SugarCRM Acquires iExtensions CRM for Lotus Notes

SugarCRM  has acquired iExtensions CRM from iEnterprises for an undisclosed sum.

iExtensions is a CRM solution for IBM Lotus Notes, built from the ground up on IBM Lotus collaborative technologies. It features a highly scalable and extremely configurable product architecture.

The newly acquired functionality adds enhanced support for IBM collaboration tools inside Sugar 6. The added features include native Notes support as well as Notes email and calendar plugins, and a connector to the IBM Domino product line.

As part of the acquisition, iEnterprises CEO John Carini will join SugarCRM as vice president of collaboration solutions, along with other key members of the development team. In addition, iEnterprises will continue to sell its iExtensions framework as a certified value-added reseller in the SugarCRM Open+ Partner Network.

“We are committed to providing our users with the most cutting-edge collaboration and social business solutions,” said Larry Augustin, CEO of SugarCRM. “This acquisition accelerates our product strategy and allows our users to leverage the industry-leading features of iExtensions in their Sugar deployments.”

Initial availability of the iExtensions functionality will be available in the spring release of Sugar 6.

SugarCRM has also launched several products on its own that build on the growing relationship between SugarCRM and IBM to help organizations execute marketing programs, grow sales, retain customers and create custom business applications.

Available today, the new solutions include an integration between SugarCRM and IBM LotusLive, new connectors for IBM Cognos Business Intelligence Suite, and IBM Websphere Cast Iron for SugarCRM integration platform.

“These new combined solutions and connectors to powerful IBM solutions extends the existing relationship between SugarCRM and IBM,” said Clint Oram, co-founder and CTO of SugarCRM. “As a member of IBM’s Global Alliance Portfolio, we are dedicated to providing compelling solutions for enterprises around the world."

Available today, SugarCRM for LotusLive places social business capabilities into the hands of SugarCRM users by combining CRM and collaboration capabilities, including Web conferencing and document sharing capabilities, right inside the Sugar system. As part of the launch of SugarCRM for LotusLive, IBM is offering SugarCRM users a 30-day no charge trial of LotusLive.

The newly announced integration between IBM’s Cognos Business Intelligence Suite and SugarCRM will offer users of the combined systems' advanced reporting, analytics, dashboarding, and scorecarding around their CRM data.

Websphere Cast Iron for SugarCRM makes integration easy, leveraging standard web services to create a seamless flow of data into and out of a SugarCRM instance. And, with Websphere Cast Iron for SugarCRM, you can integrate cloud-based or on-premise solutions with Sugar with the same ease and simplicity.

“Using IBM Websphere Cast Iron integration, SugarCRM users can now extract more value from their CRM investment by getting real-time access to customer information locked away in other enterprise applications,” said David Wilson, vice president, WebSphere Business Partners. “With Websphere Cast Iron integration, SugarCRM clients get a 360-degree view of their customers without logging into multiple applications and are able maximize their productivity."