SugarCRM further development

Last week the application (open source community edition) got set up on the vmware box successfully. SugarCRM Community edition has been set up as a virtual Windows 2003 server with a MySQL database and it is being backed up on a daily basis atm. I made the decision to start with the free Community version for the initial configuration. It seems to be a relatively straightforward procedure to transfer the data to the commercial Express or Professional products at a later date if extended functionality/support is required. The commercial team needed an on-site support (for further maintenance) and the IT Infrastructure Manager recommended my name for it. I am excited that I'll be the principal support person for CRM on site and to that effect; will be controlling it solely. I prefer working in stress as pressure brings the best out of me (i know i know not a very good quality...he he), specially when I am alone (however it doesn't mean I am not an effective team player).

CRM Documentation side: - It's trivial to attach documents and associate them with 'opportunities'. The system has an effective document management system as well that would allow us to always send the correct version of the forms. In theory we can set up work flows in the CRM, but I have yet to try it out, so I'm not sure how easy it is to do in practice. In many of the situations there are duplicate existing record that would ease work flows.

Another requirement popped up in the last meeting, was setting up the email (from our smtp side). We do have a SMTP server for sending emails along with an IMAP server for receiving emails. Where I could really do with some help with the CRM is getting the email joined up. I am currently looking after it and it doesn't seem too difficult. I need to set a clear upgrade path.