AN ENTRANT for Technology Business category at The Press Business Awards 2016 says it aims to use cloud technology to level the playing field for ventures of all sizes.

North Yorkshire company OpenCRM was launched ten years ago with the idea of producing a cloud-based customer relationship management system that helped businesses to manage sales, increase profit and expand.

“Over a decade later, OpenCRM now has customers of all sizes, all over the world, and in a wide range of industries, including education, health, real estate, and manufacturing,” it says.

“OpenCRM was built on the idea to create a system that was broad, with a wide range of customisation options, to make it appealing for businesses of all sizes and in all industries. At the same time, the system needed to have a depth of features to make it competitive with the big players in the market.

“In addition to all these functionality requirements, there was a keen focus on user experience. In fact, the newest version of OpenCRM, due out in October, is a total redesign of the interface with the goal of improving both the UX and UI of the system as a whole.”

Founder and chief executive Graham Anderson knew the only place he wanted to start his business was in his home-town of Richmond. “Graham’s aim for the region was for it to become a hub of technology and innovation, creating the Silicon Dales, as it is fondly referred to by the team.”

OpenCRM said it was committed to expanding solely through profit and not debt, so the goal was to carry on being profitable and investing this back into the people and product as a whole.

The team was constantly looking at new ways to improve the product, and listened to feedback from its customers. New features and enhancements were regularly added to the system as a whole, with customers being encouraged to work with the team to develop bespoke additions.

As well as improving the functionality and usability of OpenCRM as a system, the infrastructure behind the scenes was equally important. “It is only through their dedication to improving and enhancing the infrastructure that has made OpenCRM the stable business resource it is today.

“Keeping an eye on the future is a big part of the strategic growth plan for OpenCRM, ensuring that these new technologies are being developed and incorporate it into the system.”

At the heart of OpenCRM was its commitment to customer service, with the team developing relationships with clients and ensuring all communications were positive and friendly.

The entry concludes: “OpenCRM has come a long way in the last ten years and with the building blocks in place for continuing growth and innovation, they are set to leverage these foundations and grow the subscriber base significantly.

“There are exciting new developments just on the horizon, as well, with significant time, energy and enthusiasm being invested on a system redesign that will make OpenCRM even more intuitive and powerful.”