1. Windows Azure
Partner Solution Case Study
CRM Vendor Quickly Adapts to New
Platform, Adds Global, Scalable
Delivery Channel
Overview “I’ve been astounded at how easy it was
Country or Region: United States
Industry: Computers—software to make SugarCRM work well inside of
Windows Azure. The total effort on our part
Partner Profile
SugarCRM provides commercial was two engineers for about two weeks.”
open-source customer
Clint Oram, Vice President of Products, SugarCRM
relationship management
(CRM) software to customers
and value-added resellers
(VARs). Headquartered in
SugarCRM provides open-source customer
Cupertino, California, it employs relationship management (CRM) software and
140 people.
focuses on its “Sugar Open Cloud” strategy,
Business Situation meaning that the company makes its applications
To serve the unique needs of its
customers, SugarCRM wanted
available for a variety of on-premises and hosted
to ensure that its software service platforms. The independent software
would be available on as many
technology platforms as
vendor recently ported its application to the
possible. Windows Azure™ platform to enable its customers
Solution
and value-added resellers to take advantage of
SugarCRM ported its real-time scalability, geographically dispersed
applications to the Windows
Azure™ platform so that its VARs
Microsoft® data centers, and maximum data
could deploy SugarCRM with availability to gain high end performance without
minimum capital expense and
provide customers with a highly
investing in additional infrastructure. The ease of
reliable, scalable CRM solution deployment and pay-as-you-go pricing will also
on a pay-as-you-go basis.
help customers control IT costs. Thanks to strong
Benefits support for programming language
• Quick development
• Flexible pricing model
interoperability within the Windows Azure
• World-class database platform, SugarCRM was able to complete the
technology
• Global scalability
porting process with two engineers in about two
weeks.

3. Situation
Founded as an open-source “Our customers gravitate to
project in 2004, SugarCRM Sugar because they want an
provides commercial open- easy-to-use CRM application that
source customer relationship deploys quickly, but they also
management (CRM) software. want to run that application on
With offices in Cupertino, top of the technology stack on
California; Munich, Germany; and which they’ve standardized their
Shanghai, China, the independent IT department,” say Clint Oram,
software vendor (ISV) offers one Vice President of Products and
of the most widely adopted CRM Cofounder of SugarCRM.
applications around the world. “We’ve always focused on
SugarCRM applications have delivering our software wherever
been downloaded more than 5 and however our customers want
million times and currently serve to run it. We’ve never been tied
“Whether it’s a more than 500,000 users in 75 to any one operating system or
languages. any one database technology.”
private cloud
hosted for a SugarCRM customers include SugarCRM applications are
some of the world’s largest based on PHP, a run-time
particular customer enterprises such as Avis, AXA, programming language designed
and BDO Seidman; however, the for Web-based applications.
or one of our majority of its customers are Because PHP is designed to be
partners delivering small and midsize organizations portable and run on top of dozens
that are looking to improve their of operating systems, Web
a SugarCRM SaaS CRM effectiveness without taking servers, and hardware
on significant costs in their IT configurations, it minimizes the
solution…, Windows environment. For many effort required to port
Azure provides a customers, Sugar is their first applications from one platform to
CRM system, and they stick with another.
strong delivery it. Available in three editions—
Sugar Community Edition, Sugar That agnostic approach to the
channel for our Professional, and Sugar underlying technology allows
product.” Enterprise—the application SugarCRM to offer customers
delivers a very simple, more options for software
straightforward but powerful CRM delivery. It is available as an on-
application that combines sales premises deployable application
force automation, marketing and as a software-as-a-service
automation, and customer (SaaS) solution that is available
support automation in one user from various vendors through the
interface. This makes it possible “cloud”—delivered over the
for organizations to manage all of Internet and hosted in a separate
their customer-facing data center. This includes
departments with a single tool. SugarCRM’s own cloud service—

