November 08, 2010 -- SugarCRM Inc. is soon to release a new version of SugarCRM plug-in for Microsoft Outlook. SugarCRM applications are used worldwide by more than 600,000 end users in 80 languages. The latest release of SugarCRM plug-in for Microsoft Outlook 2010 is an upgrade from Outlook 2007 and features compatibility improvements.

Roger Smith, Software Engineer at SugarCRM Inc. used oDesk to hire Bernard to help migrate their Microsoft Outlook add-in to Outlook 2010. Following the successful migration of this add-in, SugarCRM plans to re-hire Bernard to help with migration of two other SugarCRM add-ins for Excel and Word.

"Bernard estimated in a very timley manner and in such a way that seemed very reasonable. He then stuck to his time line and delivered outstanding results. Furthermore he didn't just deliver and disappear. He stuck around and made sure that everything worked as it was supposed to and made himself available to for any follow-up. I would highly recommend Bernard especially regarding his Office add-in work. We are so pleased we are pursuing more projects with him.", said Roger in a LinkedIn recommendation to Bernard.

For more information visit Bernard's web site at http://www.HireMrSpreadsheet.com/.

The Sugar Outlook 2010 Plug-in is not yet officially out but here's an unofficial sneak peek. I almost finished migrating SugarCRM's Outlook 2003 & 2007 plug-in to Microsoft Office Outlook 2010. The old menus were replaced by the ribbon interface. A new completely new addition to this project is the Backstage which was introduced in Microsoft Office 2010.

Before

The product uses CommandBars used in Office 2003/2007:

After

Backstage functionality was provided where previously a Tools > Options menu command was used.

Menus were integrated into the Outlook 2010 ribbon to allow users to access familiar commands. This was achieved by inserting ribbon callbacks so only minimal intervention was required from my end.

This is what the interface looks like from the Outlook's Contacts folder.

Summary of Changes

• The plug-in now completely supports the Office 2010 ribbon interface. It blends really well with the new way of doing things in Office Outlook 2010.
• Backstage functionality provides access to program options.
• Sugar Plug-in for Outlook 2010 now uses .NET 3.5 while it previously used .NET 2.0.
• Program installer correctly detects Outlook 2010 and installs the plug-in.