Currently, pure open source CRM packages are small names in the marketplace. Compiere, for example, a combination front-office/back-office suite that offers sales and contact management and limited customer support capabilities, has a number of live customer sites around the globe and a Connecticut-based corporate office providing paid support. Anteil offers Web-based SFA functionality in a lightweight application suitable for installation on Linux servers. Although Compiere is a popular project among open source developers, neither Compiere nor Anteil is believed to have substantial market share.

Adoption of open source CRM applications is in the inception phase over the overall technology life cycle. More than half of the open source CRM applications tracked by IDC has been launched within the last year. While some vendors claim tens or hundreds of thousands of downloads, actual implementations are very few.

Many barriers to user acceptance must be overcome. Companies fear basing core business processes on software that does not have the centralized support, lack future product commitments (i.e. roadmaps) and does not have a single legal entity behind it.

Other key barriers include overwhelming numbers of product updates, low product maturity and high implementation / maintenance costs. Especially last barrier - the high implementation and maintenance cost – could force small and mid-sized businesses to refrain from buying into the open source model. Small businesses normally do not have the specialist skill sets (Java, PHP, Linux, etc.) required to handle an open source implementation.

Commercial and non-commercial open source applications are seeing strong adoption in other software markets, such as operating systems, web servers, development tools, and application servers. In the CRM applications market, open source is at a much lower maturity level and mainstream adoption lays years head. But it is coming.

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