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Why does Cloud CRM consider itself so above other cloud biz components?

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sugarcube_0We’re looking to replace some old office systems/platforms with integrated cloud equivalents. In looking around it seems paid offerings solving the CRM aspect of a business average much dearer than other non-trivial business aspects (e.g. inventory/logistics).

At the moment we’re looking to glue together some disparate cloud components into a viable platform to move our business forward. We’re considering Google Apps for mail/calendar/contacts etc, Magento CE for e-commerce, Xero or Saasu for accounts, Unleashed or Saasu or something for inventory/logistics, and Sugar for CRM.

Most of those components have individual monthly costs (for themselves and/or integration products), however by far and away the mean dearest component of any we’ve looked at is CRM. Why? Yes, Magento has a very expensive paid version – but their free version is quite capable (and supported). Google Apps, Xero and the like give you a lot of value for your ongoing costs. Why is it CRM can’t (or won’t) do that?

SugarCRM’s free option seems all but crippled. Certainly to hear consultants tell it, no decent paid integration plugins, reporting plugins, etc will work with Sugar CE – even if you are paying for the plugins, even as an ingoing payment. At this rate I’m sorely tempted to build Sugar out of Drupal+modules.