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

To: Boplicity who wrote (3828)	8/23/2000 8:10:58 PM
From: Boplicity	Respond to of 6974

Siebel Shares Fall on Concern Over Oracle Competition San Mateo, California, Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Siebel Systems Inc. shares fell after an analyst said Oracle Corp. will offer its customers some free Internet-based sales-management software, potentially undermining Siebel's business. Siebel fell 5, or 2.9 percent, to 167 after declining as low as 156. The stock has risen more than fivefold in the past year. Oracle, the largest database-software maker, said it will offer the online sales-force automation service next week to lure clients to buy its full package of customer relationship- management software. Siebel, run by Oracle's former top salesman, Tom Siebel, is the No. 1 maker of such software, which helps companies track sales and develop leads. ``Not only could this potentially impact competitors (such as Siebel), but more importantly, it may provide the hook to get customers on the reel for many more follow-on products and services,'' Lehman Brothers analyst Neil J. Herman wrote after a private dinner with Mark Barrenechea, senior vice president for Oracle's customer relationship-management, or CRM, products. Barrenechea said Oracle's new SalesOnline.com will target companies with 50 to 400 users. He said the company has been offering the service for about two months and will officially launch the Web site with 400 users, including Bank One Corp., Veritas Software Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. on Monday. Oracle's Plans The product that Oracle plans to offer for free on the Internet works with the company's software that helps businesses keep track of sales leads, customer records, product prices and inventory. Making one part of the product free could boost sales of the related software, Herman said. ``We're doing this to create more pull for the rest of our suite,'' said Barrenechea. Herman reiterated his ``buy'' rating on Redwood Shores, California-based Oracle. Oracle shares fell 11/16 to 82 7/8. They've more than quadrupled in the past year. ``Oracle is giving away the first dose for free and then charging once you're addicted to the results,'' Herman wrote. Some analysts said Oracle's new product won't significantly harm Siebel's market share because the software probably won't be as good as Siebel's. ``I don't consider it a real threat to Siebel right now,'' said Prudential Volpe Technology Group analyst Steve Abrahamson, who rates Siebel a ``strong buy.'' He said Siebel has more and better products than Oracle or other rivals. ``What Oracle's offering is a low-end, online, hosted sales- force automation application,'' Abrahamson said. No Worries Siebel Chairman and Chief Executive Tom Siebel said he isn't worried about the extra competition. ``Oracle has been offering their entire suite of enterprise CRM solutions to the marketplace for free for the past two years,'' said Siebel. ``They can't get anybody to take it. It's arguably been the largest failure in the history of the applications software industry,'' he said. Siebel's software offers sales automation, customer service and a call center that Oracle can't match, Siebel said. ``If that's Tom's position, I hope he believes it,'' said Barrenechea. ``A typical Siebel implementation of 100 users will cost you $500,000 to $600,000 and take you many, many months. We will compete with better functionality and it will be free.'' Greg