Siebel Systems beefs up the marketing automation components of their front office suite.
--Mike Buckley
==========================
SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2000--
Siebel Systems Significantly Extends Marketing Automation Solutions with Highly Personalized Campaign Management Across All Channels of
Communication
Siebel Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:SEBL) today announced that it has acquired Paragren Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance marketing automation software.
Paragren, previously a wholly owned subsidiary of APAC Customer Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: APAC), provides sophisticated campaign management software that helps organizations leverage information about their customers to develop highly targeted marketing campaigns.
By integrating Paragren's database marketing software with Siebel Marketing and Siebel eMarketing, organizations will be able to access in-depth customer data throughout the enterprise, target and segment customers, and deliver messages across all customer touch points -- including email, fax, the Web and the telephone -- using one, single marketing automation application.
Paragren's flagship product line, the One-By-One(R) suite, provides sophisticated campaign management capabilities, including tools for segmenting customers, optimizing promotions across target segments, as well as scheduling and list management capabilities.
One-By-One also includes database marketing tools that allow organizations to extend their targeting capabilities by directly accessing customer data from any information system, including data warehouses and legacy applications. Leading companies, including PNC Bank, Ameritech, and Finland's largest telecommunications company, Sonera Telecommunications, have standardized on Paragren applications to increase their marketing effectiveness.
"By integrating the leading database marketing tools with the leading eBusiness application software, we can provide customers with a comprehensive marketing automation solution that allows them to create personalized, customized and highly-targeted campaigns to reach customers around the world," said David Schmaier, senior vice president, products, Siebel Systems.
Siebel Marketing and Siebel eMarketing guide and assist marketing professionals in developing, implementing, managing and refining their strategies across products, geographies, demographics and distribution channels. Siebel Marketing provides a comprehensive set of tools for analyzing customer interactions, managing multi-stage campaigns, and developing and delivering marketing information. Siebel eMarketing manages and delivers personalized, one-to-one marketing promotions and customer communication via email and the Web. Because Siebel Marketing applications are an integrated component of the Siebel eBusiness product suite, all marketing information is automatically available to an organization's sales and service professionals, call center agents and channel partners.
This divestiture allows APAC to continue to use the Paragren techonology for one-to-one marketing execution, as supported by the Siebel eBusiness Application suite. With the recent announcement of CustomerAssistance.com, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of APAC, as well as a new strategic partnership with Whittman-Hart, APAC is focused on outsourcing a full suite of electronic customer relationship management (eCRM) products and services including infrastructure, front-office and back-office solutions for fast-growth, middle market companies.
Together, Paragren One-By-One and Siebel Marketing will allow organizations to design and deploy comprehensive, multi-channel campaigns across the entire marketing process. Through the integrated solution, organizations will be able to:
-- Access customer information from multiple information sources
throughout the organization, including legacy applications, data
warehouses and Siebel eBusiness;
-- Analyze and segment data to precisely align campaigns with
appropriate target audiences;
-- Execute campaigns to the right person, with the right message, at
the right time, utilizing their preferred communication channel;
and
-- Measure, monitor and track campaign performance, fine-tuning to
ensure optimal ROI.
"By integrating our campaign management products with Siebel Marketing and Siebel eMarketing, we are creating the first fully-integrated marketing automation application," said Dan Lackner, COO and general manager of Paragren, who will become the vice president of Marketing Automation Products of Siebel Systems. "We can now deliver the closed-loop, out-of-the-box marketing automation solution that our customers have been asking for."
"We see the integration of Paragren and Siebel Systems as a significant merger of leaders," said Peter Leger, President and CEO, APAC Customer Services. "There is a strong synergy between Siebel Systems, the leader in marketing automation, and Paragren, the leader in campaign management. Paragren has a powerful solution for automating the entire marketing process, which will continue to help us grow profitable customer relationships as we expand our services and product offerings in the eBusiness market space."
The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The acquisition will be accounted for as a purchase.
About Paragren Technologies
Headquartered in Reston, Va., Paragren Technologies, Inc. is the leader in Enterprise Relationship Marketing, helping businesses discover, establish and grow profitable customer relationships. By integrating innovative software, customer and market intelligence, and real world expertise, Paragren provides an optimized relationship marketing solution. The One-By-One(R) software suite, enhanced with professional services and unique consumer purchasing data, empowers marketers to execute complex marketing programs -- quickly and easily. Additional information is available at www.paragren.com.
About APAC Customer Services
APAC Customer Services Inc. (Nasdaq:APAC) is a leading provider of comprehensive customer relationship management (CRM) solutions for Fortune 500 and "dot.com" companies in the financial services, telecommunications, retail, insurance, technology, automotive and health care sectors. In December 1999, APAC founded its wholly owned subsidiary, CustomerAssistance.com. This new entity delivers a full suite of electronic CRM (e-CRM) products and services, including e.PAC(SM), a multimedia platform that supports a broad range of integrated, Internet-based customer interaction capabilities.
To help its clients better manage relationships with their customers, APAC develops and delivers end-to-end inbound, outbound and web-enabled, or "e-bound," CRM programs. Through these offerings, APAC offers superior, real-time customer care via the web and traditional call centers. Founded in 1973 and headquartered in Deerfield, Ill., the company employs approximately 18,000 people and has about 60 customer interaction centers across the nation. For more information, call 1-800-OUTSOURCE or visit www.apaccustomerservices.com or www.customerassistance.com.
About Siebel Systems
Siebel Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:SEBL) is the world's leading provider of eBusiness applications software. Siebel Systems provides an integrated family of Web-based sales, marketing and customer service applications that help organizations build and manage relationships with their customers around the world. Siebel eBusiness is designed to meet the needs of small, medium and large businesses. Siebel Systems' sales and service facilities are deployed locally in more than 26 countries. For more information, please visit Siebel's Web site at www.Siebel.com.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risk or uncertainties. The success of the acquisition and future operating results of Siebel Systems may differ from the results discussed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements due to factors that include, but are not limited to, risks associated with acquisition, such as the potential inability to satisfy the closing conditions for the acquisition, potential difficulties in the assimilation of operations, strategies, technologies, methodologies and products of the acquired company, the risk of loss of key personnel of the acquired company, diversion of management attention from other business concerns, business risks including the risk of variations in quarterly operating results, significant current and expected additional competition and the need to continue to expand product distribution and services offerings. Further information on potential factors that could affect the financial results of Siebel Systems are included in Siebel Systems' Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Note to Editors: Siebel is a trademark of Siebel Systems, Inc. and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All other product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners and are mentioned for identification purposes only.
CONTACT:
Siebel Systems, Inc.
Tamara Ireland Stone, 650/295-5455
tstone@siebel.com
or
APAC Customer Services Inc.
Susan Millspaugh, 847/374-1983
Smmillspaugh@apacmail.com
or
Paragren Technologies, Inc.
Tony Agresta, 703/995-1800
tagresta@paragren.com |