4. Sugar On Demand. “More and and a set of developer services
more of our partners have been that can be used separately or
moving to the cloud to gain together. The Windows Azure
scalability without having to make platform offers a scalable
a huge investment in infrastructure with a pay-as-you-
infrastructure,” says Oram. “To go pricing model that enables
support our ‘Sugar Open Cloud’ customers to pay for the service
strategy we enable our software as they consume it, rather than
to be delivered through all the buying and managing on-
major cloud service provider premises technology.
environments. Outsourcing the
infrastructure for some “Whether it’s a private cloud
applications to the cloud allows hosted for a particular customer
customers to turn a capital or one of our partners delivering
expense into an operating a SugarCRM SaaS solution for a
expense, which helps customers particular region or market
who want to conserve cash.” vertical, Windows Azure provides
a strong delivery channel for our
Figure 1: SugarCRM delivers a SugarCRM applications were product,” says Oram. “We’ve
simple, straightforward but already running on various cloud been working closely with
powerful CRM application that services. When Microsoft Microsoft to extend our
will be available to customers announced the pending launch of application and take advantage of
as a Windows Azure–hosted the Windows Azure™ platform, those strengths.”
service through several SugarCRM saw huge potential in SugarCRM is written on PHP,
SugarCRM partners. porting its software to the which runs on the Windows
Windows Azure platform. This Server® operating system and
move could expedite time to Internet Information Services (IIS)
market because of the 7. “Because PHP runs well on
platform’s support for popular top of IIS and IIS works really well
programming languages. It could on top of Windows Azure, it was
also further the company’s easy for us to port SugarCRM to
“Sugar Open Cloud” goal by Azure,” says Oram. “We
providing customers with a knocked down the technical
globally scalable product running challenges very quickly with a
on a high-end infrastructure and couple of engineers in just a few
highly redundant database weeks.”
system, at a pay-as-you-go price.
Solution
The Windows Azure platform is an
Internet-scale cloud services
platform that is hosted in
Microsoft® data centers. It
provides an operating system

5. SugarCRM started porting its Blob Storage, which enables
application to Windows Azure in applications to store binary large
October 2009 and deployed a objects (blobs)—up to 50
proof of concept of the new gigabytes (GB) each—in the
version at the end of that month. cloud. These blobs can be served
“We had to learn how file system from many servers to scale out to
structures work inside of meet high traffic demands and to
Windows Azure and what type of make the data accessible from
configuration files we had to put anywhere at any time. The data is
in place, but that was quick to replicated at least three times for
work through,” says Oram. high availability and recoverability.
SugarCRM engineers also
modified code to optimize the “The virtualization component of
application for the Microsoft SQL any cloud service environment
Azure™ component of the requires that we design our
Windows Azure platform. SQL application for the possibility that
Azure is a cloud-based relational the virtual machine hosting the
database service built on runtime environment could go
Microsoft SQL Server® database away at any time,” says Oram.
management software. It allows “If that happens, files need to be
on-premises and cloud written to an area that sticks
applications to store relational around, and that’s what
and other types of data on Windows Azure Blob Storage
servers in Microsoft data centers. provides.”
The ISV is also architecting its When the SugarCRM application
application to take advantage of is fully ported to the Windows
Azure platform in December
2009, all Sugar editions will be
available to customers as a
Windows Azure–hosted service
through several SugarCRM
partners.
Benefits
SugarCRM took advantage of
familiar development tools and
strong support for PHP to quickly
port its open-source CRM
application to the Windows Azure
platform. By extending its
application to the cloud services
platform, the ISV will help its
value-added resellers (VARs)

