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

To: Lee L. who wrote (1015)	12/20/1997 7:00:00 PM
From: Clam Clam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6974

Thanks for joining in. When you discuss your #3, "opportunity management," I believe you are referring more to Siebel 98 than past versions of Siebel Sales Enterprise. I am no expert but I do see value in a product configurator when selling products where the degree of interoperability of mixing and matching components can be complex and order accuracy highly variant. This can potentially speed up the sales cycle and improve customer satisfaction. The 'marketing encyclopeia' (Siebel calls it marketing enterprise) seems like a must-have item for those selling highly competitive products where analyzing marketing trends is crucial. The 'proposal generator' idea looks interesting as well although I am very skeptical here on ROI. There are other cute features as well to Siebel '98 but the value-add really trails off dramatically after these, IMVHO. All in all, Siebel IS figuring out ways to add value but other than a few very important features, Sales Force Automation is really more about attacking reporting laziness by salesmen than about quantifiable ROI. You touched on something interesting and that is the 'order fulfillment' part of the business. This is after you do your homework by 1) creating the best proposal by utilizing the 'marketing enterprise,' 2) make your pitch to the customer and understand what they need and then using the 'product configurator' to deliver what they are asking for and 3) then use the 'proposal generator' to formally put together and present what you will be delivering and the cost of the desired sale. Once this is done, the order needs to be scheduled for delivery and fulfilled and this is where it basically becomes an operational planning issue and where the salesman is no longer focused. Now we are into inventory managment and supply-chain constraints and delivery scheduling. In manufacturing companies, efficiencies here can save hundreds of million (if not potentially billions) of dollars in working capital. This is where ROI is more easily calculated and this is where extremely demanding software (complex algorithms) is needed. This is not Siebel however. Relative to this kind of software and especially when looking at quantifiable ROI; customer service software like proposal generators and marketing encyclopedias looks a little overhyped. Don't get me wrong, I am bullish on SEBL's business but I am cautious on the hype surrounding it.