Microsoft Lays Enforced-Concrete Foundation For Its Business Solutions

At the end of September, Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS), an enterprise applications division of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), the largest software company in the world, fleshed out the contents of its seemingly well crafted and diligently thought-out product and services strategies aimed primarily at the small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) applications market, consisting of many intriguing value propositions such as an indication of simplified no-frills pricing and enticingly mitigated financing. A central component of Stampede 2002, MBS' annual event for global partners and value added resellers (VARs), the two-hour session, showcased MBS' recent extensive development efforts across its new and existing business applications.

By unveiling its threefold development strategy:

1. Expanding and enhancing current solutions,

2. Creating new solutions that complement existing offerings, and

3. Delivering next-generation business applications — MBS provided a comprehensive roadmap for its vision for "connected solutions that will transform business processes for customers, partners, suppliers and employees". The product strategy session featured a series of solution demonstrations that reflected MBS' threefold development efforts.

Epicor Claims The Forefront Of CRM.NET-ification : Appealing to SMEs

Coming back to the announcement of Clientele, Epicor seems to have positioned itself well for the impending gold rush into the SME CRM market segment, which has been largely underserved so far. The needs of SMEs like having solutions that are scalable and reliable but cost-effective, functional but easy to deploy and customize, and open but have a relatively low barrier to entry (TCO), have yet to be met completely. The likes of Siebel Systems and big ERP CRM wannabe's are overkill and cost/time prohibitive. On the other hand, recently announced Microsoft CRM might likely not have all the needed functionality. Given the high prevalence of Microsoft technology in the SME market, Clientele's early .NET embracement should be attractive to Microsoft-inclined customers evaluating CRM options. Web services' have potential to offer interoperability at an acceptable cost, while satisfying companies' need to use existing technology and skills.

The move should further bolster legitimacy of the .NET platform and the concept of Web services, which many still consider to be hype and a strategy in flux. Since Web services will likely become an enterprise applications integration (EAI) integration facilitation tool, .NET-based applications, like Clientele offer a prospect to meld more easily with third-party and legacy applications.

Epicor's CRM (Clientele, a.k.a. Epicor eFrontoffice) solution enables SMEs to manage their entire customer lifecycle by enabling businesses to gather, organize, track, and share prospect, customer, competitor, and product information into a single database capable of dispensing critical data throughout entire organization. The product might appeal to companies that need more advanced CRM capabilities or must manage customer relationships through diverse lines of business (LOBs). These customers would most likely require extensive customization, for example building workflow-managed processes to align sales teams by territory, product line or campaign.

Clientele also offers a multitude of out-of-the box sales process reports such as Open Calls by Hour, Marketing Activity Analysis, Return Material Authorization (RMA) Detail, Account Manager Opportunity, Continent Pipeline by Product, Follow-ups by User/Due Date, etc. Although the product could long have been implemented incrementally in a component-fashion or all at once, its flexibility and enhancements extensibility (even by third parties) should be significantly bolstered by its new .NET architecture platform. Also, having long been in the market, the product is not a me-too CRM newcomer product, but rather a product that capitalizes on the melded experiences of its CRM and ERP focused erstwhile parent companies.

Epicor thereby remains a prominent mid-market leader, with ~180 million in revenues, 950 employees and 15,000 customers worldwide (with over 3,000 CRM customers). In addition to its focus and understanding of the mid-market, the company has established a solid global infrastructure and localized product capabilities, as well as a vertical focus for some industries. Still, while the long awaited porting of Epicor's products onto Microsoft SQL Server as well as continued focus on .NET framework should significantly relieve the company's R&D burden and improve its general competitiveness, the remaining work of making all the above product portfolio .NET compliant remains colossal.

Existing 3,000 Clientele customers, will sooner or later have to migrate from the current non-.NET application, although Epicor is committed to supporting these customers indefinitely, which will draw on its duplicated R&D and support resources. One should imagine the magnitude of the effort when the plethora of its above-mentioned products, some with extensive customer bases on non-Microsoft technologies, should follow the Clientele's path. Executing these initiatives without significantly increasing its top line will be a notable challenge. Although its fierce competitors, Microsoft Great Plains/Navision, Onyx, Pivotal, Interact Commerce/Best Software, and FrontRange, to name some in the CRM space (without mentioning a slew of ERP competitors) are not in any better conundrum regarding existing customer base migration, Epicor's stronger financial situation and/or brand recognition might make prospects more amenable to believe that their success is more plausible.

Epicor Claims The Forefront Of CRM.NET-ification

On May 21, Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ: EPIC), one of leading providers of integrated enterprise and e-Business and collaborative commerce software solutions solely for the mid-market, announced Clientele Customer Support 8.0, the first application of the Clientele CRM.NET Suite that is completely built on the architecture of the Microsoft .NET Platform. Clientele Customer Support 8.0 is envisioned to provide a "hands/administrator free" deployment model allowing the application to be distributed from a single Web site.

By harnessing .NET possibly more zealously than its creator Microsoft's Great Plains and Navision enterprise counterparts amid still difficult market situation, Epicor might be showing us that 'a brave heart and wise mind' might keep it in the mid-market leadership race amongst a slew of formidable opponents.

The company has recently also made attempts to logically group and brand an unwieldy number of its products. In manufacturing, which would be approximately half of its customer base, Epicor has Vantage and Avante as its major ERP products while the 'e by Epicor' is an umbrella brand name for a number of products (as eIntelligence, eFrontOffice, eCommerce, eBackOffice, eProject, ePortal, eCentre, etc) that cater to both non-manufacturing industries and the manufacturing ERP offerings. The iSolutions group, which includes the Avante, DataFlo, ManFact and InfoFlo products and the eManufacturing group, which includes the Vantage and Vista ERP products remain strategic to Epicor and will continually be enhanced both with core ERP functionality and with extended-ERP components such as enterprise portals and Web storefronts. The release of the Web-enabled eFrontOffice product and its integration to back office solutions including eBackOffice, eManufacturing (Vantage) and iSolutions (Avante) products, speak in that regard. As for specialization, Vantage remains the preferred system for make-to-order (MTO), job shop enterprises, while Avante leans towards complex manufacturing and project work environments; Vista, on its hand, is the low-end product for much smaller discrete manufacturing enterprises.

Implementation Approach and Resources

After you purchase the software or sign a SaaS subscription agreement, your next step is to actually implement the solution. Depending on the level of complexity you may choose to do this on your own or, more likely, with the help of an implementation team from the vendor or one of their approved business partners. It will be almost impossible for the vendor to provide you with a reliable implementation plan as part of an RFP response. There is simply not enough information available to the vendor without significant discovery and there is rarely time for this discovery during the RFP phase. At a future stage when you are closer to a final selection this may be a more viable option. As a surrogate for a detailed project plan for your own project, you can ask for a project plan for a prior comparable project or possibly a template that will be used to build your project plan. Reviewing this project plan will give you a good indication of the vendors ability to support you in implementing the product. Most vendors will have qualified, or certified, partners that can provide resources for this purpose. Our general preference when working with vendors is to use their own professional services team if available. This provides the benefit of a single point of accountability. We have also found that the vendors own in-house resources have much better access to the support and development staff as well as accurate information on future product releases.

One of the most critical aspects of implementation is the actual project team that will be assigned to your project. Dont be fooled by the big-wigs and industry-leaders that youll meet during the sales cycle they will not be on your project team and in all likelihood you will never hear from them again after the sale. Ensure that the post-sale assigned resources have significant experience implementing the solution. A team of green-beans (new consultants with limited experience) will not be able to guide you through the sometimes complex process with predictable success. In addition to experience with the software solution you are going to implement, ensure the assigned consultants are seasoned professionals that have been involved in enterprise systems projects. They should have experience with subjects such as business process analysis, project management and change management.

Alternative Software Deployment Models

Over the last 5 years the business application software industry has gone through a transition (some claim transformation) moving toward new delivery models based on software as a service. A little history may help here. A traditional or on-premise software deployment involved the purchase of software licenses from the vendor and usually an associated software maintenance plan. At this stage you would ask your IT department to provision or acquire appropriate hardware, make any necessary network connections, ensure the security, availability and disaster recovery requirements were in place and then begin the process of configuring the software for production use. Under this model the purchaser acquires a perpetual license to use the software.

