SugarCRM Announces SugarCon 2011

SugarCon’s “Going Global, Mobile and Social” track is actually a social media and social CRM conference within the SugarCon walls. With presentations and discussions from leading social media experts like Laurence Buchanan, Brent Leary, Esteban Kolsky, Chris Carfi and Paul Greenberg, the SugarCon social track will prove an invaluable source of information and inspiration for businesses looking to add social media to their CRM initiatives.

Also, for members of the SugarCRM and open development community at large, an “Un-conference” will occur inside SugarCon – a free-form platform for developers to gather and share ideas and network. The developer “Un-conference” will also offer attendees sneak peeks into some of the more innovative projects under development by the SugarCRM engineering team.

April 2011 SugarCRM developer conference

Sugar CRM is taking its open source customer relationship management (CRM) message on the road this year by holding its SugarCon 2011 developer and customer event from April 4-6 in the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

Staged around a tagline proposing that “The Future of Business is Open,” the conference will feature keynotes, tracks, and sessions with practical advice on how attendees can leverage open source CRM technologies to take advantage of today’s most prominent technology trends (cloud computing, social networking, and mobile solutions).

“SugarCon 2011 will bring together not only SugarCRM customers, developers, and partners, but will also be a . . . Read More Here

News : Cuba sets to migrate to free, open-source software

HAVANA, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — Cuba has set a strategic goal in 2011 to migrate most of its computers to open-source software, a move designed to strengthen the country’s technological security and sovereignty.

Once the migration is fully implemented on the ground, the Cuban Nova Linux will be the operating system used in 90 percent of all working places, and Microsoft Office will be replaced by Open Office in all government institutions, Vice Minister of Information and Telecommunications Boris Moreno told Xinhua Tuesday.

The authorities also set a similar goal to replace Internet Explorer with Firefox, he added.

Moreno, responsible for managing the entire migration project, said besides saving money, the process would enhance Cuba’s sovereignty in the field of technology.


Cuba has set a strategic goal in 2011 to migrate most of its computers to open-source software, a move designed to strengthen the country’s technological security and sovereignty.

Once the migration is fully implemented on the ground, the Cuban Nova Linux will be the operating system used in 90 percent of all working places, and Microsoft Office will be replaced by Open Office in all government institutions, Vice Minister of Information and Telecommunications Boris Moreno told Xinhua Tuesday.

The authorities also set a similar goal to replace Internet Explorer with Firefox, he added.

Moreno, responsible for managing the entire migration project, said besides saving money, the process would enhance Cuba’s sovereignty in the field of technology.

“In 2010, Cuba made significant progress in migrating all its ministries and institutions to open source software,” Moreno said.

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Software Stories of 2010 – Open Source


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Open source also continued to gain adherents, as the government encouraged departments to investigate its use as a cost-effective alternative to pre-packaged, commercial applications. Public or private sector, saving money — the concept of doing more with less — was one of the main software-investment drivers for the year. Software spending was slated to grow 6.6% in the United States this year, reaching $568 billion, according to Forrester.”

Experts Speak – Open source Philosophy


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A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Mr. Kalam implored scientists, researchers and academics to embrace the ‘open source philosophy’ in their respective fields, and work towards building ‘open source networks’ that can help pool talent, research and know-how from around the world. Such a platform can help evolve scientific solutions to problems, particularly those relevant to developing countries.

As Reported in The Hindu

Read Full Article Here . .

Higher ROI for Organization using BPM Applications


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Business Process Management recent study by Milton Keyne Research shows that organizations using business process management applications get an internal rate of return higher than 15%. A BPM tool emphasize on providing automation, execution and managing all your business processes which also provide your employees/users for better quick & perfect decision.
A BPM tool allows your organisation to improve the service levels it gives you an overview of the organization of what is happening in the internal business and what actions a manager can take for further development, thus it give your employee the strength to reduce the errors in the execution of any process.
Apart from reducing the errors, it also allows you to promote the transparency of your Business processes, and that is the reason which helps organisation to receive the Higher returns. Some of the supportive points to the Keyne research are provided below to how a BPM can increase the internal rate of return positively for an organisation?
A BPM/Workflow management tool helps you to save the time, Money and increase the organizational goals through process modelling, process management and automation. Also BPM integration provides you with integration of your existing application such as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise resource planning (ERP), Human Resource Management (HRM) and so on. . Which ease the duplication of the entries in other systems.
A BPM allow you to improve the quality of work apart from saving the time and money as a BPM application reduce the loss caused through loosing the documents, filing error, etc which again helps in reducing the time and other losses in an organisation.
Automation of Business Processes in an organisation provides the employee/users of the duties to be performed on time with no delays and less pending activities.
Process Optimization is a possible step where a Business process management tool enables an organization to discover their hidden potentials by modifying their current processes which in return allows a high internal rate of return.
A BPM covers every aspects of your Business process stating from Research & development to sales and Marketing, Human resource, Accounting etc. It allows you to have a continuous process optimization, standardization, waste management etc

