nFold has profiled three open source software solutions. All of these solutions seem feature-rich and robust and one is already widely used by those in favour of the open source initiative. The up-side of open source is it's free. What's more all the software profiled runs on a Windows platform (as well as Linux). The down-side is that you may need to have some level of IT support to implement the solutions and solve any technical problems that may arise when you install and configure the software. Go open source!

INFORMATION	CUSTOMERS	EMPLOYEES
sql-ledger is an open source double-entry accounting system. When items are bought or sold, the accounts are automatically updated. It has templates you can customise for financial statements and other documents (such as invoices). It also supports multiple languages. Download from www.sql-ledger.com.	vtiger is an open source CRM system. It can synchronize contacts, tasks and meetings with Outlook. It has features for contact management, sales and marketing management and helpdesk. A customer portal is also available. The system is accessed via a browser and can be customised. Download from www.vtiger.com.	OpenOffice is widely used on the Linux platform as an open source alternative to MS Office. It runs on Windows too. Components include word processing, presentation, vector drawing, spreadsheet, database and function creator. It supports open document formats. Download from www.openoffice.org.