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As the first in the range of Forte CRM versions, Forte CRM Solo is targeted at smallbusinesses that require centralized relationship knowledge and management, withoutthe immediate need to manage accounts or customize extensively.
Dr Jonathan Robinson, Director of Development at Forte CRM Ltd outlines :Â Forte CRM Solo was the result of our desire to offer something back for the manyexcellent open source tools that have gone into our product range, from Firebird toPostgreSQL, PHP to Apache among others.
Our customers had a number of competing requirements that simply didn't exist : easeof use with great power and low cost, a true internet application with the richnessof a Windows application, pre-integrated office components with fail-safe datacentralization, and one product that can scale from 1 user to hundredscost-effectively.
We chose to develop a hybrid internet application, combining the best of open sourceinternet products at the backend, combined with the best possible Windows userexperience at the the user end. This allows us to deliver powerful features to ourclients - for example the ability for users to operate independently if connectivityis interrupted. Solo and Pro can be thought of 'permanently' disconnected versionsof Forte CRM.Â
The Forte CRM products were developed by FAB Software Ltd, which whollly owns theForte CRM Ltd operation. FAB Software Ltd has a 12 year track record of developingcustom solutions for the New Zealand and international financial servicesindustries. Forte CRM product development started almost 5 years ago, and FAB hashad customers assisting with product development for the last 3 years.
One of the challenging product areas was the requirement to give clients a range ofcustomization options, so that CRM can coexist in the middle of a number of softwaresolutions, or be grown to handle large parts of a businesses operation. Solutions tothese requirements include the Forte Data Translation Engine for database migrationand integration, internal eventing and scripting for custom workflow, and aninternal API to allow modules to snap in using a Service Oriented Architecture forcomplete custom extension.
Forte CRM Solo can be easily upgraded or merged into other versions in the range,allowing Solo users to protect their investment in time if their requirements grow.The rest of the product range is scheduled to be released over the next few months,followed by specific vertical versions.
To learn more about Forte CRM Solo, visit our website at http://www.fortecrm.net
