• SugarCRM has a model that combines the dynamics of open source with the commercial reality of a competitive CRM market. SugarCRM provides an intuitive user interface, relatively easy technology to work with, and introduces new functions and features at a rapid rate.
• openCRX provides a mature enterprise-class J2EE architecture with a sophisticated security model and a model driven architecture approach that is suitable for large and complex integration and development efforts.
• Compiere has proven over time to enjoy the support of an active community staying true to its open source principles, and a solid installed base of customers leveraging the CRM and ERP features of this package.

The "business readiness rating"  found at openbrr.org provides companies with an evaluation method for determining whether the open source software they are considering is mature enough to adopt. We have used the same evaluation method to rate the three products, as displayed in the below table. To better deal with the special aspects of open source business products, we extended this framework to include community management as well as business-oriented perspectives such as enterprise-level customer services and go-to-market approach.

• Community management - is the product roadmap and development driven forward arbitrarily based on the ideas of a large number of individual members, or does it have its direction set by a market-oriented body that also controls and contributes a majority of the development resources?
• Enterprise-level customer services - to what extent is the product augmented by a strong support and professional services offering, either through an offering tightly tied to the product itself or through strong partnerships with renowned companies providing these services?
• Go-to-market approach - what is the marketing and sales approach, and to what extent does that approach support the creation of a solid base of customer installations thus ensuring the longevity of the product?

We have chosen to not weight the individual criteria. Our experience is that each project situation merits its own evaluation and weighting of criteria, and one should therefore consider the weighting of each criteria on a case by case basis.

The white paper "An Insider to Key Open Source CRM Products"  revisits these and other CRM package solutions in greater detail, also addressing the functional coverage of each product.