The introduction of software-as-a-service (SaaS) approximately 6 years ago fundamentally changed this model. In essence, instead of buying the software and running it on your own hardware, the SaaS vendors provide the software as a subscription service running on their hardware typically in state-of-the-art data centers. Under this model there is no need to buy hardware or deal with the network connectivity, security and redundancy issues. In many cases, the SaaS solutions can be implemented without the involvement of the IT department a paradigm shift indeed. The SaaS model is not without its own set of unique factors that need to be carefully considered:

* Cost: Typically the service is provided based on a monthly per user cost. This pricing model provides a flat rate, predictable cost for the solution. While the non-SaaS software vendors often respond to the SaaS alternatives with FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) and alleged higher total cost of ownership (TCO) over a longer haul, well cited research provided by Sheryl Kingstone of the Yankee Group convincingly illustrates that hosted solutions continue to show lower TCO over a five year period. Reference Appendix V for publicly distributed Yankee group figures or contact the Yankee Group for more detailed information. We highly recommend preparing your own Total Cost of Ownership analysis if you are trying to evaluate the relative costs of hosted and non-hosted solutions.
* Reliability: With a SaaS solution, the provision of an adequate infrastructure is the responsibility of the software vendor. This means that as part of your due diligence you must ensure the vendors data center operation is reliable and secure. The best way of understanding the reliability of the vendors data center is simply to ask for a log of all recorded interruptions, outages or downtime over the last 24 months. This objective measure will provide a real world indicator of the reliability of the vendors data center and ability to deliver SaaS CRM solutions without user interruption.
* Security: Security was initially a big concern when the SaaS model was first introduced. Security however, is integral to the SaaS value proposition and the leading SasS providers such as Salesforce.com, NetSuite and Aplicor provide security infrastructures that generally exceed the capabilities of most of their clients.


Vendor Viability

Having validated the functionality of the solution and determined the preferred deployment model, it is important to ensure that the selected vendor will be around for the long term. As even the largest companies like Enron, WorldCom and Andersen collapse, size or even the reliance on public company status gives us little comfort. We suggest therefore that you focus on the fundamentals: How long has the company been in existence? Is the company profitable? Does the company have a litigious history? Does the company have any litigation pending? Asking for detailed financial information is generally not a particularly revealing question as many privately held companies will not make this information available and for the public companies it may be difficult to understand how your targeted solution fits into their overall financial picture. Perhaps instead asking for certain metrics might yield a better result. Consider for example, customer churn. This metric represents the number of customers that renew service/maintenance agreements over time or for the SaaS vendors how many subscribers continue to renew their subscriptions annually.

Solicitation: Prepare a Request For Proposal (RFP)

Preparing an RFP does not mean you need to abide by the Federal Acquisition Requirements (not fun trust me). It simply means creating a structured communication of your requirements that forms a reference point for vendors to respond and a yard-stick (is it a metre stick in Europe?) against which to objectively compare the many product offerings you will initially consider. The content of your RFP will vary depending on your situation and in many cases any corporate or legal procurement constraints that you may be subject to. We have provided an outline for a typical RFP as Appendix III.

There are several options in how you chose to conduct your RFP process. Larger organizations that have software vendors salivating at the very thought of their business will almost always receive more timely and far more aggressive response than smaller organizations seeking to engage vendors in an RFP exercise. One golden rule prevails though, if you dont get good service in pre-sales, youre never going to get good service in post sales - aka Red flag #1. For an interesting CRM buyer experience, refer to Appendix IV - CRMGuru Article on How Well Do CRM Vendors Sell as an all too common anecdotal experience that is incredibly indicative of continued after-the-sale CRM vendor performance. The quality of any RFP response is indicative of the quality and esteem in which the software vendor holds your business.

It is a good idea to provide the vendors with advanced notice that the RFP will be distributed on a date certain. This will allow vendors to prepare by assembling or allocating resources to thoroughly review your document and put together an appropriate and hopefully thoughtful response. You must ensure that you allow vendors an adequate period in order to provide a high-quality response. Typically a period of 3-4 weeks is normal depending on the scope of the requirements list. We are strong advocates of dictating the format of the RFP response and advising vendors not to veer from this format. This provides you with the opportunity to easily consolidate and then evaluate the responses quickly and effectively. Experienced vendors are conditioned to responding to RFPs in this manner and will not have any objections. A complaining vendor is definitely a tell-tale sign for Red flag #2.

You may choose to include a go/ no-go requirements list. This is a list of the absolute-gotta-have-em-aint -no-question-about-it-couldnt-do-it-without-em functions. It is basically a polite way of saying to your vendor universe, if you cant do these then lets not waste each others time. Use a little caution here and ensure you dont limit your market too soon. Requirements like Integrates to our in-house APGOL5.56 V2R Accounts Receivable System will at best give you confused vendor responses and at worst no responses at all.

5-step CRM Software Selection Guide: A Pragmatists Guide to CRM Software Selections

Selecting an enterprise CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software solution is a significant undertaking that requires careful planning and managed execution. In this white paper we have distilled our experience conducting selection projects for enterprise organizations into a Five-Step Guide to assist you in making the right decision the first time. We begin with the process of analyzing and developing weighted requirements. Second, well help you incorporate these requirements into an overall request for proposal (RFP) that you can issue to a qualified group of CRM software vendors. We provide practical methods to evaluate the RFP responses and compare solutions as part of a structured software demonstration. Finally we address contract negotiation and closing the deal as the final step in the process. Throughout the paper and in the associated appendices we have included examples of actual tools we use during projects. Happy software hunting.
1. Requirements Definition: Requirements First Software Second

Selecting a new CRM software solution is often much like remodeling your house - painful, untimely and expensive - unless you carefully evaluate your requirements before you start. Done correctly, the process can be relatively pain-free and will provide the expected results within a predictable time-frame and budget. It sounds simple enough, know what you want before you start. Yet in business situations with competing resources and limited time, and especially when selecting software solutions, the cart is all too often so far ahead of the horse that the two barely know theyre part of a joint-solution to a common problem. Why is it so hard to clearly define business requirements at the outset? There are many quite common, and equally misguided, responses to this age-old question.

In our experiences, one of the most common and misguided frustration responses is I dont know what I dont know. Having never selected an enterprise CRM or SFA (sales force automation) software solution how can I tell what I want when I have no idea what is available?

The problem with this statement is that it is not what is available that should guide your thinking at this stage (yes this comes later for those of you who enjoy reading ahead). The real question at this early point is what do you need to accomplish your customer relationship management objectives? Approaching this question from the whats available perspective will almost certainly lead to a myopic view of your actual requirements that is driven by the capabilities of the first cotton-candy-wonderland (client quote) vendor that you meet. When software vendor tools and capabilities lead well defined business requirements, users identify fathom or artificial business requirements which displace meaningful user needs and detract from achieving truly strategic customer relationship and business objectives. Do not let a software vendor tell you that that the tool you need is a hammer because thats the tool they have for sale.

Developing a list of weighted requirements to support prioritized business objectives can however be a daunting task. Many project teams struggle to define what a process is for their business. This challenge is not unusual and we have developed a guideline for clients to develop a meaningful requirements list. This example serves as a foundation for developing a customized requirements list for your organization. The functionality-matrix breaks the CRM software solution into its core modules: Sales Force Automation (SFA), Marketing Management and Customer Support. Each core module is then broken down into the major sub-processes. For example, SFA breaks down into Account Management, Contact Management, Activity Management, Opportunity Management and Sales Forecasting.

Besieged By The CRM Throne Aspirants, King Siebel Delivers "The Magic No.7"

With the release of the following statement Siebel Systems, Inc. launched Siebel 7.

On November 26, Siebel Systems, Inc., the leading provider of customer-centric eBusiness applications software, shipped Siebel 7, the seventh major release of Siebel eBusiness Applications. Siebel 7 (formerly referred to as Siebel 2001) reportedly provides the most comprehensive suite of packaged applications for customer relationship management (CRM) and employee relationship management (ERM), with the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) so far. The enhancements worth pointing out are:

* A new Web-based architecture

* A formalized product upgrade and enterprise application integration (EAI) strategy

* Enhanced features across all application, including new industry-specific versions

* The formal launch of Siebel Employee Relationship Management (ERM)

This, Part One of a two-part News Analysis details recent Siebel 7 product release. Part Two discusses the Market Impact and makes User Recommendations.

A New Web-Based Architecture:As to counteract PeopleSoft's "no code on the client" mantra, Siebel 7 features the Siebel Smart Web Architecture, the zero-footprint Web client architecture that also preserves high levels of interactivity previously available only from desktop applications. Customers should thereby get the best of both worlds - cost savings associated with rapidly deploying a zero-install Web application and the rich, interactive, intuitive user experience available only from a desktop application. For instance, users can still invoke familiar user interface metaphors - such as dragging and dropping columns to rearrange their order, or selecting a record to edit in place - in ways not possible in traditional HTML Web clients.

