Oracle has released a new version of the former Siebel
hosted CRM product as Oracle CRM On Demand, as it integrates Siebel
into its enterprise software strategy.
The software offers more customisation and better support for
sales and service processes than earlier versions, Oracle said.
Custom objects enable users to customise their customer
relationship management, and custom tabs allow information and
screens from other web-based applications to be used within CRM On
Demand. The product also gives more control in defining log-on
policies, Oracle said.
The company has developed versions tailored to life sciences and
financial services. Contact Interests and Advanced Team
Collaboration in Financial Services Edition has been added to help
financial advisers manage relationships with their clients.
Oracle has also extended its vertical sector focus across its
non-hosted software.
Ronan Miles, chairman of the UK Oracle User Group, said
traditionally Oracle had been strong in financial services.
Following the acquisition last year of Retek, the company extended
its retail portfolio. Last week, it announced a suite of products
designed to target users in telecoms.
Miles said, "Oracle is putting considerable emphasis on
verticals. At the same time, it is being a generalist software
provider."
Hacking attack
A hacking attack which takes advantage of a newly reported
security hole in the Oracle 10g database has been posted on the
Bugtraq security mailing list. The exploit comes just days after
Oracle issued its April batch of patches, which contains a fix for
the problem.