Oracle, PeopleSoft and Siebel have updated their software in
readiness for Microsoft's launch in 2003.
Oracle is bolstering its CRM wares with a proposal-generation
product and the Oracle Daily Business Intelligence, a
portal-delivered function built into Oracle's applications and
designed to provide better access to information.
Oracle Proposals allows users to build and tailor proposals for
specific customers or prospective customers. The standalone
product, which will be available either separately or as part of
Oracle's E-Business Suite, also hooks into the company's quote
module.
"Our focus has shifted from the feature-function war to a business
flow approach," said John Wookey, senior vice-president of
applications at Oracle.
To that end, Oracle's Daily Business Intelligence is designed to
tie together a variety of systems, including financials, payroll,
CRM, ERP HR, supply chain and inventory to provide employees with
up-to-date access to the information residing in all the
systems.
"HR data alone is interesting. But HR data connected to financial
information connected to manufacturing information, and getting
that in front of the right people, is extremely powerful," said
Joel Summers, senior vice-president of HRMS at Oracle.
Oracle plans to unveil both capabilities at its Oracle AppsWorld
show in January.
Rival vendor PeopleSoft has launched PeopleSoft CRM 8.8, with a
focus on easing implementation, use and business processes. The
company has also introduced three vertical solutions with CRM 8.8,
for high-tech, insurance and energy companies.
Meanwhile, Siebel Systems has teamed up with Comshare to bring
budgeting and planning capabilities to its employee relationship
management (ERM) suite.
The major CRM players are now gearing themselves up for Microsoft's
entry into the market. The software giant will release its CRM
suite by the end of the year, according to Holly Holt, senior
product manager for MSCRM at Microsoft.
"The goal is to get it out of the door before the holidays. We
should be at RTM before the end of December," Holt said, adding
that if there were setbacks, Microsoft would ship late rather than
put out a product with known problems.
Analysts predict the MSCRM suite will make a significant impact on
the market. "Microsoft will change the landscape for CRM packages,"
said Karen Smith, a research director at Aberdeen Group.
But Smith and other analysts do not expect Microsoft to dominate
CRM in the near future, nor do they anticipate that many customers
will migrate from other vendors to Microsoft.
"It's not as easy to get people off the systems they're on as some
might think," said Giga analyst Erin Kinikin.