The Siebel Smart Web Architecture minimizes the number of clicks and page refreshes when compared to traditional, first generation HTML clients. For example, the browser does not need to be refreshed every time the user makes a field-level change, which reduces the "round trip" exchanges between the browser and the server. This has the added benefit of improving network performance - but more importantly, it creates a highly interactive experience for the end users that can keep the context of what they are working on.

A Formalized Product Upgrade And Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) Strategy: As with the six prior releases of Siebel eBusiness Applications, Siebel 7 allows existing customers to employ an automated process to upgrade to the latest version of the application by combining and merging customizations with new functionality on the enhanced platform. As a result, to date reportedly more than 90% of Siebel Systems' installed base has deployed on the latest version of Siebel eBusiness Applications within 12 months of a product release, providing the benefits of the expanded functionality while preserving prior investments in customizations and integrations. Siebel 7 continues in the tradition of providing an automated upgrade path from previous versions of Siebel eBusiness Applications by addressing all three dimensions of an upgrade - Platform, Data, and Customization.

Siebel 7 was also devised to operate in heterogeneous environments by supporting integration via an "Application Network". The framework should allow corporations to weave their IT applications investments together using an "information bus," which acts as the backbone for inter- and intra-enterprise data synchronization and business process execution. Siebel 7 has reportedly received broad support from more than 100 third-party software providers who have announced their intent to certify their solutions on Siebel 7.

The company intends to ensure rapid and successful implementation of the application network by providing pre-built business connectors for customer interaction that span other packaged applications, including SAP, i2, Oracle, and PeopleSoft. The underlying technologies - such as the workflow engine, XML generation and transformation wizards, dispatch service, and transport adapters - are included in Siebel 7 and can be used by organizations to expand or extend the out-of-the-box business process touch points. In addition, Siebel 7 provides a portal framework that allows it to serve as the portal to other applications, or to be accessed through a third-party portal, with a single user sign-on feature.

Enhanced Features Across All Applications, Including New Industry-Specific Versions: Siebel 7 is an integrated suite of 198 comprehensive applications designed to manage customer, partner, and employee relationships on a global basis. The Siebel 7 applications are pre-translated and pre-configured with regional settings for immediate and simultaneous global deployment in more than 20 languages. The following traditional CRM modules, in most of which Siebel has traditionally exhibited the leadership strength, include a significant set of new products and product enhancements: Siebel Sales, Siebel Marketing, Siebel Call Center, Siebel Field Service, Siebel Professional Service Automation (PSA), Siebel eService, Siebel eMail Response, Siebel Interactive Selling, and Siebel eChannel.

As an example, Siebel Sales, the market-leading sales force automation (SFA) offering, has been enhanced to include new sales tools and functionality. Siebel Sales 7 includes numerous forecasting enhancements and the critically important support for synchronizing mobile databases and handheld devices as well as wireless and voice access to Siebel Sales 7 data. Siebel Sales 7 provides support for a mobile Web client, where sales professionals can use the same Siebel Smart Web Architecture and user interface offline through a Web browser on their laptop or handheld and synchronize their local database with the server database. This release also includes Siebel Handheld support for the Palm OS(TM) platform and Palm products in addition to prior support for Microsoft Pocket PC.

Also, Siebel eChannel provides an enterprise-wide partner relationship management (PRM) platform that enables organizations to collaboratively sell, service, and market to end customers with their partners to increase revenue and drive customer satisfaction. Siebel eChannel 7 consists of three major components with greatly expanded functionality: Siebel eChannel Partner Manager, Siebel eChannel Partner Portal, and Siebel Partner Analysis. Other new functionality includes the partner performance scorecard, enhanced partner forecasting, and the capability to generate new partner-specific reports.

Furthermore, owing to the recent acquisition of nQuire, Siebel 7 brings business analytics capabilities across all Siebel eBusiness Applications to deliver relevant, actionable, real-time intelligence to employees, partners, and customers. Siebel Analytics 7 hopes to introduce a new paradigm in business analytics by allowing users in the extended enterprise to have real-time business and customer insight, spanning multiple data warehouses and operational sources within and external to Siebel Systems and accessible from Web, wireless, voice, or mobile devices. Siebel touts to provide the industry's first upgradeable pre-built data warehouse that includes pre-built data extractors and enhanced performance and scalability. Siebel Analytics 7 also includes prepackaged and fully configurable reports and interactive dashboards, which embody best practice metrics.

With its fourth major industry application release, Siebel Systems offers seven new industry applications and deepens its industry functionality to support segment-specific requirements within industries such as financial services and communications. Siebel 7 launches with a total of 20 Siebel Industry Applications, providing out-of-the-box eBusiness functionality mapped to support the business processes of major industries, including: financial services (institutional, retail, insurance, healthcare), communications (wireless, wireline, media), energy (utility, oil and gas), life sciences (pharmaceutical, clinical, medical products), consumer (consumer goods, retail, apparel), industrial (high technology, automotive, chemical), public sector, and travel and hospitality.

The Formal Launch Of Siebel Employee Relationship Management (ERM): Finally, Siebel ERM 7 is a suite of Web applications that increases employee productivity; increases workforce capabilities and skills; and streamlines the delivery of strategic information, training, and performance management. Siebel ERM 7's idea is to obviate the need for organizations to custom build their own employee portals and instead deploy professionally built ERM applications software. Siebel ERM 7 enables a collaboration among employees through features such as project management that allows teams to track and centralize all key project information and an integrated employee help desk. This should allow any organization to act as a highly coordinated, close-knit group, with increased productivity and lower costs.

This concludes Part One of a two-part News Analysis. Part Two discusses the Market Impact and makes User Recommendations.

Besieged By The CRM Throne Aspirants, King Siebel Delivers "The Magic No.7"

Event Summary:

With the release of the following statement Siebel Systems, Inc. launched Siebel 7.

On November 26, Siebel Systems, Inc., the leading provider of customer-centric eBusiness applications software, shipped Siebel 7, the seventh major release of Siebel eBusiness Applications. Siebel 7 (formerly referred to as Siebel 2001) reportedly provides the most comprehensive suite of packaged applications for customer relationship management (CRM) and employee relationship management (ERM), with the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) so far. The enhancements worth pointing out are:

* A new Web-based architecture

* A formalized product upgrade and enterprise application integration (EAI) strategy

* Enhanced features across all application, including new industry-specific versions

* The formal launch of Siebel Employee Relationship Management (ERM)

This, Part One of a two-part News Analysis details recent Siebel 7 product release. Part Two discusses the Market Impact and makes User Recommendations.

A New Web-Based Architecture :As to counteract PeopleSoft's "no code on the client" mantra, Siebel 7 features the Siebel Smart Web Architecture, the zero-footprint Web client architecture that also preserves high levels of interactivity previously available only from desktop applications. Customers should thereby get the best of both worlds - cost savings associated with rapidly deploying a zero-install Web application and the rich, interactive, intuitive user experience available only from a desktop application. For instance, users can still invoke familiar user interface metaphors - such as dragging and dropping columns to rearrange their order, or selecting a record to edit in place - in ways not possible in traditional HTML Web clients.

The Siebel Smart Web Architecture minimizes the number of clicks and page refreshes when compared to traditional, first generation HTML clients. For example, the browser does not need to be refreshed every time the user makes a field-level change, which reduces the "round trip" exchanges between the browser and the server. This has the added benefit of improving network performance - but more importantly, it creates a highly interactive experience for the end users that can keep the context of what they are working on.

A Formalized Product Upgrade And Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) Strategy: As with the six prior releases of Siebel eBusiness Applications, Siebel 7 allows existing customers to employ an automated process to upgrade to the latest version of the application by combining and merging customizations with new functionality on the enhanced platform. As a result, to date reportedly more than 90% of Siebel Systems' installed base has deployed on the latest version of Siebel eBusiness Applications within 12 months of a product release, providing the benefits of the expanded functionality while preserving prior investments in customizations and integrations. Siebel 7 continues in the tradition of providing an automated upgrade path from previous versions of Siebel eBusiness Applications by addressing all three dimensions of an upgrade - Platform, Data, and Customization.

Siebel 7 was also devised to operate in heterogeneous environments by supporting integration via an "Application Network". The framework should allow corporations to weave their IT applications investments together using an "information bus," which acts as the backbone for inter- and intra-enterprise data synchronization and business process execution. Siebel 7 has reportedly received broad support from more than 100 third-party software providers who have announced their intent to certify their solutions on Siebel 7.

