Mpower Open Podcast

eCRM, mpower

03.20.08 | Comments

MPower Open logo

Open source? Yes.

.NET? Yes.

Can replace ~~Convio and~~ Raiser’s Edge? Yes.

Now you know why my jaw dropped during the interview. Download here.

I have yet to test the demo or even install it yet. I’ll try to have a more technical review ready next week though.

Listen to the podcast for more information.

Updates to this story were made after reading comments below.

Another update: Download the mp3 directly.

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Comments

On 03.20.08 Josiah said:

I had a similar conversation with MPower that I blogged about at http://missions.ritchietribe.net/node/339.

I focused specifically on their “Open Source” definition. It’s great to hear them talking more tech. I was only able to get to the Sales level.

On 03.20.08 Allan Benamer said:

I think you did a way better job than I did, Josiah. I think my podcast is pretty meaty but Josiah’s write up is better. Everyone please go to http://missions.ritchietribe.net/node/339 for more information.

Josiah definitely covers the open source license issue. He’s right it’s not exactly OSI compliant but it’s still better than the licenses we’re getting now.

I’m hoping that the consultant powers that be (that means you NPower people out there hehe) will take a look at MPower as a possible development platform. I’d love to see what happens after this.

On 03.21.08 Anonymous said:

Alan,

Your suggestion that MPower can be used to replace Convio is just kind of silly. The MPower MPX and Convio CRM products do completely different things and the set of overlapping functionality is nearly empty. In fact, the two companies worked together to build a Connector between the systems. The reason for the Connector is because an organization doing integrated marketing needs both a Convio and an MPower to get it done; neither product is a substitute for the other. Really confused as to how you reached this conclusion…

On 03.21.08 Allan Benamer said:

Sorry, that’s ~~MPower’s claim not mine~~ me mishearing MPower. I should have made that more clear. Again, I have yet to test the demo to confirm the claims. So, yes you’re right to be confused. ~~I suggest you listen to the podcast because that’s the claim they’re making.~~ My guess though is that you don’t get whitelisted e-mail easy from just installing software on a local server and that’s probably where Convio, et. al. would come in. It looks like you’re right Anonymous — Convio and MPower are partners in an integration. I’m updating this piece asap.

On 03.27.08 Josiah said:

Some more good news from MPower. They have decided to reverse the previous decision that they made concerning a closed community. I just blogged about this also: http://missions.ritchietribe.net/node/342

On 03.27.08 Josiah said:

Allan thanks for the positive feedback on my article. It is good to see thing getting covered from multiple angles.

On 03.28.08 Allan Benamer said:

Thanks for blogging further on MPower, Josiah. Keep up the coverage! This is a good decision by MPower. And I hope that’s a lesson to the other CRM providers out there. It really doesn’t make sense to put barriers up to prospective community members but old habits die hard in the nonprofit CRM sector.

After all, for many of these would-be open API or open source providers, companies like Convio or Kintera or MPower are basically getting free work out of developers when they put up code for inspection. It can take hours or days to understand new code fully and no developer gets paid for that. I can’t think of anything worse than having to pay to play especially when the installed bases for these applications number in the low thousands thus lowering the total number of consulting opportunities. Don’t make the ROI too low for developers or they’ll simply not show up.

On 04.10.08 Kate Ingraham said:

If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. They have a staff of 25, 9 developers, and in less than a year they’ve built the ultimate fundraising CRM? That claim did make my jaw drop. Their give you the razor and sell you the razor blades money making model is a new twist. Sounds more like death by a thousand cuts. When did this blog become an infomercial?

On 04.10.08 Josiah said:

They’ve said elsewhere that they are intending to build this all up in the next couple years. I think that this video would be a good context for what they said: http://blip.tv/file/723379.

