Centric’s San Francisco treat

In what is certain to be the first of many developments made public from the IBM Partner Pavilion at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo running in San Francisco’s Moscone Center this week, Centric CRM has demonstrated what it is calling the first open source application on the open technology platform From IBM, Novell and AMD.

The Centric platform consists of IBM WebSphere Application Server Community Edition and IBM DB2 Express-C running on SUSE Linux Enterprise from Novell. By supporting this IBM middleware platform, say Centric officials, Centric CRM is now able to run fast on the Open Stack Appliance, an integrated software pre-load which combines SUSE Linux Enterprise from Novell, IBM WebSphere Application Server Community Edition and IBM D2 Express-C running atop an AMD-powered IBM LS20 Blade Server.

OSA is available as an integrated software pre-load on IBM LS20 Blade Servers through selected channel distribution partners. “Our vision,” stated Centric CRM chief technology officer Tom Manos, “is to make Centric CRM attractive to both the largest of enterprises and the smallest of businesses.

Working with the OSA helps make this possible.” Since the OSA comprises hardware and software combining enterprise-class open source technology in a cost-effective, scalable package, Centric CRM is promised as a turnkey enterprise-class CRM system at lower cost than traditional CRM solutions. Centric CRM bills itself as “the developer of the world’s most advanced open source customer relationship management system.”

Indeed, the seven-year-old Centric CRM now comprises over 2 million lines of code. Centric CRM specializes in capabilities such as website authoring, enterprise content management, project and document management, customer surveys, and advanced help desk functions. The program includes all common CRM modules.