The company intends to ensure rapid and successful implementation of the application network by providing pre-built business connectors for customer interaction that span other packaged applications, including SAP, i2, Oracle, and PeopleSoft. The underlying technologies - such as the workflow engine, XML generation and transformation wizards, dispatch service, and transport adapters - are included in Siebel 7 and can be used by organizations to expand or extend the out-of-the-box business process touch points. In addition, Siebel 7 provides a portal framework that allows it to serve as the portal to other applications, or to be accessed through a third-party portal, with a single user sign-on feature.

Enhanced Features Across All Applications, Including New Industry-Specific Versions : Siebel 7 is an integrated suite of 198 comprehensive applications designed to manage customer, partner, and employee relationships on a global basis. The Siebel 7 applications are pre-translated and pre-configured with regional settings for immediate and simultaneous global deployment in more than 20 languages. The following traditional CRM modules, in most of which Siebel has traditionally exhibited the leadership strength, include a significant set of new products and product enhancements: Siebel Sales, Siebel Marketing, Siebel Call Center, Siebel Field Service, Siebel Professional Service Automation (PSA), Siebel eService, Siebel eMail Response, Siebel Interactive Selling, and Siebel eChannel.

As an example, Siebel Sales, the market-leading sales force automation (SFA) offering, has been enhanced to include new sales tools and functionality. Siebel Sales 7 includes numerous forecasting enhancements and the critically important support for synchronizing mobile databases and handheld devices as well as wireless and voice access to Siebel Sales 7 data. Siebel Sales 7 provides support for a mobile Web client, where sales professionals can use the same Siebel Smart Web Architecture and user interface offline through a Web browser on their laptop or handheld and synchronize their local database with the server database. This release also includes Siebel Handheld support for the Palm OS(TM) platform and Palm products in addition to prior support for Microsoft Pocket PC.

Also, Siebel eChannel provides an enterprise-wide partner relationship management (PRM) platform that enables organizations to collaboratively sell, service, and market to end customers with their partners to increase revenue and drive customer satisfaction. Siebel eChannel 7 consists of three major components with greatly expanded functionality: Siebel eChannel Partner Manager, Siebel eChannel Partner Portal, and Siebel Partner Analysis. Other new functionality includes the partner performance scorecard, enhanced partner forecasting, and the capability to generate new partner-specific reports.

Furthermore, owing to the recent acquisition of nQuire, Siebel 7 brings business analytics capabilities across all Siebel eBusiness Applications to deliver relevant, actionable, real-time intelligence to employees, partners, and customers. Siebel Analytics 7 hopes to introduce a new paradigm in business analytics by allowing users in the extended enterprise to have real-time business and customer insight, spanning multiple data warehouses and operational sources within and external to Siebel Systems and accessible from Web, wireless, voice, or mobile devices. Siebel touts to provide the industry's first upgradeable pre-built data warehouse that includes pre-built data extractors and enhanced performance and scalability. Siebel Analytics 7 also includes prepackaged and fully configurable reports and interactive dashboards, which embody best practice metrics.

With its fourth major industry application release, Siebel Systems offers seven new industry applications and deepens its industry functionality to support segment-specific requirements within industries such as financial services and communications. Siebel 7 launches with a total of 20 Siebel Industry Applications, providing out-of-the-box eBusiness functionality mapped to support the business processes of major industries, including: financial services (institutional, retail, insurance, healthcare), communications (wireless, wireline, media), energy (utility, oil and gas), life sciences (pharmaceutical, clinical, medical products), consumer (consumer goods, retail, apparel), industrial (high technology, automotive, chemical), public sector, and travel and hospitality.

The Formal Launch Of Siebel Employee Relationship Management (ERM): Finally, Siebel ERM 7 is a suite of Web applications that increases employee productivity; increases workforce capabilities and skills; and streamlines the delivery of strategic information, training, and performance management. Siebel ERM 7's idea is to obviate the need for organizations to custom build their own employee portals and instead deploy professionally built ERM applications software. Siebel ERM 7 enables a collaboration among employees through features such as project management that allows teams to track and centralize all key project information and an integrated employee help desk. This should allow any organization to act as a highly coordinated, close-knit group, with increased productivity and lower costs.

This concludes Part One of a two-part News Analysis. Part Two discusses the Market Impact and makes User Recommendations.

Siebel Partner Manager

Oracle's Siebel Partner Manager empowers companies to manage partner relationships effectively. Key features include the ability to track leads, assess partner progress, improve forecasting accuracy, manage complex pricing schemes and oversee channel operations. As a result, companies can build a partner ecosystem that improves sales efficiency while reducing management costs.

FEATURES


* Partner Ecosystem—facilitate a collaborative relationship between partners and brand managers
* Program Management—plan and execute collaborative sales, marketing, and service initiatives
* Improved Business Intelligence—enhance forecasting accuracy and pipeline visibility
* Worldwide Oversight—orchestrate channel operations around the globe

Siebel Partner Portal

Oracle's Siebel Partner Portal enables companies to share information between partners, brand owners, and joint customers. Its broad range of data, marketing materials, and selling tools facilitates the collaborative sales process, while its superior service and problem-resolution capabilities help partners deliver timely and consistent customer service.

FEATURES



* Data Sharing—improve collaborative sales and service
* Online Resources—Provide easy access to product information, training, and sales tools
* Solutions and FAQ Database—reduce support and call-center costs
* Warranty Verification—validate the eligibility of joint customers for service

Siebel Partner Analytics

Oracle's Siebel Partner Analytics application provides organizations with the insight they need to improve partner performance. With 200 prebuilt reports and ad hoc analytic tools, they enable businesses to assess the performance of partners individually, in groups, and as a whole, and then adjust sales strategy and product promotions accordingly.

FEATURES


* Prebuilt Reports—take advantage of 200 reports and ad hoc analytic tools
* Comprehensive Evaluation—examine all sales, service, and marketing activities
* Flexible Analysis—assess the performance of one, some, or all of your partners
* Comparative Performance—identify your best - and worst-performing partners
* Analytic Insight—learn how to improve partner performance

Siebel Partner Relationship Management

Oracle PRM, which now includes Siebel, is the market leading comprehensive channel management solution that allows brand owners to achieve their channel business objectives. With the best industry-specific PRM solutions, proven customer successes, and unmatched deployment options—including both on premise and on demand solutions, Oracle PRM is the clear channel management leader.

ORACLE IS #1 IN PARTNER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

* Only Oracle offers a thorough set of industry-specific channel management solutions
* Only Oracle offers complete, actionable channel and partner analytics
* Only Oracle offers seamless integration with existing Siebel CRM processes; unlike niche solutions, Oracle PRM provides complete integration with ERP systems as well
* Only Oracle provides embedded industry-leading channel methodologies and best practices (CHAMP)

Siebel Collaboration

Oracle's Siebel Collaboration leverages the complementary capabilities of Siebel applications and Microsoft SharePoint—allowing customer information to flow seamlessly between Microsoft Outlook and Siebel applications. This solution allows sales experts, partners, and customers to work collaboratively in managing opportunities and service requests. Siebel Collaboration creates an accessible, collaborative environment in which employees can work on a task list, schedule meetings, manage business contacts, or simply share files.

Improve Your Customer Experience with Team Collaboration
In today's fast-paced workplace, companies need employees to spend less time on administrative work and more time with customers. Employees need simple, easy-to-use tools for managing their time and contacts.

SHARE CUSTOMER INFORMATION BETWEEN MICROSOFT OUTLOOK AND SIEBEL APPLICATIONS


Siebel Collaboration leverages the complementary capabilities of Siebel applications and Microsoft SharePoint—allowing customer information to flow seamlessly between Microsoft Outlook and Siebel applications.
Whether employees are working with a task list, scheduling meetings, or managing business contacts, Siebel applications integrate with Microsoft to:

* Provide quick insight into all customer interactions
* Create a collaborative environment for managing opportunities and service requests
* Enable employees, partners, and customers to engage in discussions, share files, and manage tasks
* Store, manage, and associate interactions with a specific CRM business initiative




FEATURES



* File Sharing—enables employees and customers to share files and manage tasks
* Shared Customer Information—accessible via Microsoft Outlook and Siebel applications
* Joint Marketing—leverage business partners to maximize sales and marketing opportunities
* Threaded Discussions—capture conversations that are a part of responding to customer requests
* Instant Messaging—enable team members to instantly communicate and access the information they need
* Team Space—lets sales and service team members work closely with experts throughout your company
* Document Libraries—archive documents related to a sales opportunity or service request for organization-wide access

Siebel Enterprise Sales Analytics

Oracle's Siebel Enterprise Sales Analytics provides hundreds of key performance indicators and more than 100 reports in six customizable dashboards. These analytics solutions dramatically improve effectiveness by providing real-time, actionable insight into every sales opportunity at the point of customer contact. With more accurate sales forecasts and enhanced identification of potential problems and opportunities, Siebel Enterprise Sales Analytics helps you close business faster and increase overall sales revenue.

