E.piphany Builds New CRM App Around J2EE

San Mateo-based E.piphany's new E.6 CRM system integrates the software vendor's analytics, marketing, sales and service applications on a common J2EE-based platform, said Phil Fernandez, executive vice president of products at E.piphany.

The bulk of the E.6 suite is due to ship later this month, Fernandez said. E.6 will sport a "third-generation" Web user interface that offers drag-and-drop control, and the product eventually will include support for Microsoft's .Net Web services platform, he added.

"We did a pretty good job of unifying the interface with E.5, but E.6 brings along the back-end unification on J2EE and provides a suite of designer tools to help configure applications around best-practice processes, verticals and business rules," said Roger Siboni, E.piphany president and CEO.

Also new in E.6 is Dialog, a feature that gives call centers realtime access to customer data entered via the Web or telephone, or in a company store or office.

"It's multichannel. So if a customer starts to fill out an online survey and only completes [numbers 1 through 5 and then calls the support center, the call center person will see that and not have to repeat those five questions," said Kyle Prendergast, marketing director at Interelate, an Eden Prairie, Minn.-based integrator.

E.piphany's embrace of J2EE and planned support of .Net will make its products better-suited for Web services, company executives said. "We're designed to plug and play [with other applications," Fernandez said.

E.6 goes a long way in melding technologies that E.piphany has acquired, solution providers and industry analysts said. Over the past two years, the company has purchased RightPoint, Octane Software and Moss Software.

"Let's face it. They've bought a lot of stuff. This [E.6 provides a unifying architecture," said Neal Levin, managing director of KPMG Consulting, Chicago.

Despite a stream of reports about customers unhappy with CRM implementations, software vendors have continued to churn out new products.

Last week, PeopleSoft unveiled Peoplesoft CRM 8.4, which supports mobile computers running Windows CE and in the future may support handhelds, said Stan Swete, vice president and general manager of PeopleSoft CRM. Similarly, Siebel Systems last week announced Siebel 7 Mobile Solutions, a suite of enhanced mobile applications for its CRM software.

Microsoft also plans to enter the CRM field later this year with its own product, dubbed MS CRM.