Siebel Adds E-Selling Application

Seeking to capitalize on the growing importance of customer dialogue as part of Web sites business strategies, Siebel Systems Inc. this week will roll out a sell-side e-commerce product called Siebel Interactive Selling Suite.

The software suite gives Siebel, of San Mateo, Calif., a play in assisted or suggestive selling engines—Web applications that deliver product recommendations to customers based on information that customers supply.

The suite combines the new eAdvisor, which is a needs analysis and recommendation engine, with an enhanced version of eConfigurator, which allows Web sites to customize the information they present to customers. ISS also includes ePricer, for pricing, and eSales, for catalog, shopping cart and order management.

The suite, available now, is targeted at business-to-business sites, with some consumer play as well. Pricing starts at $150,000 per 40 concurrent users.

Lest companies that rely on channel partners feel left out, Siebel last week announced a partnership with OnDemand Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., to deliver managed partner relationship management services to companies.

The managed services, which are a new offering from OnDemand called Partner Accelerator, integrate with Siebels partner relationship module, eChannel. They include partner profiling, market development funds management, partnership relationship management program definition, lead management and portal adoption services. Also part of the offering are channel productivity services such as certification and training, publishing, and partner recruitment. The goal is to drive more sales through the channel at a lower cost, officials said.

Pricing for OnDemand Partner Accelerator, available now, starts at $12,000 per month, in addition to startup costs of about $40,000.