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Open Source Technology – Banking Sector

“The use of open source technology within the investment banking industry is more common than you’d think. Its use was picking up pace last year – with JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital markets all participating in open source tech projects.

Open source technology is an often-misused term; too often, users often think open source is synonymous with free. With the relatively recent rise of the Internet’s influence on production and development of software, open source has become a popular vehicle to obtain widespread use and support of some very popular software titles. In this article, we’ll discuss a definition of open source technology and its relationship with software such as the Linux operating system.
A Definition of Open Source

Open source technology is defined as the production and development philosophy of allowing end users and developers to not only see the source code of software, but modify it as well. The Linux operating system is a one of the best-known examples of open source software technology.

The Linux operating system’s open source paradigm is in direct contrast to Microsoft’s approach to development and production of its popular Windows operating system. Unlike Linux, Windows is built on a closed source paradigm that does not allow the end user the ability to see or edit the code that makes up the operating system. In fact, certain aspects of the end-user license for the Windows operating system specifically forbids the end user from attempting to view or modify the code that makes up the software. Such attempts are often known as reverse engineering or reverse compiling.

How Open Source Works:

Although software is not the only product governed by a open source licenses, it is the most popular, lending itself well to manipulation of its code and add-ons. Open source provides a transparent platform upon which anyone with the skills to do so can add to the development and production of the software either for release as a new incarnation of the software for others to use or for strictly in-house development only.

One issue that has come up repeatedly in open source has to do with the copyrights assigned to the original software and any modifications made to it. As outlined in most open source license agreements, ownership of the software can never transfer to anyone who modifies the software. This usually makes it impossible for a developer to take open source software, modify it, and then sell it.

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ProcessMaker named #1 Open Source BPM to Run in the Cloud

www.bistasolutions.com “Official Gold Partners – ProcessMaker”

Source of the below Article – ProcessMaker Newsletter

This past month ProcessMaker was named as the top Open Source BPM software for Cloud implementations in ProcessMaker Top BPM for the Cloud” Datamation’s list of the Top 50 Open Source Apps for the Cloud.  We have worked hard during the last two releases to make ProcessMaker truly superior to other BPMs for cloud implementations, and we are honored by the accolades we are receiving both from the press and from our clients.

In Q4 alone, we have seen a number of prestigious new clients select ProcessMaker as their BPM Cloud solution including the University of Luxembourg, the Harvard School of Public Health, a large national government agency in Jamaica, and a major government agency in the United Kingdom.

Business Process Management

ProcessMaker Used by well-known companies like Toyota, Lenovo and Honeywell, ProcessMaker aims to simplify and optimize workflows. The enterprise edition is available either on-site or in-the-cloud, with a free 30-day trial. Operating System: Windows, Linux.

SugarCRM Offers Salesforce.com Customers Half-Off Their Subscription Fee Plus a Free Migration

“Switch to Sugar” Program Invites Customers of Salesforce.com to Join the More Than 1,000 Companies Who Have Chosen SugarCRM over Salesforce

SugarCRM, the world’s fastest-growing customer relationship management (CRM) company, announced a “Switch to Sugar” offer for users of Salesforce.com, offering a guaranteed 50 percent reduction in annual subscription fees. In addition, SugarCRM is offering a free data migration for Salesforce.com users that make the switch to Sugar 6—CRM made simple.

“The look and feel of Sugar 6 is modern and in line with current day applications, which our users love. It is more approachable, and this drives our active use even higher.”

More than 1,000 companies of all shapes and sizes have chosen SugarCRM over Salesforce due to SugarCRM’s flexible, intuitive and open platform. Offering greater usability, ease of customization and an unbeatable value, SugarCRM is now making it easy for all Salesforce.com users to make the switch, joining great companies like BNSF Logistics, Caplin Systems, Carpathia Hosting and Orange Leap.

