Siebel Systems has become a $1.8 billion software empire behind such powerful CRM products as eService. Based on the increasingly popular concept of Web services, Siebel's product is not so much a set of software tools as it is a Web-service solution that connects users to various CRM services via the Internet. Customers are given a range of 24/7 services designed to be quickly implemented and configured for specific solutions.
Siebel eService features a personalized portal service, which lets clients customize prebuilt portals for access to service requests, orders and product information; a Q&A service called Intelligent Online Expert; and Service Request Management, which lets customers submit service requests, as well as track and update those requests, while attaching images and documents to them.
eService also offers an asset-management service, customer-satisfaction surveys and wireless access. The asset-management component can help customers manage purchased products or services through their life cycles. Customers can also track warranty agreements, recommendations on scheduled service and service requests for asset return, exchange or repair.
Analyst firms have identified
eService as a key component of Siebel's mighty CRM suite. "By deploying Web-service applications, such as Siebel eService, that integrate with other customer touch-points, organizations can significantly improve customer satisfaction and extend customer-service availability," writes Yankee Group analyst Sheryl Kingstone.
Clients, including Dow Chemical and Digital River, can vouch for that. By combining the emerging field of Web services and the growing CRM application market,predicted to reach $24 billion by 2003, according to Aberdeen Research,Siebel has earned another victory and continued its dominance of CRM software.
