Siebel's reign ends as shareholders approve acquisition |
 |
By Barney Beal, News Editor
| |
|
|
Siebel System's lengthy run as the leader in enterprise CRM came to a quiet close in a San
Mateo, Calif. hotel Tuesday as shareholders approved the sale of the company to Oracle Corp. for
$5.85 billion.
The decision was nearly unanimous with 98.73% of shareholders voting in favor of selling to
Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle at a price of $10.66 per share. The votes were tabulated Tuesday
afternoon in a short meeting.
The vote brings an end to the company that was a pioneer in enterprise applications and helped
establish CRM as it is known today. It also strengthens Oracle's efforts to take on rival SAP in
the applications arena by bringing Siebel's 4,000 customers and 3.4 million CRM users aboard. In
the past two years Oracle has added CRM functionality from PeopleSoft, J.D. Edwards & Co. and
now Siebel, through acquisitions that in total reached $17 billion.
"Clearly it gives Oracle a much richer set of functionality than it had before and the ability
to build off an installed base," said Scott Nelson, vice president and distinguished analyst with
Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc. "It puts them in a stronger position. On the down side, the
challenge is they have a lot of disparate apps. They've got some issues to work through in the
market."
Oracle intends to marry the best of the functionality from all its recent acquisitions into one
suite under Project
Fusion.
"Siebel's expertise with industry-specific, customer-facing applications combined with
rich analytics will not only serve as the centerpiece of our CRM strategy for Oracle Fusion
Applications, but can also be used to extend our current customers' investments today," Charles
Phillips, Oracle's president, said in a statement released yesterday. Siebel's efforts to develop
CRM software based on Web services align with Project Fusion already, according to Oracle. Last
month, Oracle assured customers that Project
Fusion is on target and halfway complete.
However, some skepticism remains.
"Still, the biggest issue is how it all fits together," Nelson said. "Fusion has been more a
statement of future intent than truly flushed out. Some clients are going to be hesitant."
Tom Siebel, founder and CEO of Siebel Systems, briefly thanked his company's shareholders
following yesterday's vote. In first announcing the acquisition, Siebel conceded that customers are
looking for an "integrated family of applications." However, it may not mean the end of
CRM.
"I think you're going to see the backfilling of small players with industry specificity -- such
as Telco or health insurance solutions," Nelson said. "It's going to become increasingly difficult
for SAP and Oracle to push forward. The best way for small players to compete is to provide deep
functionality in niche markets."
|
|
|
|
