SugarCRM Wednesday introduced Sugar Network, a bundle of software, online training and support for users of the open-source version of its CRM software. The company also officially unveiled the next release, version 4.2, of its commercial and open-source Sugar CRM products.Sugar Network represents the first time the company is providing full support to its open-source users, according to John Roberts, chief executive officer of SugarCRM. Previously, the firm’s open-source support was incident-based, he said in a recent phone interview. The company made the announcement at the LinuxWorld conference in Boston this week.Sugar Network includes plug-ins for Microsoft’s Outlook and Word, the messaging and word-processing applications in the desktop Office suite. SugarCRM is selling Sugar Network as an annual subscription for US$99 per user. Subscribers will also be able to access training modules in Sugar University, SugarCRM’s planned online training environment, which is due to appear in the summer. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe The main focus of release 4.2 is an improved plug-in for Outlook, according to Roberts. The plug-in has a new user interface and improved integration with Microsoft’s messaging software so that users can manage SugarCRM from within Outlook, he said. In February, SugarCRM and Microsoft announced plans to improve interoperability between Microsoft’s Windows Server and SugarCRM’s software through a technical collaboration project. As part of that deal, SugarCRM is due to release version 4.5 of its CRM software under the Microsoft Community License. The license is part of Microsoft’s Shared Source Initiative, a program for sharing source code with customers, partners and governments.Sugar 4.5 is in “mid-development right now,” and should appear in June with support for Microsoft’s SQL Server database, according to Roberts. For on-premise deployment, the firm’s commercial Sugar Professional 4.2 and Sugar Enterprise 4.2 software cost from $239 and $449 per user per year, respectively. The on-demand versions of the products start from $39.95 per user per month for Sugar Professional and $74.95 per user per month for Sugar Enterprise.Sugar Open Source 4.2 can be downloaded free online.-China Martens, IDG News ServiceCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content news CIO Announces the CIO 100 UK and shares Industry Recognition Awards in flagship evening celebrations By Romy Tuin Sep 28, 2023 4 mins CIO 100 IDG Events Events feature 12 ‘best practices’ IT should avoid at all costs From telling everyone they’re your customer to establishing SLAs, to stamping out ‘shadow IT,’ these ‘industry best practices’ are sure to sink your chances of IT success. By Bob Lewis Sep 28, 2023 9 mins CIO IT Strategy Careers interview Qualcomm’s Cisco Sanchez on structuring IT for business growth The SVP and CIO takes a business model first approach to establishing an IT strategy capable of fueling Qualcomm’s ambitious growth agenda. By Dan Roberts Sep 28, 2023 13 mins IT Strategy IT Leadership feature Gen AI success starts with an effective pilot strategy To harness the promise of generative AI, IT leaders must develop processes for identifying use cases, educate employees, and get the tech (safely) into their hands. By Bob Violino Sep 27, 2023 10 mins Generative AI Innovation Emerging Technology Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe