Siebel Systems announced Monday that it plans to release at least eight industry solutions for its Siebel CRM OnDemand hosted service.
The first of the industry-specific customer relationship management (CRM) services will be available sometime this summer, when Siebel Systems Inc. plans to release solutions for the insurance, high-tech, automotive and communications/media industries.
In the winter timeframe, likely stretching into 2005, Siebel plans to add hosted CRM services for the financial services, life sciences, manufacturing and consumer products industries.
Each of the industry-specific solutions will support business processes unique to that industry, such as warranty repairs management for the automotive vertical or customer churn for communications or financial services, Siebel officials said.
Siebel has released 23 industry-specific versions of its CRM software over the past six years. If market demand is there, the company will develop just as many industry-specific versions of its hosted CRM service, according to Ken Rudin, vice president and general manager of Siebel CRM OnDemand.
“Were announcing eight now, but were prepared to do all 23. Weve done a lot of work on understanding customer issues in a particular industry,” he said.
/zimages/3/28571.gifClick hereto read more about Siebels efforts to customize its CRM tools.
The eight verticals were chosen because they attracted the most demand from both existing customers and prospects for industry-specific functionality, Rudin said, adding that Siebel also built on its experience with customers who needed such functionality.
The industry-specific versions of Siebel CRM OnDemand would raise the price of the hosted service to $100 per user per month from $70 per user per month for the base service. Rudin said customers can continue to use the base service and customize it to their particular business if they so choose.
“You can customize it—and we intend to add more and more customization flexibility over time,” he said. “This is just so that you dont have to do that. You can take advantage of the industry expertise and best practices weve developed over the past six years.”
Customers who sign a service agreement of up to one year for one of the hosted industry solutions can lock in the $70-a-month price for the length of the contract.
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