EasyAsk Announces EasyAsk for SugarCRM Bringing IBM Watson-like Natural Language Search and Analysis to SugarCRM Users

SAN FRANCISCO, April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- EasyAsk and SugarCRM today announced at the SugarCon 2011 Conference EasyAsk for SugarCRM, a new version of the company's ground-breaking natural language search and analysis software integrated with SugarCRM, the world's most flexible, intuitive and open Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution.  The integrated offering delivers simply the easiest way for business people to use SugarCRM information via EasyAsk's intuitive, Watson-like natural language interface and tools.

With EasyAsk for SugarCRM, business users simply ask questions in English and get immediate answers from their SugarCRM system.  EasyAsk enables easier access and flow of SugarCRM information across the organization - from executives to individual contributors – to drive faster decisions in marketing, sales and support.

"EasyAsk simplifies communications between humans and data, allowing business people to ask questions in their everyday language and get the answers they need," said Craig Bassin, CEO at EasyAsk. "EasyAsk for SugarCRM allows an organization to communicate with their CRM system in the same exact way they would ask questions of staff members empowering teams to make faster, actionable decisions."

Using EasyAsk for SugarCRM, various business people can ask critical questions of the SugarCRM system and get immediate answers to help them accelerate their actions:

• Sales managers can ask "Show open opportunities with no activities in the last 30 days" to identify neglected sales opportunities which need additional focus

• Marketing managers can ask "Show the number of converted leads and closed opportunities by campaign last quarter" to check the conversion rate and quality of leads pushed into the sales pipeline

• Support staff can ask "List critical cases with pending development status and no activities in the past 2 days" to identify cases needing immediate follow up

EasyAsk for SugarCRM helps build bridges between the marketing, sales and support departments by allowing cross-department teams to share reports.  Marketing and sales can work together to develop better leads and sales pipelines, while support and sales can collaborate to identify and close critical support cases in accounts with large sales opportunities.

"Our partnership with EasyAsk helps us take a clear leadership position as the most intuitive CRM system on the market," said Nick Halsey, CMO and EVP of Corporate Development at SugarCRM. "Integrating EasyAsk into our product line makes it even easier for business users to work with SugarCRM and derive even greater benefit from their SugarCRM system and investment."

The ISV partnership between EasyAsk and SugarCRM also includes joint channel development programs through which EasyAsk for SugarCRM will be made available through the SugarCRM Reseller channel.  The EasyAsk Channel Partner Program for includes product education, sales training and market development for the SugarCRM resellers.

About EasyAsk

EasyAsk is radically changing the speed and ease of how people find information through the company's ground-breaking natural language search and query software.  EasyAsk software products go far beyond traditional search, allowing users to simply ask questions in plain English and receive highly tuned results on demand.  The EasyAsk eCommerce Edition uses this unique technology to deliver an industry leading website search, navigation and merchandising solutions that boosts online revenue through increased conversion rates, better customer experience and agile merchandising.  EasyAsk Business Edition revolutionizes enterprise decision-making, moving beyond traditional business intelligence solutions with easy, low-cost deployment and a unique natural language interface that extends access to information anywhere in the organization.

Based in Burlington, Massachusetts, EasyAsk has long been a leader in natural language information analysis and delivery software. Customers such as Gap, Coldwater Creek, Hewlett Packard, Lands End, Lillian Vernon, Aramark, BASF, Talbots, Nedbank, BNP Paribas, TruValue, Siemens, Hartford Hospital, Ceridian, JoAnn Fabrics and Harbor Freight Tools rely on the EasyAsk software products to run their business and e-commerce operations daily.  For more information, please visit EasyAsk

About SugarCRM

SugarCRM makes CRM Simple. As the world's fastest growing customer relationship management (CRM) company, SugarCRM applications have been downloaded more than nine million times and currently serve over 800,000 end users in 80 languages. Over 7,000 customers have chosen SugarCRM's On-Site and Cloud Computing services over proprietary alternatives. SugarCRM has been recognized for its customer success and product innovation by CRM Magazine, InfoWorld, Customer Interaction Solutions and Intelligent Enterprise.

For more information, call (408) 454-6900 or 1 87 SUGARCRM toll-free in the US, email [email protected], or visit http://www.sugarcrm.com.

For Further Information Please Contact:

Paul Hirsch for EasyAsk; 510-499-2589, [email protected]

SOURCE EasyAsk