6. “Windows Azure cost-effectively deploy custom secure cloud platform with a pay-
CRM solutions that scale globally as-you-go pricing model.”
gives our and minimize cost for customers.
Because customers pay for only
multinational Quick Development the Windows Azure service that
customers The straightforward design and they use, the cost becomes an
support for various programming operating expense rather than a
enormous flexibility languages within the Windows capital expense, which makes it
Azure platform greatly simplified easier to fit it into their budgets.
to deliver a high- the ISV’s efforts to port its “Some of our 5- or 10-person
performance, application to Windows Azure. VARs around the world can’t
“Every piece of the puzzle afford to buy and manage the
massively scalable logically fits together in Windows technology required to deliver
Azure so that we were able to CRM-as-a-service to their
application to users work with it very quickly,” says customers,” says Oram. “But
in any part of the Oram. “I’ve been astounded at now they can deliver a valuable
how easy it was to make service to their customers on top
world on top of one SugarCRM work well inside of of the Windows Azure
Windows Azure. The total effort infrastructure for a fraction of
technology base.” on our part was two engineers what it would cost to set up their
for about two weeks, rather than own infrastructure.”
having to put a whole team on
this for months.” Enterprise-Class Database Technology
in the Cloud
High-End Infrastructure in a Built on the enterprise-class SQL
Pay-As-You-Go Model Server database management
The combination of the cloud software and Windows Server
services operating system, technologies, the SQL Azure
developer services, and hosting database component of the
services included within the Windows Azure platform made it
Windows Azure platform offers easier for SugarCRM to quickly
new options for businesses of all extend its application to run in the
sizes. “Although most companies cloud environment. “Windows
can reduce their IT spend by Azure is going to look very
outsourcing infrastructure, the different than our other cloud
companies that will benefit the service providers because it is
most are those that could never the only one that delivers SQL
come close to implementing this Azure,” says Oram. “Other
type of compute capacity database technologies available
because of the cost,” says in cloud environments typically
Oram. “With Windows Azure, require developers to make them
they’ll have a massively scalable, all work together. We are excited
fully redundant, and completely about SQL Azure because it takes
care of the hard parts of creating

7. For More Information and managing a highly redundant, Windows Azure Platform
For more information about disaster-proof database The Windows Azure platform
Microsoft products and environment.” provides an excellent foundation
services, call the Microsoft for expanding online product and
Sales Information Center at Global Scalability service offerings. The main
(800) 426-9400. In Canada, call Another big advantage of SQL components include:
the Microsoft Canada Azure is that it is built on a • Windows Azure. Windows Azure
Information Centre at (877) geographically distributed data is the development, service
568-2495. Customers in the center that offers virtually hosting, and service
United States and Canada who unlimited scalability and built-in management environment for
are deaf or hard-of-hearing can data redundancy across multiple the Windows Azure platform.
reach Microsoft text telephone sites. “The financial investment Windows Azure provides
(TTY/TDD) services at (800) to make the data centers developers with on-demand
892-5234. Outside the 50 available across various compute and storage to host,
United States and Canada, geographies is a huge value,” scale, and manage Web
please contact your local says Oram. “Windows Azure applications on the Internet
Microsoft subsidiary. To access gives our multinational customers through Microsoft data
information using the World enormous flexibility to deliver a centers. In addition, Windows
Wide Web, go to: high-performance, massively Azure serves developers’
www.microsoft.com scalable application to users in connectivity needs through
any part of the world on top of the following services.
For more information about one technology base. Even our 〉 The Service Bus connects
SugarCRM products and midsize customers will be able to
services and applications
services, call (408) 454-6940 deliver a quality application
across network
or visit the Web site at: experience to users in China,
boundaries to help
www.sugarcrm.com South Africa, the United States,
developers build
and Europe—all at the same
distributed applications.
Additional Resources: time.”
Download: Windows Azure and 〉 The Access Control Service
ISVs – A Guide for Decision provides federated,
Makers claims-based access
Download: Windows Azure control for REST Web
Tools and SDK services.
• Microsoft SQL Azure. Microsoft
SQL Azure offers the first
cloud-based relational and
self-managed database
Software and Services
• Windows Azure Platform • Microsoft Server Product
• Windows Azure Portfolio
• Microsoft SQL Azure • Microsoft SQL Server
• Blob Storage
This case study is for informational
purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO
WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN
THIS SUMMARY.
Document published November 2009

8. service built on Microsoft SQL
Server 2008 technologies.
To learn more about the Windows
Azure platform, visit:
www.windowsazure.com