Read More Here . . .

Advantage of an ERP for Small and medium businesses

When you are running a small or medium-sized business, it is natural that the SME might not be able to afford a high-end proprietary / MRP or Accounting software. This case happens when SME are not able to pay or afford huge Business software, also other cases where SME don’t go for fancy technologies. But after the introduction of different Open source ERP software, the pattern is moving to new technologies by many SMB’s and SME’s.

Let’s start with the brief introduction of one of the most important and common Business Software used in many organization – Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) –

*An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is an integrated computer-based application used to manage internal and external resources, including tangible assets, financial resources, materials, and human resource.

The main purpose of an ERP system is to provide you with the information from all the business department/function happening within the organization. All together and ERP is a process of getting information from the different department of the organization and capturing in a repository (system) for the purpose of reviewing, reusing and reporting as and when required.

Proper Management of Time: ERP reduce the wastage of time taken from the purchase order till providing the quotations. It allows the process planning a boost while reducing the errors and mistakes. Small and mid-sized businesses have become one of the most important driving force in today’s economy, accounting for the majority of employment growth. A better-equipped technology can leverage the new market for Small & mid businesses, even in the face of tight credit and a stagnant overall economy.

Low Routine Tasks: ERP reduce the routine tasking or feeding of the similar kind of information every time which can be considered as a huge waste as Human Resources are considered to be the most important cost while running the business, Deploying and ERP for SME (Small & medium enterprises) will provide a good opportunity of Optimizing the output while minimizing the resource. Also low human Error will increase the quality, quantity of the output.

Accountability and Traceability:  The best parts of an ERP system is that it allows you to keep track of every transaction happening in an organization. It answers all your “Wh” type questions who, when, where . . . & so on. An ERP system allows SME to figure out many things with the help of certain clicks. It also allows Traceability of thing in an organization. There is much another advantage such as Transparency which is the most difficult part in any SME to figure out thing for which you zero knowledge. It can help Business to have a check on the Strength, weakness, threats and Opportunities which can consider as an effective management for Small and mid-sized Businesses.

*Source of the Definition – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_resource_planning

Automating Student Management System in CRM

  • by bista-admin
  • Nov 23, 2010
  • 0
  • Category:

CRM for Education institute/ MBA / Schools / colleges / Universities /

Automated Communication via Email, Phone, Chat, SMS Text Messaging:

Bista Education CRM has one of the most powerful feature of communicating automatically as per schedule by the user/client/lead.

The Dormancy Module which includes the tools such as Email, SMS etc which has an impressive ability to facilitate communication via all of these different  tools with the student as well as with the lead manager/lead handler.

Automatic Communication with Students in Education CRM.

Education considered to be one of the most important part of any human being and for education MBA or other institute, creating a lead and converting it into a student might be a difficult task because of the options available with the students from different colleges and universities for large number of course. The only way of managing your student properly is that a lead handler or a sales manager should properly follow – up on every stage the cycle of every student. We all know for different course there are different cycles to be follow one example is here:

  • Incoming call/ Outgoing call / email inquiry etc. by the student for the course.
  • Getting details of the courses.
  • Application for the admission form
  • Form Submissions
  • Call for the entrance examination
  • Call for second round of interview.
  • Selection phase
  • Admission Phase
  • Payment of fees
  • Balance fees payments if any.
  • Enrolment by the student in the institute
  • Providing the study material & thereby providing other services to Students.*
*(Cycle can be changed as per the processes)

Bista education lead management/student management software provide you to have a list of your business processes incase of student enquiry till the fees payment with predefine time of follow up, through email and sms to the students which act as important automatic reminder with respect to the student management, the lead nurturing, proper follow up which allow you to reduce the chances of loosing the lead. The same also allow you for better student management when there are many enquiries when campaign, advertisements and other activities on the services & courses offered by education institutes

Email & SMS can be predefine & personalize at every stage and can be sent to the students. Also Highly personalized e-mail communications can be easily automate as part of campaign management using sophisticated rules and work flow routing.

Dormancy Module make it easy for marketing and sales to track the status of all sales leads, with proper time to time follow up with high chances of closing the lead.

A screen shot of the Education CRM is below for your perusal. For more technical specificaiton and functional demo of this tool you can mail us on info@bistasolutions.com

automatic communication with a lead, lead management software, sales management, crm