM

Social CRM conbines the practice of 'doing' CRM with the latest Social Media and Social Networking tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn and FaceBook.  Ultimately this means that all your traditional forms of marketing can now co-exist with Social Networking and thereby deliver a consistent message and create new opportunities.

For example:

As a salesperson, when answering the phone to a prospect I am trying to sell to, I want to see the last 5 tweets my prospect has tweeted on screen inside my CRM database without me having to go off and try and find out this information.  This information should be displayed BEFORE I pick up the call.

As a salesperson, I want as much insight into the LinkedIn employees at the prospect company and which ones are in my LinkedIn network.

Call to Action

If you are a Devon-based business and wish to talk to someone about your specific requirements SouthwestCRM is the leading CRM provider in the South West.  Our approach is friendly and professional.  We aim to address your needs before considering which technologies are right for you.

We know the software market inside out so If we can't help you, we're not shy to recommendation others.  But the chances are we can help you. 

We specialise in a range of technologies including SugarCRM, info@hand, KnowledgeTree and Joomla!

We thought we'd share some tips with anyone who is about to embark on a new CRM project (or any type of project for that matter).

Tip 1: Like a good Carpenter - measure twice, cut once

We cannot emphasise enough about the need for good planning and design BEFORE you start implementation.  Have all your processes mapped out beforehand and ensure that you know the reason for doing the process and its benefit to the business and individual who will be using the process.

When we go into companies that are looking to replace their existing CRM, very often they are unhappy with their existing CRM because it was never configured properly in the first instance.  Sometimes their existing CRM can be made to work but all too often disenchantment has set in and a fresh start is sought.

If you're not sure what your processes are yet or what the likely impact will be from implementing a new process then be prepared to spend additional time, effort and money implementing, fine tuning and re-implementing a process.  We often see situations where the budget has been spent on the initial purchase and new processes are poorly implemented by the customer [supplier now in reactive support mode] leading, again, to disenchantment with the software.

Tip 2: Budget well

Who decides how much to spend on your new CRM system?  How was the budget amount derived?  All too often an unrealistic budget figure is set before engaging with the CRM suppliers.  This is a recipe for project failure.  Suppliers vie for the business and estimate down the likely overall cost in order to sweeten their offering in the eyes of the client and to remain price competitive.

One area which commonly causes the budget to increase is in data migration.  Skimp in this area, or get this wrong, and your new CRM system will never function as intended.  Poor quality in, poor quality out.  Decide, what data to bring in, what each field of information is going to be used for and when.  How many different data silos do you operate? are all silos being replaced with the new system? Do any need to co-exist and keep in sync with each other?  How much data is there?  What indexes need to be applied to the database to speed up keyword/field searching?  Very often a customer will budget one to two days to import their data into the new system.  Be realistic and budget accordingly.

Tip 3: What is the value to the business

In this example, we'll paint a picture of a small business owner.  For simplicity the business owner is a he :)  So the business owner has set a budget of 20K on a new CRM system.  The CRM system will effectively help keep control of the entire sales, marketing and customer service parts of the operation.  Time will be saved and his end customers will see a marked improvement in customer care.....  how much is that worth to the business? What if the actual investment cost was more like 40k? You need to identify the value of the system to the business otherwise the budget and system is just seen as a cost to the business and not an investment.  In the example above, the business owner might not think twice about spending 40K on a new executive car and baulk at the thought of spending the same on a system that will help run his entire operation more efficiently.  We've lost count of the number of small businesses with around 10-20 staff who only budget 5K on a CRM system.

Be clear about the value of the system to the business from the outset.

Tip 4: Be prepared for a culture change

The best planning and configuration will just fall flat if the end users are ill-informed or not prepared for change.  If we were given the keys to a thoroughbred racing car and told to drive around a race track, we're pretty sure that if we gave Michael Schumacher the keys to our Volkswagen, he'd still beat us.  We wouldn't be at ease with the car and we'd probably crash in any case :( With a little tuition, tips and incentives, we're sure our lap times would come right down.

