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Technology Stocks : Vantive Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Roger A. Babb who wrote (2128)	6/30/1998 8:21:00 AM
From: Amsterdam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3033

Roger, I wouldn't be shorting Sebl right now as they're going to have a very strong Q2. I think there may be a short in the future (Q3 or Q4) related to problems with the Scopus acquisition, as I've yet to see an acquisition of that type proceed without a missed quarter or two. But on the SFA side, Sebl just keeps barreling away. The problem with Vntv is implicit in your question, that is people keep comparing them to Sebl when in reality Vntv's core business is still customer support and Sebl's is sales force automation. The confusion can be blamed on Vntv management for misguided positioning. Vntv is the leader in customer support and is stretching out their lead internationally, but the market isn't quite as hot as SFA is right now. I think it made good sense for Vntv to get into SFA to capture some of that market and compliment their growth from customer support, but they've gone way too far with the comparisons. They aren't a leader in SFA and may not be for a long time. They are a leader in customer support and should make sure they dominate. In the instances where a suite of products is required, then Vntv can compete head-to-head with Sebl.