I liked it, it ran on a webserver in the office, so there was no problems if the DSL died but staff could get at it from outside and I think they were developing mobile versions and there was a plugin for outlook to store emails from candidates into the CRM so everyone could see it.

Having done it once, I would install one of the open source CRM products again. Everytime I use an open source product which is beta or better I am pleasantly surprised at how good they are and the functionality.

Given they are open source as well, it means if you want to write addons you can (and we did)

There are also a number of local providers who support this, just google either vtiger or sugarCRM and some ads will come up.

The second point about uptime, my servers have been running for about 6 years straight. History (from my experience) has shown that data held on premises without adequate security and backup facilities is alot worse than any quality provider. Viruses, gneral problems cause more downtime than most reliable ISP (read reliable) suppliers.

An estimate for adequate facilities like these would be around the $30,000 mark and then add ongoing costs of course. Most agents cannot afford this.

Connectivity will also be important going forward (access to information wirelessly) and to be honest I cannot understand why an agent would want to do this themselves. Worse still employ someone to do this internally (they eventually leave).

So unless the Agency has someone with these skills (read owner not employee as they evenutally leave or hold companies ransom), then I think it is always best to outsource.

I can actually remember a local council had this guy once that said they wanted their own CMS system developed internally. This guy spent 2 years trying to develop a system and then left for another job. So something that was costing them $10k a year blew out to around $200k in costs with nothing return. This guy told me he will have something up within 4 months….I actually remember telling his boss that we will be happy to help the transition, but I also told him, that I have doubts whether this guy will be successful.

So, unless alot of thought is put into it, it is best to outsource these things with a proven (reliable) company that spends millions of dollars protecting the data and more on continued development.

I concentrate solely on what I do and outsource to other providers that specialise in different areas. My advice is that agents lease and sell property (which they are good at) and should stick to their core functionalities.

Just my opinion of course.

The ideal solution though would be to have Real Estate Systems completely integrated into your CRM to provide superior customer management and doubling up on work at the office (which happens all too frequently in the industry)