SugarCRM Awarded 5-Star Rating in CRN's 2016 Partner Program Guide

CUPERTINO, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 11, 2016) - SugarCRM Inc., the company that enables businesses to create extraordinary customer relationships with the most innovative, flexible and affordable CRM solution on the market, announced today that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has given SugarCRM a 5-Star rating in its 2016 Partner Program Guide. This annual guide is the definitive listing of technology vendors that service solution providers or provide products through the IT channel. The 5-Star Partner Program Guide rating recognizes an elite subset of companies that offer solution providers the best partnering elements in their channel programs.

To determine the 2016 5-Star ratings, The Channel Company's research team assessed each vendor's application based on investments in program offerings, partner profitability, partner training, education and support, marketing programs and resources, sales support and communication.

SugarCRM has built a unique channel program of CRM experts with more than 230 channel partners in more than 30 countries. As the company has moved upmarket, it has altered its partner ecosystem to address the diverse CRM needs of enterprise customers. The company's core group of partners helps extend the value of the Sugar platform for customers by providing strategic CRM consulting, tailored solutions that complement Sugar, techniques for CRM best practices, and flexible implementation and integration services.

The SugarCRM partner program provides VARs with sales, marketing, and product support along with significant opportunities to grow their businesses in the CRM industry, which is projected to grow to $40 billion by 2018 according to Gartner. The program includes partner certification and training programs delivered via Sugar University, a partner advisory board, dedicated resources for partners and an annual conference just for partners.

"Solution providers have more choices than ever before when it comes to selecting vendor partners. Identifying the right vendor with the right technologies and the right channel approach can mean the difference between successful adoption of a new technology or business model and an awkward, unnecessarily difficult integration," said Robert Faletra, CEO, The Channel Company. "Our annual Partner Program Guide and 5-Star ratings recognize the best channel programs available in the market today and serve as a valuable resource for solution providers looking for the right fit."

"SugarCRM offers more than a typical reseller program, not just selling seats to cookie cutter customers. Instead, our top partners have evolved with us over the last 10 years, delivering strategic CRM solutions to our customers. Our partners have become true solution providers that are deeply involved in helping organizations utilize Sugar to distinguish themselves by offering a better customer experience," said Clint Oram, CTO and co-founder at SugarCRM. "SugarCRM is honored to be recognized by CRN with a 5-star rating in their Partner Program Guide. It validates our channel program and the 230+ partners who have chosen to join us."

The 2016 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/ppg2016.

About SugarCRM
SugarCRM enables businesses to create extraordinary customer relationships with the most innovative, flexible and affordable customer relationship management (CRM) solution on the market. Unlike traditional CRM solutions that focus primarily on management and reporting, Sugar empowers the individual, coordinating the actions of customer-facing employees and equipping them with the right information at the right time to transform the customer experience. Based in Silicon Valley, SugarCRM is backed by Goldman Sachs, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, NEA and Walden International. More than 1.5 million individuals in over 120 countries rely on SugarCRM. To learn more visit SugarCRM or follow @SugarCRM.

NOTE: SugarCRM and the SugarCRM logo are registered trademarks of SugarCRM Inc. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

About The Channel Company
The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelco.com

CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. The Channel Company logo is a trademark of The Channel Company, LLC (registration pending). All rights reserved.