FEATURES

* Sales Analytics—ensure quota achievement, maximize revenue through better cross-selling and up-selling, shorten sales cycles, and increase win rates
* Sales Revenue Analytics—track sales orders, invoicing, and revenue, and increase customer value and follow-on sales potential, and proactively manage order pipeline and resources to maximize sales revenue
* Sales Fulfillment Analytics—ensure faster customer order fulfillment and revenue recognition, increase customer satisfaction, and improve product delivery cycle times
* Sales Pipeline Analytics—accelerate lead-to cash cycle and achieve a comprehensive view of customer orders and invoices to maximize sales throughput

Siebel Sales Applications

Oracle's Siebel Sales applications maximize sales effectiveness in real time by accelerating the quote-to-cash process, aligning sales channels, increasing pipeline and win rates, and raising average transaction values.

* Comprehensive, industry-specific SFA capabilities
* Proven mobility solutions for disconnected access
* On-demand CRM options for fast roll-out

The world's most complete Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution, Siebel CRM helps organizations differentiate their businesses to achieve ma

News Facts
Oracle’s Siebel CRM and Oracle® CRM On Demand are each positioned as a leader in the record-centric category of Forrester Research’s October 2008 independent report, “The Forrester Wave: Customer Service Software Solutions, Q4 2008.”
In Q2 2008, Forrester interviewed 29 vendors and user companies. The customer service products were segmented into record-centric, interaction-centric and process-centric categories, and they were evaluated against an average of 180 criteria and three high-level buckets: current offering, strategy and market presence.
Siebel CRM scored the highest in current offering and market presence within a field of 14 total record-centric products evaluated.
Supporting Quotes
Forrester Research’s report states that Siebel CRM “leads with broad and deep functionality, much of which is available to users of the Oracle CRM On Demand offering. The breadth of functionality includes interaction management, field service and workflow with all customer interaction being guided by underlying entitlements and corporate relationships. Oracle Siebel is very strong across field service management capabilities – core field service and mobile in particular.”
The report also states that Oracle CRM On Demand “competes with other SaaS vendors, providing faster time-to-value, good usability and lower upfront costs. Oracle CRM On Demand is innovating with new capabilities such as Social CRM (Fusion Edge applications) to increase collaboration, innovation and adoption of CRM within organizations.”
“Oracle CRM On Demand and Oracle’s Siebel CRM are each taking their positions as a leader in Forrester Research’s prestigious ‘Forrester Wave,’” said Oracle Senior Vice President of CRM Anthony Lye. “Through constant innovation and unyielding dedication to investment, Oracle’s Siebel CRM and Oracle CRM On Demand each will continue to be a leader and give organizations the best choice and value for powerful customer service functionalities.”

Siebel Customer Relationship Management Applications

The world's most complete Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution, Siebel CRM helps organizations differentiate their businesses to achieve maximum top-and bottom-line growth. It delivers a combination of transactional, analytical, and engagement features to manage all customer facing operations. With solutions tailored to more than 20 industries, Siebel CRM delivers:

* Comprehensive on premise and on demand CRM solutions
* Tailored industry solutions
* Role-based customer intelligence and pre-built integration

Siebel Configuration File

The file of configuration contains the parameters which are employed by Siebel Applications during starting. It is a support of place for parameters. It is a normal file of the texts having a prolongation of file of cfg. The various verticals have its own file of config, for example eauto.cfg is employed by Siebel Automotive, uagent.cfg is employed by application of telephone center of attention of Siebel and siebel.cfg is employed by Siebel Sales. These config file is created during installation under [install] directory of Siebel 7.7 web client of RACK ENU to assume you installed the version of Siebel 7.7. For a file of config of Siebel of sample click on here. Open using it your normal text editor like the scratch pad or the textpad.

In the same way we have the file of tools.cfg which is employed by Siebel Tools. Tools of Siebel is used to configure the application of Siebel. More about the tools of Siebel will be covered later. You normally to find this config file under [install] directory of Siebel 7.7 tools of RACK ENU . For a sample machines the file of config click on here.

If you observe the config classify esales.cfg, there are several preset parameters which are employed by the application of Siebel. There are the two most important sections in this file. First is aligned [points of emission of data] in 92. This enumerates the possible sources in where Siebel could connect itself. Like people of the country, the waiter, the sample and the passage. The definition for each one of the latter is defined in the separate sections. Line 98 defines parameters to be connected to people of the country. In the same way parameters are defined to be connected to the sample and the data of Src waiter under line 115 and 130 respectively.

The second important section is [the section of Siebel] on the line 25 where you define some common parameters which are employed by points of emission of data the ones Des. It is part of parameters of director of object for the components of waiter. It defines the parameters as the file of srf to employ, the name of application, connections of ODBC, the language, directories etc

The similar explanation applies to the file of tools.cfg.

Installing Siebel

The installation of Siebel on your local machine is not complicated. Normally there as administrators of Siebel who help to have this installation. To achieve the installation and started obtaining need for customer will have you and factory of the files of config provided by your administrators of Siebel or your colleague. Also you will need the details of named entry of ODBC DSN of them to connect it to the waiter. Before you try to install the customer take care you to have Windows 2000 /2003/XP with the 1GB minimum of RAM.

We will cover here to install the software of customer for realizers. Follow these stages of foundations and you should be able to start to work in Siebel.

1. Go to http://edelivery.oracle.com/
2. Open a session with your username of support-Web and password. (Provided by your director)
3. You will be given a choice whose software want to download you with OS. There will be the multiple files according to which version you would like to download.
4. Download all the relative files inside on the simple directory.
5. Extract all these files in another directory. Extract all in a simple directory. This is called the directory of image.
6. Under the directory of image enter the directory of Windows and then of customer
7. You will see tools of Siebel and the web client of Siebel. As for a realizer we need tools and customer. More information on the latter is provided in other sections.
8. Initially we will install the customer. The click installed under the directory of web client of Siebel.
9. Pass by the stages suitably. Accept the parameters of defect or jump all the parameters which they would ask or enter some fictitious parameters if it is necessary. All the parameters which you enter here is stored in the file of config which will be replaced by the file of config received you.
10. With this you will be able to connect yourselves to the pilot database. The stages to come will guide while being connected to the database of people of the country and waiter. More information on the pilot database, people of the country and waiter will be covered under the section of tools and customer of Siebel.
11. Copy the file of config of customer who you previously entered of your Siebel Admin to $installation_dir web client of RACK ENU of stage 9. for example like C: files of program of Siebel 7.7 web client of RACK ENU
12. Write the arrangement of ODBC provided by Siebel Admin under the control panel of Windows - > Admin machines - > points of emission of data - > system DSN. When you add take care you to choose the driver of Siebel Oracle.
13. With this you should be able to connect itself to the database of waiter.
14. Ask of basic extract of data for your account the administrator of Siebel. The details provided below. When this is fact pass at the next stage.
15. Then open a session in the local environment and he would ask whether you would like to connect for the extract the local database. Once makes will see you a database sse_data.dbf under $install_dir of tools people of the country or $install_dir of web client people of the country according to the way in which it is installed in the file of config. You ensure that your tools and files of config of customer indicate this file simple dbf to connect itself to the local dB. All this help will be connected to the local database for the customer and the tools.
16. Will install in the same way tools, under the directory of image to the customer and then to the tools of Windows and click on the installation.
17. 17. Pass by the stages suitably like previously. Accept the parameters of defect or jump all the parameters which they would ask or enter some fictitious parameters if it is necessary.
18. Copy the file of config of tools provided by the administrator of Siebel under $install_dir tools of RACK ENU. For example C: files of program of Siebel 7.7 tools of RACK ENU
19. If you already extracted the local database you ensure that in the file of tools.cfg the local dB indicates that the database extracted as explained in stage 15.

This should achieve the installation. In our next section we will cover the details about the file of config.

Siebel Basics

Siebel is the software of the most popular CRM available on the market. It was begun the first time with Siebel Systems Inc., and later succeeded by Oracle Corporation 2006. Thus the products of Siebel are now produced of Oracle CRM.

Siebel Systems, Inc. was founded in 1993 per Thomas Mr. Siebel and Chambre of Patricia. The company developed very quickly and their income in 1996 was $39 million. It was spread 1996 and out of 2000 their income exceeded the mark $1 billion. On Oracle 2006 acquired systems of Siebel for $5.8 billion.

