Talk:Siebel Systems

CRM

I assume CRM stands for Customer relationship management???? --71.3.236.196 15:15, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Programming Siebel

Can anyone post a couple paragraphs on Siebel CRM from the programmer's point of view? It would be interesting to know something about the techniques/technologies/languages used to customize the system.

I am giving a brief outline of Siebel as a programmer. Work in Siebel can be divided in two parts : configuration and scripting. When you install Siebel as a configurator, you basically get two application namely the Siebel Application and Siebel Tools. As a configurator you need to configure Siebel Tools and the changes will be visible in Siebel Application. This implies that these are interlinked (by file-system). Both Siebel application and tools come with preset (vanilla) configuration which is customized as per the requirement. The configuration methods are really interesting ranging from simple modification (adding a new text box) to more complex ones (eg. creating new linkage between different business objects). Some of the basic configuration steps are given in Siebel guide , however for the practical purposes most of the configurations need much trial and error. If you think that Siebel does not give you the flexibility of writing codes, then you are wrong (at least partially!). To customize your application further you can write scripts (but if you can do something by configuration, then avoid script (for maintenance issues).

Technical Architecture

This section is to introduce of Siebel Technical components. Unless, someone can direct me to the right section to talk and discuss about this.

Manmdo 14:30, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

I have some information in this area that I would like to share:

Siebel software consists of three major components: 1. A server stack that itself is made up of one or more Siebel Web Servers (conventional web server software with Siebel specific extensions), one or more Siebel Servers (on which batch processes are executed), and a conventional database system. users access the application through a web-enabled user interface, which provides richer functionality through Internet Explorer thanks to proprietary Active X controls. 2. An off-line client called Siebel Remote that deploys the same functionality and user interface to a local PC with off-line database synchronization abilities. 3. An off-line developer client called Siebel Tools that allows configuration of user interface, data model and processing logic.

Customer modifications are compiled into a Structured Storage file called the Siebel Resource File ("srf") though a small number of modifications are not compiled into this file and exist solely in the Siebel Repository. The Siebel Repository is a group of tables within the Siebel database that store the definition of the application's user interface, data model and processing logic. The majority of customer modifications are made by modifying the records in the Repository tables, leveraging built-in libraries and functions - this process is known as 'Configuration'. Some customizations also use a built-in scripting language (Siebel Visual Basic or Siebel eScript - the latter being an implementation of ECMA Script / JavaScript) but the use of scripting is discouraged both by Siebel and also by a movement in the Siebel developer community known as 'Scriptless Configuration'.

Siebel was an early adopter of XML and this can be seen both in the data feeds that underlie the Siebel user interface and also in the easy deployment of XML based interfaces including SOAP Web Services.

The Siebel 7.x series introduced the web-based architecture that is also used in the Siebel 8.x series; the previous Siebel 6.x and Siebel 5 (also known as Siebel 2000 and Siebel 99 respectively) were purely Windows executable applications.

Siebel is primarily a Sales Force Automation solution but also offers different vertical and functional solutions for Marketing, Service, Pharmaceutical Sales, Clinical Trials, Media, Telecommunications, Public Sector, Homeland Security (including the infamous Contact type of 'Suspect'). Each of these modules is delivered in the same software package and activated by license keys. In earlier versions the straight Sales and Marketing application used a different data model from the industry vertical solutions (known as SEA and SIA respectively) but in later versions the SEA data model was depreciated in favor of the SIA data model. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tyroneking (talk • contribs) 00:40, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

Product history

I think that we should change the tone of the "Marketspace" section to simply the facts. Right now, it sounds in tone a lot more like analysis, which is not as encyclopedic as I would like. -- PinkCake 14:39, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

I have now done the re-write. -- PinkCake 23:16, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Major Releases

Integration into Oracle's Fusion might be worth mentioning for the version after 8.0 - Protector of the Truth 11:23, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Done. -- PinkCake 23:32, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Note: I am NOT going to point the "future" tag on the article. One rather unsurprising forward-looking statement does justify a headline tag. It merely assists the reader in finding the obvious piece of non-Sieble Oracle software that is likely to be integrated with. It is confusing enought as it is: Oracle's product line is huge and it would not surprise me if Fusion gets a new brand name by the time that the integration and release are accomplished. -- PinkCake 23:36, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