But seriously, you're going to find all sorts of personalities involved in the project.  Some people hate change, others have hidden agendas, some embrace new systems and apply their own styles etc..  The bottom line is education, training and benefits realisation.

Understand the benefits each user is going to get from the new system.  Identify areas which may result in a slowdown in some tasks for one user but which are necessary to the overall speed up of the process across the business.

Conclusion:

Get CRM right and your business will grow, will be more efficient and will empower your workforce.

Ok so it may not be a national paper but the local newspaper (Falmouth Packet) picked up on our ShelterBox story and published it recently.  Here's a scan of the article...

A pretty hectic photo session due to the Venezuela Disaster.  The team in the background are packing vital supplies for Venezuela.  We're proud to be part of such a great cause.   Well done ShelterBox

We’ve pulled together some of the key functional differences between the Professional and Community Editions of SugarCRM.  Certainly for small organisations with less than 20 users it makes a lot of sense to go Pro.  Not only will it cost less in the early years it will be a lot simpler to implement and maintain and your users will be a lot happier.

Download PDF

Caveat: SugarCRM Community Edition is a free product so I will say now that for what you get out of the box, it is simply a great product.  Your investment cost is not in the software but in making it work for your business and it is here that you need to weigh up the pros and cons over SugarCRM Professional Edition.

Overall, if you are a company of less than 20 users, and you plan on adding some of CE’s missing features, your initial investment cost may be significantly lower if you opt for the Professional Edition.  However, since there is an on going recurring license fee for Pro, longer term, the cost of Pro may be higher but you need to consider other factors too.

1.       Upgrades are less straightforward and more costly with CE.  For example, if you install a custom report writer this separate application (module) may have its own upgrade process so you have to factor in multiple product upgrades not just the one product.

2.       With each upgrade, you may find that custom components are not compatible with the new version of SugarCRM so you have to wait for the third party component supplier to keep up.

3.       It’s the little features that make users happy.  Being able to complete a task without thinking about it from a technical perspective has a lot of kudos.  Professional Edition is much easier to get on with and enjoy using.

That said CE has its place if you are thinking of purchasing a bespoke system.  For example, SouthwestCRM has supplied SugarCRM CE to businesses that require large scale development of additional custom modules over and above SugarCRM CE’s standard modules.  In these scenario’s CE can make more commercial sense than Pro.

The bottom line is to consider what you want and what the benefits will be to your business before deciding on which technology piece is right for you.  Either way, SugarCRM as a product is a smart choice.

We are pleased to announce that the ShelterBox charity has selected Hedron4 to help co-ordinate 160 members of its International Response Team.

See the full press release here

More information about ShelterBox can be fond on their website: http://www.shelterbox.org

This article should be of interest to anyone struggling to keep control of their organisations documents.  Typically this means finding documents on network file stores and within emails.

1.       So you find a document on the network, copy it to your PC and start editing it.  A little later a colleague does exactly the same thing.  You save the document and replace the existing one.  So does your colleague.

2.       To get around the issue of your document being overwritten, you save the new file with a different name (e.g.  Product_details_v2_final_final2.pdf).  Except colleagues have already set a favourites link to the original document and open the older document.

3.       A colleague deletes a document on the network they shouldn’t have deleted.

4.       You wrote a great article last week but can’t remember where you saved the document or the filename you saved it under.  You’ve now got to look through 1000’s of folders on the network.

5.       A client gives you a sensitive document that should be stored securely and only visible to key personnel.

6.       You’re working on a document and need to notify key people of its existence so you email it out to everyone.  They now have their own soon-to-be-out-of-date copies.

7.       You have to expose your network to the outside world in order to give your remote workers access to files on the network.  Connecting is slow so remote workers work on local copies that become out of date.

8.       Documents are not visible when looking up a contact in your company CRM database.

If any of these issues ring true to you then invest time in researching Document Management Systems (DMS).  DMS’s have been around for a while now but have needed a large IT infrastructure to set up and maintain.  As a result the investment costs have been too high for the smaller business.  However, with the advent of Cloud-based computing the cost of implementing a good DMS is very low.  In fact it can only take one lost or accidently overwritten document to pay for itself 10 times over.

