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Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bruce Brown who wrote (50713)	3/13/2002 8:22:22 AM
From: Bruce Brown	Respond to of 54805

Siebel gets gas... ===== By Erika Morphy CRMDaily.com March 12, 2002 Oil and gas companies are moving 'a step beyond the traditional loyalty cards' that stations use today, Charles Karren, Siebel's industry segment lead for oil, gas and chemicals, told CRMDaily. Siebel (Nasdaq: SEBL) unveiled its eOil & Gas software on Monday, as part of the company's ongoing release of industry-specific applications in the Siebel 7 product family. The application addresses current shifts in the global oil and gas industry, Charles Karren, Siebel's industry segment lead for oil, gas and chemicals, told CRMDaily.com. Functions include asset management and field service capabilities and industry-specific marketing functions. "Oil companies want to enhance their customer relationships with retail organizations and their knowledge management capabilities for extraction and production capabilities," Karren said. Ups and Downs The oil and gas industry is segmented into upstream activities, which encompass the actual oil and gas extraction and processing activities, and downstream activities, which include everything in the retail channel, Karren explained. While in the past oil companies primarily have been focused on upstream activities, increasingly, they are honing their CRM strategies in downstream channels. More Than Loyalty Cards "One thing companies have started to look at is how to touch their end customers even more than they have in the past," Karren said. For example, he said, there is an ongoing project between Siebel and Sun, called the eGas station of the future. The idea is to give companies the ability to perform analytic functions on retail transactions at a gas station, which, in turn, could lead to a better understanding of customer behavior and cross-selling opportunities. It is a step beyond the traditional loyalty cards that many gas stations use today, Karren said. The industry, as a whole, has been looking toward the next stage in CRM, because oil and gas companies want to do a better job of reaching the consumer at the retail level, he said. Looking Up For upstream activities, Siebel's new application is designed to help an oil company manage its assets. To that end, the app helps companies track and schedule the use of rigs and other equipment. "A lot of these companies are working all over the world," Karren said. The new application provides greater visibility into tracking what is being used, where and how. It also is helpful in partner relationship management, he added. "Partners can see where opportunities may lie and follow up accordingly." Vertical King (Shouldn't we inform them the word Gorilla is more fitting? - BB) Siebel has become a dominant CRM player through offeringindustry-specific applications, Louis Columbus, senior analyst with AMR Research, told CRMDaily. "Siebel has the methodologies and processes down pat to excel in these vertical markets," he said. crmdaily.com ===== BB