It's 2011 now and not only is Fusion still called Fusion, but there is still no clear upgrade strategy from Siebel to Fusion nor is there likely to be according to one (respected) blogger - http://siebel-essentials.blogspot.com/2011/10/siebel-crm-oracle-fusion-applications.html. So I'm going to remove 'Fusion' from the list of major releases. Tyroneking (talk) 16:33, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

"CRM market leader" section

This section has origional research & POV issues; it needs of a major re-write. -- 12.106.111.10 19:46, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

• I agree with that. There are many statements of opinion that need to be cleaned up and presented in a NPOV. Protector of the Truth 15:56, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

POV Statements

• As taken from the article main page - The gradual decrease in the dominance of the Siebel product has been attributed to many factors but perhaps two overriding aspects contributed to the demise of the company. Firstly, Siebel was a CRM application and little else. Whilst it was a powerful engine it is a fact that Siebel never really offered a true HR or Financials application of their own. This meant that most if not all Siebel projects contained a significant integration aspect. As with most IT related projects, integration can be the most difficult of all IT implementation aspects and indeed, many Siebel projects turned out to be significantly more expensive in the long run. The second aspect is interestingly related to the flexibility of the Siebel application. As the Siebel application was infinitely customizable, practically anything was possible. The functionality of the application was constrained only by the capability of the configuration consultant performing the implementation. This meant that if a client were to ask or inquire about availability of a function, the answer would usually be 'Yes'. This lack of a constraining framework resulted in implementation projects running for years and often suffering incredible scope creep.
• Where Siebel has suffered, its former competitors have flourished. Oracle and SAP have forged ahead in the CRM marketplace. Curiously it is not because their products are better, more flexible or more powerful than Siebel. It is simply because their products often prove easier to implement and 'integrate'. Both SAP and Oracle offer Finance and HR applications and this fact has allowed them to push their CRM offering to their existing client base. Oracle and SAP CRM applications are naturally integrated with their own base ERP applications thus the difficult integration aspects of implementation projects were hugely reduced. SAP and Oracle effectively now push a 'suite of products' with CRM being a capability within that 'suite'. This homogeneous approach has served to constrain the functionality of both offerings with clients being steered down the route of 'standard functionality' and 'out of the box' capability. This curiously has resulted in more successful implementations because the existence of a fixed functional framework has served to constrain the scope of implementations. The design approach required for Siebel implementations was to design and wrap the system around the business process - this proved too expensive. Conversely some SAP and in particular Oracle implementations require the business process to be altered or re-engineered to follow a 'standard' one already built into the application. Gaps are managed by various configuration options and very limited customization. The result is a design and implementation within a fairly rigid framework and from this an implementation can become significantly easier to manage. Oracle and others have succeeded where Siebel failed. Siebel was the victims of their own success in a way. The limitless flexibility, capability and configurability of Siebel meant that the implementation projects became just too big, too complicated and went on for too long.
• No citing of references and also original research as well as being POV - Protector of the Truth 16:06, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Giant Oracle Banner?

Why is there a giant Oracle banner? It makes this page look like an advertisement for Oracle. 65.4.142.149 10:22, 3 April 2007 (UTC)H. Hall

Only Oracle info in the info box?

I notice there is only Oracle information in the Siebel info box, and no mention of the Siebel founding date, key people, headquarters, etc. This is an article about the former company Siebel Systems. Readers can get Oracle info in another info box in an article called Oracle Corporation. It does not matter here that the company Siebel was later purchased by the company Oracle. (Compare to other articles of companies acquired by Oracle, i.e. JD Edwards or PeopleSoft.) I see that this article used to have a big Oracle logo also. Unless there is objection, we need to remove the Oracle information from the info box and replace it with Siebel information. If you have that information, please do so. prhartcom (talk) 17:13, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

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BetacommandBot (talk) 18:36, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Salesforce.com

I think Siebel's CRM business is under severe threat from Salesforce.com. I think it might be good for the article to mention this dynamic. CRM is a rapidly evolving field, and there is thus the potential for great disruptions. I think some well-sourced material in this area would be a good addition to this article. --Westwind273 (talk) 16:24, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Error in Revenue

On the right hand side info column the revenue is given as: Revenue ▲ $1111111.799 billion USD (2005)

which is a mistake please rectify it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.16.180.5 (talk) 12:06, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed

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