On 04.10.08 Allan Benamer said:

LOL Kate, I promise the blog won’t be an infomercial anytime soon. In fact, the other day I turned down an offer to be directly endorsed by a CRM company. I realize that it’s not good to look like a fanboy of anyone. That said, MPower IS open-source and it IS free to use. I’m seeing some issues concerning installation but those are no different from installation issues regarding SQL Server. That is, it helps to dedicate a server solely for operation of the software and to have someone around who knows how to handle that server.

As for the business model — exactly what part of open-source implies a razor blade model? Theoretically, you could operate the system without any need for third-party vendors should you also have a programmer willing to work with the code. For all intents and purposes, it’s free to operate. Generally speaking, you probably won’t want to stay in this mode because you might find some particular need that isn’t represented within MPower. At that point, that’s where the razor blades are being purchased. However, this wouldn’t be some made-up need — it’s legitimate in the sense that your business process requires software that reflects it. In fact, this is a common model with open-source business solutions. You build something only when you feel enough of a business need. I think that’s a pretty fair model. At the very least, you wouldn’t be paying for licensing fees — ugh.

On 04.11.08 Jordan Dossett said:

I thought “I do not do product reviews of for-profit technology.” just because it is open source does not mean is free, they charge for their support and service. So while you can download it you do need to install it or pay them. I just get irritated when folks say they are “vendor independent” and clearly are not.

On 04.11.08 Allan Benamer said:

@Jordan Dossett: Yes, “I do not do product reviews of for-profit technology.” This means that I don’t cover Oracle or SQL Server as they mostly have for-profit uses. However, MPower Open is well within the scope of the blog. I would hope so, since that would render my coverage of Blackbaud, Convio and Kintera nonsensical! I may also cover techs that I think ought to be useful to nonprofit IT people but are not currently used for nonprofit purposes.

I would say that MPower Open is in a similar space as a lot of the open-source vendors out there such as RedHat. If I recall correctly, RedHat Linux is “free” but support and service is not. That is basically the way that open-source is being sold these days. The old Heinleinian quote comes to mind: TANSTAAFL — There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. One thing you’ve said is incorrect though, you said:

“So while you can download it you do need to install it or pay them. ”

That’s clearly not the case here. You don’t have to PAY to install the software. The only time money changes hands is if you need a support and service contract.

With that in mind, I don’t see how this post was lacking in vendor independence. It’s admittedly thrilling seeing people willing to write an open-source CRM despite the fact that they could easily turn their back on it since they’ve already got paying customers. Unless you can prove that I’m somehow on the take from MPower (which is a very amusing idea to me, I admit), I don’t quite understand the comment you made.

On 04.14.08 Skepta Cal said:

Have you had a chance to do your technical review of the software yet? After your jaw dropping hype I am very interested in how the product holds up to scrutiny.

On 04.14.08 Allan Benamer said:

Good question. I have a request into MPower asking them to set up something via Terminal Services. I really, REALLY don’t want to set up SQL Server on my home computer. I really don’t want that piece of bloatware on this box.

As it is, I’m slowly transitioning to my Ubuntu Linux partition here and moving away from Win XP.

On 05.01.08 Josiah said:

Allan, I’m looking at setting up a system to test for our purposes and, like you, would rather not go through the acquisition and setup of all this just to test it. Has MPower been interested in your terminal server idea?

On 05.01.08 Allan Benamer said:

Yes, they will be setting up a terminal server for reviewers and interested folks to look at. MPower hasn’t given me a strict date yet but I will definitely update this post if there’s anything to report.

On 05.15.08 Anonymous said:

Any insight into the MPower Convio announcement today? Seems like a nice database alternative with the benefits you speak of above.

On 05.16.08 Allan Benamer said:

I don’t really have any insight into the announcement as it seemed to double up on an already existing arrangement between MPower and Convio… I’ve got some interesting news about eTapestry today though…

On 09.03.08 MPower Open Now on the Leaderboard! | Non-Profit Tech Blog said:

[...] you. Just place your requests in the comments below. For more information on MPower Open, check out my earlier podcast. Josiah Ritchie also has blogged about MPower Open. Tagged: donation management system How [...]

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