The principal releases of Siebel include

* Siebel 98
* Siebel 99
* Siebel 6 (also known under the name of Siebel 2000)
* Siebel 7 (released in 2001)
* Version in the course of Siebel 8 (released 2007) -

It remain much of companies working with Siebel 6 but the majority of the companies now currently work in the version of Siebel 7.x.

There was a material change in the architecture of Siebel 6 in Siebel 7. While Siebel 6 has mainly the client-server model, Siebel 7 presented the architecture based on the WEB which revolutionized the whole product having more advanced devices.

Siebel provides versions suitable for the industry of their software of CRM called the verticals like

* Siebel of the motor vehicles (used by the automatic companies)
* Energy of Siebel (employed by companies of energy)
* Consumer goods of Siebel (employed by companies of consumer goods like Procter and the play)
* Finances of Siebel (employed by companies of finace as hunting)
* Siebel Pharma (employed by companies the pharmaceutical ones)

Many people could allege that it is too expensive to put pursuant to the applications of CRM and would like in the place to develop their own application of the country of the software personalized to help of the sales. But there are many of other reasons to believe as for why the applications like the market in slide available of Siebel CRM would be much more salutary in length. The applications of the country could become very complicated and would take a fate of hell of time to apply it and they are not often applied to its best level. Also the support and the evolution of the application of the country will be a pain like the employees leave and the base of knowledge will have gone. The applications of the country will prove often expensive. But if an application as Siebel CRM is application, even a complicated execution would not take a long time and the return of the investment (KING) is really large.

Siebel was applied by the majority of the important companies like Chase Manhattan Bank, Yahoo, Procter and play, Lucent Technologies, Home Deposit etc

What is CRM?

Any successful company is composed of the employees, of the processes of businesses, technology and the customers. The fidelity and the satisfaction of customer are the priority of the number one for any company. Thus the information management customer is very crucial for a company. Also the request handling of customer like orders, requires service, payments are very important. All these factors including/understanding many others compose a concept called the CRM or management of report/ratio of customer.

CRM is a broad strategy of businesses conceived to reduce costs and to increase profitability without compromising the satisfaction of the customer and fidelity. It also improves the effectiveness of telephone center of attention where data of customer are reached real-time. It is also employed to automate processes while being less burden on employees. It also integrates data with other systems so that all the necessary information is available to once central of saving in place and to operating costs. It helps management to make good decisions like where to invest the money and to type the good occasion to follow the market trends by looking at the sales, marketing and information customer at a central place. Thus the total objective of CRM east reduce costs, improve the effectiveness of operation and the satisfaction of the customer.

There is many software of CRM available on the market. They come in various forms. Some are software of low cost which is very simple to apply and to have very limited functionalities while some software available has very complex functionalities and could cost million to apply it. The management of company must determine of which costumes of software of better CRM their business has requirement in terms for its operational effectiveness and budget. Among all this software available on the market, most popular is Siebel CRM.

Learn Siebel

In this section you will learn initially what is Siebel and then how to obtain started on developing Siebel.

It is very important to include/understand as for why many industries need the application software like Siebel. Many companies simplified their processes of businesses by employing Siebel. Thus we will start initially by learning which Siebel is approximately, then we will follow the process to install him, then the execution and the data model.

The study of Siebel is not easy. It requires the hard labour, the attachment and the practice. Siebel CRM is software very complex and acing all the sectors of Siebel is very difficult. Thus people choose their own sectors of Siebel on which one can establish their expertise. For example some can choose their expertise to be EIM which treat mainly the database where because another could choose EAI which treats to integrate Siebel with other applications of software. In the same way there you could establish the expertise in the configuration, the management of order, architecture etc Among all these sectors, the configuration of Siebel is the stone of progression for each one. Thus start to learn initially with the configuration from Siebel.

Nothing should discourage from people learning Siebel. Siebel is software number one CRM and the request of the people working with it develops quickly.

We invite people to take part on making corrections and giving us feedback. If you have an article with which you would like add or r�crivez, then do it and send it to us. We will be happy to receive any kind of participation. See the bond of participation above.

After we will see what is CRM and how it profits from the companies.

Siebel CRM On Demand

Siebel CRM On Demand is currently developed by Oracle, and as the name suggests it is an on-demand crm solution, meaning it will be accessed via the browser as a web service (web based crm solution). Siebel CRM On Demand allows you to perform sales management, customer service and management or to create/administrate your marketing campaigns. Latest version available is version 14, though Siebel CRM On Deman version 15 is right around the corner.

This web based CRM solution is one of the most popular and as they say it they're #1 in CRM with 4.6 million live users (for 5000 customers) vailable in 27 languages over 145 countries. Though the standard installation package comes with multiple tabs, it all depends on your company's administrator on which tabs are available to you, so some tabs mentioned here might be from your setup. Main features of Siebel CRM on Demand:

Calendar and activities - You can use the Calendar page to review, create, and update activities (tasks that need to be accomplished before a specific date).

Campaigns - Campaigns are used create, update and track .... well campaigns (vehicles or projects that are used to send a marketing message to customers or leads)

Leads - The Leads tab is used to create, update and evaluate leads (persons that have indicated an interest for your products or services).

Accounts - Tab used for creating, updating and tracking accounts (companies that you do business with).

Contacts - Use the Contact tab to create, update and track contacts (individuals that your company currently conducts business with)

Opportunities - Use the Opportunity tab to create, update and track opportunities (potential sales deals).

Forecasts - Use the Forecast tab to review, adjust, and submit forecasts (a saved snapshot of revenues over time).

Service Requests - Tab used to record, track, and address customer requests for information or assistance.

Solutions - Tab used to create, update, and track solutions (information about how to resolve a customer problem).

Communications - Communication tab together with the Communication Tools and Voice Controls sections in the Action bar allow managing customer interactions such as phone calls, voicemail messages and emails.

MedEd - Tab used to plan and track medical education events (e.g. a simple lunch-and-learn session in a physician's office or a seminar series or national sales meeting).

Funds - Tab used to create, update and track funds (marketing development funds, co-op funds, trade promotion funds).

Households - Use the Households tab to create, update and track household records (households allows contacts to be grouped together and their related information to be rolled up from the contacts linked to the household).

Vehicles - Use the Vehicles tab to create, update and track vehicles.

Dealers - Use the Dealers home pages to create, update and track dealer records.

Reports - Use the Reports tab to create over 250 types of crm reports.

Main page screenshot:

Pricing: Pricing starts at $70/user per month
Free trial: You can get a 30-day free trial of Siebel CRM on Demand but only after completing the form at oracle.com/crmondemand/products/crm-free-trials/offers.html

Siebel Server

Is a Windows service or Unix daemon process
nIs the platform that supports interactive, batch, and background processing for all Siebel clients
nControls server components running on a machine

Siebel Server Architecture

Consists of the following entities:
Siebel Server
Siebel Repository File (.SRF)
Configuration File (.CFG) and Component Parameters
Siebel Web Templates (.SWT)
Server components

Siebel Servers

nExecute tasks to manage the business data
}Interactive processing (for example: supports the Web client running Siebel Call Center)
}Background processing (for example: workflow and business process automation)
}Batch processing (for example: volume data importing)

Enterprise Server

Is a logical collection of Siebel Servers that support users accessing a single database server and a single file system
Logically groups Siebel Servers for common administration via Siebel Server Manager
Supports sharing of common configuration information

Server Load Balancing

distributes the workload across available servers
Server load balancing supported by third-party HTTP load balancer
Server load balancing supports two mechanisms
SISNAPI/SSL load balancer built in to the SWSE
-party HTTP load balancer

Siebel Gateway Name Server

Is a Windows service or Unix daemon process
Dynamically registers Siebel Server and component availability
Stores component definitions and assignments, operational parameters, and connectivity information
Stored in siebns.dat file located in \\sea77\gtwysrvr\ADMIN

Eapps.cfg

nIs the single configuration file for all the Siebel applications
nContains configuration information, including: connectivity information, login, and security settings
nAllows the SWSE to communicate with the Siebel Server
nContains a connect string for each Siebel application

Siebel Web Server Extension (SWSE)

Receives and parses inbound HTTP requests from Web clients
Creates and manages TCP connections to the Siebel Servers or Load Balancer (if implemented)
Routes requests to the appropriate Siebel Server components

Virtual Directory

nExists on the Web server to receive inbound Web client requests for each installed Siebel eBusiness application, and forwards these requests to SWSE

Siebel Web Server Architecture

Consists of a third-party Web server with the following additional Siebel components
Virtual directories
Siebel Web Server Extensions (SWSE)
Configuration file (.CFG)

Siebel Web Client

Displays the interactive Siebel application used to manage the Siebel data
Runs in a variety of environments

Web browsers, WML devices, and PDAs (Windows CE and Palm)

Siebel Web Architecture Overview

nAt a high level, the Siebel architecture consists of:

}Web clients that access the business data

}A Web server that handles interactions with the Web clients

}Servers that manage the business data and provide batch and interactive services for clients

}A relational database and file system that store business data

Business Rules Management Systems

The logic of businesses is woven in the core of any organization which requires rules governing of the operations, the definitions, and the constraints by achieving its goals. The automated processes of businesses which have the logic of businesses included the interior often take substantial time to change, in addition to being with inclined errors. While the life cycle of the economic models is shortened considerably, it becomes critical that the companies adapt to the changes of the external environment in a way in real-time. These needs are satisfied by an approach for economic principles. By the use of the economic principles, the companies can considerably increase theirs agility while increasing the administration of the processes of businesses.