So, how can a DMS help overcome the issues mentioned above?  Let’s take each point in turn…

So you find a document on the network, copy it to your PC and start editing it.  A little later a colleague does exactly the same thing.  You save the document and replace the existing one.  So does your colleague.

With a DMS you have a ‘check in/out’ process.  This means that when you edit a document in the DMS it becomes ‘locked’ until you say you have finished editing it.  Therefore other people won’t edit it while you do.  They can see who is editing it and therefore use this knowledge to maybe contact the editor or simply wait.  The bottom line is that nothing is ever accidentally overwritten.

To get around the issue of your document being overwritten, you save the new file with a different name (e.g.  Product_details_v2_final_final.pdf).  Except colleagues have already set a favourites link to the original document and open the older document.

A DMS has built-in version control.  There is no need to keep a long list of the same-ever-so-slightly-different document which confuses people.  The DMS will ensure everyone is given the latest version of a document.  If the latest version needs to be replaced with a previous version you can go back and view all previous versions.

A colleague deletes a document on the network they shouldn’t have deleted.

Enforcing control on a network requires high maintenance from your IT department.  How do you give each worker delete rights in some folders but not in others on your network?  Moreover, some folders may need to be hidden from view for certain groups of workers.  Or read only to others.  A DMS helps manage security enabling you to grant read/write permissions to individuals or groups of users.

You wrote a great article last week but can’t remember where you saved the document, nor can you remember the filename you saved it under.  You’ve now got to look through 1000’s of folders on the network.

A DMS have a powerful search facility that can look inside all documents for any word or phrase you enter.  Or you might run an advanced search that looks for any document created by you in the last 24 hours (to do with Salmon fishing).  So, if you can remember part of the content your chances of finding the document are high. But that’s not all.  A DMS has a ‘tagging’ system which enables you to associate keywords or phrases alongside the document.  A ‘Tag Cloud’ system helps you find the document (and any related documents) very quickly.  For example, this document is ‘tagged’ with the keyword “DMS”. I just need to select the “DMS” tag and any documents in the DMS with this Tag will be listed. 

A client gives you a sensitive document that should be stored securely and only visible to key personnel.

If your business needs to deal with the occasional sensitive document then you will probably keep the document on your own PC and not store it on an open network.  If you have other colleagues that need to see the document then you might email a copy to them.  Where do they keep the copy?  How secure is email in transit?  Are the mail server mailboxes visible to people including your IT dept.?  Using a DMS you can ensure documents and folders are only visible to named individuals or groups.  You simply place the document in the secure area.

You’re working on a document and need to notify key people of its existence so you email it out to everyone.  They now have their own soon-to-be-out-of-date copies.

Using a DMS you store the document in a folder and email a link to it to selected people.  Those recipients will have access to the latest version of that document.  Using the DMS people can participate and discuss documents.  All notes, comments and revisions can be accessed all from the document.

You have to expose your network to the outside world in order to give your remote workers access to files on the network.  Connecting is slow so remote workers work on local copies that become out of date.

Ideally you’d like to see a Windows-Explorer style folder system available on-line over the web where remote workers can access documents safely and securely.  This is what a web-based DMS offers.  Everyone has access to the latest material wherever and whenever they need it.

Documents are not visible when looking up a contact in your company CRM database.

Last - but certainly by no means least – all these documents that sit in various folders on your PC and network are not immediately accessible when accessing your customer information.  You have a disjointed information system as a result.  Go here for contact details and go there for signed commercial agreements and so on.  In fact most DMS’s fall short in this area because they are document-centric systems and not people-centric.  This is why it is important to consider your corporate database when sourcing a DMS and tie the two together.

About SouthwestCRM

SouthwestCRM supplies European organisations with best of breed business-critical software.  Its UK office develops its own products that enable leading systems to work together seamlessly.  Founded in 2007, SouthwestCRM is an Authorized Partner for KnowledgeTree^© Document Management System and Bronze Partner for SugarCRM Customer Relationship Management system.  Further information about the company and its services can be found here

Author:  Simon Leek, Founder of SouthwestCRM has worked with CRM and DM Systems for the past 21 years providing advice and guidance to all industry sectors and public bodies.  Simon believes the single most important key driver in a successful deployment is always the end users buy-in and this means easy to use and intuitive solutions to address their individual operational needs.

