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Technology Stocks : Siebel Systems (SEBL) - strong buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mtnlady who wrote (3507)	5/1/2000 6:53:00 PM
From: Hardly B. Solipsist	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6974

I agree that SAP has problems, but didn't your message start out talking about a rumor and then assume it by the end? I'm not arguing, just trying to follow the train of thought.

To: mtnlady who wrote (3507)	5/16/2000 3:47:00 PM
From: Beltropolis Boy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6974

>Rumors have SAP and Clarify partnering up. nice "call," mountain miss. care to share your source? fwiw, i've culled the referenced Forrester piece below too. ----- Mountain Lady Unimpressed With SAP-Clarify Deal techweb.com ----- The Forrester Brief SAP Partners With Clarify: Too Little, Too Late May 3, 2000 by: Bob Chatham with Laurie M. Orlov SAP tacitly acknowledged its failure to deliver a timely CRM solution by announcing plans for a deep relationship with Nortel's Clarify business unit. It's a first step in the right direction, but firms shouldn't alter their plans based on this press release. In an announcement long on promises but short on commitment details, SAP America President Chris Larsen and Nortel/Clarify President Tony Zingale announced that SAP will resell Nortel/Clarify's CRM suite. The two software firms declared their intention to build something "beyond a marketing relationship" by offering a preintegrated solution to SAP customers. Execs claim that this partnership will threaten Siebel's CRM lead position, but the announcement won't impact the market because: * Preintegration is wasted on large firms. CRM apps are notorious for their customization and integration requirements, which will nullify the benefits of a preintegrated offering. Although SAP now has a viable CRM story for those customers who deferred a CRM decision while waiting for SAP to deliver, preintegration will not be the deciding factor for those wavering between a Siebel/SAP or Clarify/SAP combination. * SAP is hedging its bets, which weakens the commitment. While the announcement emphasized the breadth and depth of the planned relationship, SAP America Vice President of CRM George D'Auteuil stated in a prebriefing call that SAP would not abandon its internal CRM development efforts -- which will leave users puzzled as to what SAP's long-term strategy will be. * Any perceived drag on Siebel's leadership is wishful thinking. Tom Siebel was being charitable when he suggested recently that the SAP/Clarify plans would lengthen his selling cycles. As Siebel's independent competition has thinned -- when PeopleSoft bought Vantive and Nortel acquired Clarify -- its revenues and earnings are double last year's. The SAP/Clarify partnership blurs Clarify's message to non-SAP back-office customers, making Siebel's continued independence from any one ERP vendor more compelling than ever.