As part of the agreement, Palm has become one of Siebel's Strategic Platform Partners in the Siebel Alliance Program, said Laurie Wood, Palm's director of enterprise business development. The two companies now plan to jointly market and sell mobile CRM and ERP solutions, she said.

Solution providers will be included in the new partnership, she added.

Since enterprise customers are looking more than ever for a single purchase order, Wood said Palm wants to be able to work in partnership with Siebel and integrators to roll out one complete solution. In the future, Palm officials are expecting to extend this same model with other ISVs, she added.

"Our strategy is to work with application providers and systems integrators to offer Palm enterprise products for customers that want a single-source solution," she said.

Bob Beach, vice president of solutions for Inforte's Technology Business Unit, Chicago, said Palm's single-source strategy will work well for new customers but might be challenging for existing customers.

"There are some customers that want more of a choice about which integrator they'll use," he said. "But it's great for new customers that haven't purchased anything."

To help enhance the single-source model, Palm also is working to integrate its enterprise support services, known as the Palm Enterprise Escalation Support, into the program. The services provide 24x7 technical support with hardware replacement and full-service and self-service training to any enterprise that buys through one of Palm's channel partners.

Wood said Palm and Siebel will dedicate funds "to create a go-to-market strategy," although she declined to provide a specific dollar amount. Solution providers could benefit from the spending as well, she said.

"It's not out of the question we could put together some SPIFs or financial compensation," she said.

Palm has been criticized in the past for maintaining a weak enterprise strategy. Wood countered that Palm has always been interested in the enterprise but just hasn't communicated it well.

"Palm in the enterprise is one of the best kept secrets," she said. In addition to strengthening ties with large ISVs, Palm will continue to improve its PIM functionality as well as enhance the server-side capabilities of the Palm operating system, Wood said.

Palm and Siebel have been working together for years. Palm previously held a Premeire status in Seibel's partner program. And in October, Siebel released Siebel Sales Handheld 7 for Palm OS as part of its new software Siebel 7.

Also as part of the new agreement, Palm and Siebel each agreed to roll out each company's respective technology. Wood said Siebel's IT department will begin purchasing and supporting Palm handhelds throughout the company, while Palm, an existing Siebel customer, will expand its use of Siebel products, particularly in the mobile space.