The economic management systems of principles (BRMS) are applications of software which control/supports the economic principles of an organization or a company. The logic of businesses of catch of BRMS out of the procedural code and the met in the hands of the analysts of businesses by the simple use if then - reports/ratios of other and ordinary business language. BRMS represent a normal stage in the application of data processing concerned increasing the productivity in the work place.

The innovations successfully applied BRMS to a certain number of companies of Fortune 500 during more than 10 years. With several patents on economic applications of principles, we help to maximize the return on the investment of technology. We allow our customers to control, to update, and to change the economic principles which correspond to the changes of the businesses requires.

Enterprise Information Management

The organizations historically invested in the ERP of building, the CRM and the systems of chain of provisioning to automate manual processes and to capture data related to these processes. The division of information management of Calsoft-ES company helps the information of harness of organizations of the points of emission of data structured and not structured. We help of the organizations to consolidate this information more quickly so that they can make better decisions, and to seize new occasions.

The team of management solutions of the Calsoft-ES information brings an arrangement of the existing landscape of businesses to determine manners of providing the information of intelligent of `in all the company by providing a platform of collaboration for various divisions to work together for effective and improved decision making. Technologies like data storing, solutions of optimization and the predictive analytics can allow greater perspicacities in data with tender history. Decisions can be applied using of technologies like engines of rules to increase the decision making of organization

Microsoft Dynamics CRM

The Calsoft-ES bus expertise a gold of dynamics of Microsoft certified the associate is prolonged with the execution of dynamics CRM from Microsoft. With modules to be sold, the sale, and the service to the customers, dynamics CRM from Microsoft provides a fast, flexible, and accessible solution which leads formed and measurable improvements of each process of businesses, allowing closer connections with customers and helping to carry out new levels of profitability.

Our functional wide expertise and of company of execution and proven methodology of execution help us to deploy solutions leading quickly to the reduced total costs of the property. We also offer the qualifications in the integration of application and the transfer of information which are critical with the success of an execution of CRM.

Siebel CRM

The members of the team Calsoft-ES spent several years functioning with Oracle multiple customers of Siebel helping them define and apply their strategy of CRM. Our customers could achieve their total goals of businesses at time due to the fast course of solution leading to some of the highest rates of adoption of user.

We cover all the stages of an execution of CRM, right-hand side to define the businesses and the strategy of CRM to define, conceive, develop and provide the solution. When it comes to the achievements from sales, sale or telephone center of attention of Siebel, the customers look in Calsoft as a one of their expert and adviser of confidence.

Calsoft offers the following services for achievements of Siebel:

• Achieve the end to finish full projects of execution of cycle
• Definition of the roadmaps of CRM
• The consultation of the practices during all the production runs projects
• Consulting services for the office of management of program
• Change the board of trustees for the communities of user
• Training programs of user
• Commercial abstracting services for the design of process of businesses
• Test of execution and evolutionarity

Customer Relationship Management

In world of today, obtaining new customers and the conservation of the existing customers became very provocante. The aspects of coating of customer comprise the complex sales, marketing and processes of service which must be parvenu in an optimal way in order to raise businesses. Systems of the management of report/ratio of customer (CRM) which allow these processes are required to be put pursuant to a way in which helps of the customers to receive a faster return on their investment. Since the systems of CRM manage aspects of coating of customer of the businesses, it is critical that the changes which these systems bring are adopted quickly by the employees and the customers.

Our team of CRM is well expressed in worms with aspects of businesses, process, techniques and of user of the achievements of CRM. The years of a various experiment of CRM of our professionals the whole range of CRM covers.

