If you’re shopping for software, you’re probably reading online reviews. At least I hope you are. Reviews (at least those from reputable sources) give you lots of information about the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the product options, but we know all the info can also be overwhelming.

To give you a quick idea of the info that’s out there about SugarCRM, here’s a brief look at a few reviews from sources that we rely on for industry news.

Eweek’s May, 2011 Review cited Sugar as “comforting” and “unintimidating” – when’s the last time you’ve heard software described like that? Sugar compares favorably to Salesforce.com according to reviewer PJ Connolly, due to its variety of deployment options and affordable price. Connolly also likes the simplicity of the user interface and administration.

A June, 2010 Review of Sugar Professional (Beta) by PCMag.com highlights the sales and marketing capabilities in Sugar – Sugar’s web forms bring leads automatically into the CRM system, and integration with LinkedIn and Hoover’s make lead intelligence easier. Senior Analyst  Jamie Lendino also likes the “robust” email marketing with its ability to create campaigns in the application using included HTML templates (or design your own), with email stats and click-throughs tracked throughout. Of course Lendino still prefers analyst sweetheart Salesforce.com, but says Sugar has “narrowed the gap.”

ZDNet published a comparison in November, 2011 between some of the top solutions, including Sugar, Salesforce, SageCRM, Dynamics and others. Reviewer Paul Schnackenburg says: “If Salesforce.com is the poster child for SaaS cloud services, then SugarCRM is the poster child for successful open source software.” Schnackenburg also cites the strength of Sugar’s marketing and data management. Another strength is deployment choice, with database choices including Oracle, Microsoft SQL, or MySQL, and various hosting options. Weaknesses of Sugar include industry-specific adaptations, and the fact that some enterprises would never consider open source as an option.

Are you ready to get some Sugar? Test drive it for free and let us know what you think in the comments section.