Ok so this is a little tongue in cheek but these words when strung together can take on a completely different - and sometimes unintended - meaning.  This simple example of what is said by one person to another can often be misinterpreted. In business situations, it is the single biggest reason for project failure and fall outs.

Over the 20+ years I have been consulting around the use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems the gap between what the buyer asks for and what the seller delivers is the single biggest reason for project failure.  Having been in this situation myself (but I've learnt some good lessons!) I thought I'd share some tips with anyone who is about to embark on a new CRM project (or any type of project for that matter).

Tip 1: Like a good Carpenter - measure twice, cut once

I cannot emphasise enough about the need for good planning and design BEFORE you start implementation.  Have all your processes mapped out beforehand and ensure that you know the reason for doing the process and its benefit to the business and individual who will be using the process.

When I go into companies that are looking to replace their existing CRM, very often they are unhappy with their existing CRM because it was never configured properly in the first instance.  Sometimes their existing CRM can be made to work but all too often disenchantment has set in and a fresh start is sought.

If you're not sure what your processes are yet or what the likely impact will be from implementing a new process then be prepared to spend additional time, effort and money implementing, fine tuning and re-implementing a process.  I often see situations where the budget has been spent on the initial purchase and new processes are poorly implemented by the customer [supplier now in reactive support mode] leading, again, to disenchantment with the software.

Tip 2: Budget well

Who decides how much to spend on your new CRM system?  How was the budget amount derived?  All too often an unrealistic budget figure is set before engaging with the CRM suppliers.  This is a recipe for project failure.  Suppliers vie for the business and estimate down the likely overall cost in order to sweeten their offering in the eyes of the client and to remain price competitive.

One area which commonly causes the budget to increase is in data migration.  Skimp in this area, or get this wrong, and your new CRM system will never function as intended.  Poor quality in, poor quality out.  Decide, what data to bring in, what each field of information is going to be used for and when.  How many different data silos do you operate? are all silos being replaced with the new system? Do any need to co-exist and keep in sync with each other?  How much data is there?  What indexes need to be applied to the database to speed up keyword/field searching?  Very often a customer will budget one to two days to import their data into the new system.  Be realistic and budget accordingly.

Tip 3: What is the value to the business

In this example, I'll paint a picture of a small business owner.  For simplicity the business owner is a he :)  So the business owner has set a budget of 20K on a new CRM system.  The CRM system will effectively help keep control of the entire sales, marketing and customer service parts of the operation.  Time will be saved and his end customers will see a marked improvement in customer care.....  how much is that worth to the business? What if the actual investment cost was more like 40k? You need to identify the value of the system to the business otherwise the budget and system is just seen as a cost to the business and not an investment.  In the example above, the business owner might not think twice about spending 40K on a new BMW car and baulk at the thought of spending the same on a system that will help run his entire operation more efficiently.  I've lost count of the number of small businesses with around 10-20 staff who only budget 5K on a CRM system.

Be clear about the value of the system to the business from the outset.

Tip 4: Be prepared for a culture change

The best planning and configuration will just fall flat if the end users are ill-informed or not prepared for change.  If I was given the keys to a thoroughbred racing car and told to drive around a race track, I'm pretty sure that if I gave Michael Schumacher the keys to my Volkswagen, he'd still beat me.  I wouldn't be at ease with the car and I'd probably crash in any case :( With a little tuition, tips and incentives, I'm sure my lap times would come right down.

But seriously, you're going to find all sorts of personalities involved in the project.  Some people hate change, others have hidden agendas, some embrace new systems and apply their own styles etc..  The bottom line is education, training and benefits realisation.

Understand the benefits each user is going to get from the new system.  Identify areas which may result in a slowdown in some tasks for one user but which are necessary to the overall speed up of the process across the business.

Conclusion:

Get CRM right and your business will grow, will be more efficient and will empower your workforce.  Get it wrong and you may whale beef hooked.