Processes > Process/Project SBL - Process - Siebel Implementation

Process/Project SBL - Process - Siebel Implementation

Stage SPA00 - Plan and Activate Stage SRP00 - Release Planning Stage SRQ00 - Requirements Definition Stage SFA00 - Functional Analysis & Design Stage STA00 - Technical Analysis & Design Stage SCF00 - Configuration Stage SDM00 - Data Migration Stage STS00 - Testing Stage SDP00 - Deployment Stage SUT00 - User Training Stage SCE00 - Control and End Description The management of report/ratio of customer (CRM) is an approach with multiple facets to improve a of the 'businesses of S by the successful acquisition and the conservation of a selected user base. CRM surrounds more than one technical solution. Before applying any kind of request to automate and improve the report/ratio of handling customer, an organization must comprise its tender of customer and define a strategy to change the manner that it leads businesses so that it becomes customer-centered. It must also prepare its personnel for the cultural change while resulting from their approaches to treat the exits related to the customer (for example, the center of telephone attention and the representatives of sales must learn from new manners of the interaction with customers). In other words, a strategy of CRM and an initiative of promptitude (C. - with-D., evaluation of CRM) must initially take place if the execution of a technical solution of CRM is to be succeeded. This process introduces James Martin + Co 'approach recommended by S to apply the application of company of Siebel in an organization. It is a directive of project to adapt to the customer requirements and to apply the package of Siebel to address the organization 'conditions of S CRM. The range of the process does not include to evaluate an organization the 'promptitude of S for CRM. A complete evaluation of CRM should be already led to determine the organization 'reasons of S to put in application CRM and which kinds of functionality of application the best service the organization by achieving its goals to improve of the relations of customer. The strategic decision to apply CRM using Siebel as technical solution should be made before launching a project based on this process. In order to include/understand and exploit the many devices of the application of company of Siebel and to control complexities to apply a technical software package, all the members of the team of project of execution (organization including customer 'of the members of the team of project of S) should undergo the formation of applications of company of Siebel. This process supposes that all the members of the team of project have an arrangement of work of the glance, feels, and functionality of the application of Siebel and is with the current of the terminology of Siebel. The suitable matters of class include using the applications of company of Siebel, the administration of administration of application, of marketing, the administration of service, the administration of synchronization, and the configuration and personalization. The following stages of development comprise this process: Release planning Definition of conditions Analyzes functional and design Analyzes and design techniques Configuration Transfer of information Test Deployment Training of the users Moreover, there are two stages of management of the projects which can be employed like guides institute, monitor and conclude the project: Envisage and activate Order and end The stages of development are described below. Release planning In this stage the project managers confer with the organization the 'management of S to determine what a little the functionality with elevated level should be application in the application of Siebel to fulfill the preset requirements of businesses of CRM. The conditions are used as means of determining which low modules and of expansion of the application of company of Siebel will be applied, and the range of the project is placed. The modules of Siebel and the software third of support are bought. Moreover, the development. production, formation, and of the environments of test are specified for the calculation of the costs, and the waiters and the work stations necessary orders for the development and the test environments. At the end of this stage, the project managers should have an arrangement with elevated level of the functionality envisaged of the system, its architectural complexities, and its interfaces to other systems and projects, benefitting from the overlapping with other projects of as of the perspective MAJORITY from components administrative, operational, social, and techniques of integration of project. This arrangement is formulated in terms of solution suggested of Siebel which specifies the critical components of application and considers architecture technical required for its execution. The corresponding strategy of release is then defined, that the details envisaged releases, functionality to be included, of the iterations, the chronologies, the important service provideds and the dependences on other projects. The strategy of release should be logical roadmaps for the delivery by increase in the functionality to the organization with the 'users of S. It should take into account how the system of Siebel will be connected by interface to the existing databases and the systems as how it can advantageously carry out or be carried out by other projects being led within the company. A strategy of release should define a delivery by increase such as the hasty releases constitute prototypes of user interface and functionality of application, whereas the posterior releases successively incorporate more of the real data of company and connect more with current systems (C. - with-D., evolve to entirely - the release of the functional and final production). The goal of any strategy of release should be to provide the news or additional functionality of application to the users within four to six weeks of starting of project or as of the delivery of the preceding release. Part of the effort of planning of release should thus be to prescribe a minimum level of the functionality which can normally be provided in this calendar, and the additional following releases necessary of the full functionality of the delivery, including integration with other systems and points of emission of data of external on a graduated program. The strategy of release should also consider the number of geographical places and User groups to which the application of Siebel will be finally deployed. A release of the final production is typically unrolled with a specific group of users initially, then unrolled with the following groups of users on a program envisaged. The strategy of release will be incorporated in the plan of management of projects (PMP). The PMP, by need, change while the arrangement of the particular conditions of businesses is refined, and as an element of the evaluation of follow-up after each segment by increase is unrolled with the users and feedback was captured. It is an important tool of communication which should be used for councils of team responsible for the project and to address hopes of user. The formation of Siebel for the team responsible for the project should normally be led to coincide with the beginning of this stage (see the plan and activate the stage). Definition of conditions During the stage of planning of release, a strategy with elevated level of release specified which components of application of Siebel would be applied to reach the company 'goals of S CRM. The goal of the stage of definition of conditions is to make sure of the users with which functionality they expect and would like application of Siebel in order to employ it to complete their respective work and to achieve these goals of company. By analyzing the current systems and the documentation of businesses and by leading interviews with directors, users and engineering teams of infrastructure, the team responsible for the project develops an arrangement in the way in which the businesses function and her infrastructure of support. The principal tool here are businesses of Siebel and conditions of report which must be solicited various types of users. The businesses and the conditions of report (which are requests for functionality) are analyzed the feasibility, the cost, and execution favours it, and the conditions are given the priority in the definition of conditions, a complete checklist against which the design and the configuration of application can be evaluated. Principal information on the basis of user and the structure of organization is as well factorized under the conditions; this information is instrumental in the functional design and the following configuration of the application. The part of strategy of release of the plan of management of the projects is updated according to the definition of conditions. Analyzes functional and design This stage is concentrated on analyzing the functional data and conditions and downwards dividing them into components to create stable functional specifications of which to lead the configuration work. Personalization to exist vanilla given of Siebel and objects of presentation is conceived, including identifying prolongations with the elements of standard data of Siebel and changes with the basic tables of data of Siebel of target to apply the specific functionality. In this stage you identify the logical elements of data of the businesses and the actions of user on these objects which must lead the application of Siebel so that the user interface can be conceived consequently. The objects of layer of presentation which make it possible users to reach the fundamental data and the possibilities for the access are identified. The functional specifications produced by this stage specify what follows: - Business Objects to be used and so modified vanilla or new created - Components of businesses to be used and so modified vanilla or new created - The transactions carried out on Business Objects - Seen to reach each screen (an object of businesses is represented by a screen) - Applet and reports/ratios which constitute each sight - Drill-towards bottom bonds between the sights - Classes of visibility for each sight It is imperative to confer with the users representative in the development of all the components of user interface, to make sure that the final request will be accepted by the base of users. The users are the principal people with which the needs for businesses must be satisfied by the new system, thus the system must provide the functionality which they owe and are easy and comfortable so that they learn and employ. More users are implied in the analysis and the systems design, more they will come from there to once accept the system it is configured and deployed, and less must remake headaches for the teams of design and development at the end. The user's needs lead the design of the flows of screen, the provisions of screen, and other principal elements of user interface of the application of Siebel to apply the functionality suggested. Analyzes and design techniques The goal of this stage is to identify the components and the conditions of configuration of the technical of material/software architecture of supporting the users of the application of Siebel, with the attention with the planning of capacity for increasing volumes of user and transaction. The technical architecture which is necessary specifically to run the application of Siebel and the total technical architecture to which the application of Siebel is connected must be detailed. After specific architecture completely reviewed, the components of software material/are obtained. Configuration During the stage of configuration, the application made on ordering of company of Siebel is configured based on the functional specifications (of design). Although the characteristics of design already received the approval of user, it is important to make as well take part users in the real activities of configuration, to ensure their satisfaction with the glance and feeling of the application because it is transformed specifications of design to a real and functional system. The temporary configurations will be prototypes of the functional application. The finished product of the iterative cycle of configuration is the configured application which is quality reviewed and prepared for the deployment. In the stage of configuration the data and objects of layer of presentation are configured, the basic prolongations of data are applied, and of the manuscripts of Siebel VB are developed to carry out any special functionality necessary, the release reviewed for stability and quality before being examined by users (the test of acceptance by the users is covered in another stage). After the users examined the release, of the requests for change are evaluated and retroacted in the iterative cycle of release consequently. Once the final release was configured, the system reviewed for the promptitude of production, for deployment. Moreover, of the materials of support are developed to be exerted and of the operations of guide and to support the personnel and to orchestrate the deployment. The configuration uses a fast approach of the development of applications (rad) to provide the multiple successive prototypes of the application of Siebel, based on the received written characteristics of the conditions of businesses collected at the meetings of hearth of user carried out in the first weeks of the project and the practices renowned by industry. The representatives of user want the test of test each prototype and in their turn will provide immediate feedback on the suggested changes. These requests for change will be given the priority by range, importance, the establishment of the program and budget, and will be evaluated by the team responsible for the project and the organization of customer for incorporation in the following releases. Transfer of information The transfer of information is the whole of procedures to enter of the data of the systems of source Siebel. It is made for the systems that Siebel replaces and for the systems to which Siebel will be connected by interface on a continuous basis. It is an iterative activity which occurs at the same time as the configuration. This stage implies to acquire the discs of source data external and to make sure that the data are clean and format-compatible with the low format of table of Siebel. The procedures automated required to charge information with the systems of source in the database of Siebel are established. The data are then extracted starting from the systems of source, are cleaned, charged in the Tables of interface, and then charged by EIM in the coffee tables. The routines of transfer of information should be completely examined. The activity of load of data can function via the batch processings and can be carried out repeatedly until all the data are charged successfully. The routines for data entering Siebel manually should be conceived and be led where necessary as well. Test The goal of this stage is to carry out the test of acceptance by the users (UAT) and the test of execution of system on the configured application of Siebel. Develop a plan of UAT and the scenarios of case of test to guide a selected group of principal users by examining the user interface and the functionality of the application of Siebel. It can be useful to specify what a little the data to be introduced into the cases of test (for example, certain ranges of the values). The scenarios of case of test should be defined for all the conditions of test and include the entry, the required actions of user, and the results envisaged. The test of acceptance by the users should be addressed to all the user profiles (for example, support of sales, with sales representing, with business manager, director of sales). The various roles of user should have various rights of access and see various sights, and these differentials should be checked by the test. The plan should specify by branch of industry the users who will examine the application and the program for the test, fascinating in consideration of the constraints of establishment of the program. Develop a plan and the manuscripts of SystemTest to examine the total handling of execution, functionality, speed and capacity of the application of Siebel in the states of user multiple, connected and outside. (An automated tool can be used for this type of test.) The manuscripts of test should make it possible testers to check: - acceptable speed by carrying out transactions - production of the results envisaged of transaction - remote users 'synchronization and initialization - remote users 'visibility - execution of work station of office Install and configure the environment of test and carry out the tests according to the plans of test. Note: The environment of test can also be employed for the training of user, although a separate environment of formation can be installed so feasible according to the needs and the characteristics of project. Deployment In this stage the application of Siebel is unrolled to the base of users. Unfolding should at the same time surround a user group, according to the strategy of release. The waiter of production is charged with the parameters, the systems of interface are supported, the configured application is deployed, and the functions of support are installed to support the system lately deployed, The final stage in unfolding is to lead sessions of follow-up to obtain the feedback of the users on their reactions to the system lately deployed of Siebel. Evaluate the release up to what point answered hopes of user and measured until the promises of delivery made in the strategy of release and documents the feedback of user. Re-examine the results of unfolding and compare them with the original strategy of release and modify the strategy of release consequently. In conclusion, obtain the end of formal connection of the executive silent partner to carry out the next release of the application. Training of the users It is essential with the success of the new system of Siebel to train users of businesses in his operation and to train the personnel of support of system (such as the personnel of service PLEASE) in the exploitation and of the activities of the system related to its installation, displacement, adjustment and interaction with other systems. Moreover, it can be necessary to develop new procedures, policies, descriptions of the functions, competences, incentives, etc to facilitate the necessary cultural change to apply and to employ the application of Siebel. The principal activities in this stage include: - You with the cultural changes Prepare - Create the training program - Learn the businesses and the application - Develop the equipment for the formation - Training of the users of control - Evaluate the study Maintain in the spirit that the changes inherent in the exits above can be met resistance. Consequently, the introduction of the application of Siebel must be made in a significant way. Providing incentives, the encouragement, and the support is principal to the people of assistance making the modifications necessary in the manner that they complete their work.