Insight About the Right Customers at the Right Time

Continued

PROFIT: Define the term "consumable" in the context of "consumable CRM."

LYE: Consumable applications have to support a self-registration and self-setup philosophy. There should be little or no data entry. Based on the user's profile, the application should recognize the user's access to insight, internal systems, and external systems. The application should operate around a very specific value proposition and should operate in the same manner as any other consumable application. All of the information should appear personalized and should be delivered in context. Value should be instantaneous, not something that comes over time. The application should also be virally adopted. Through the productivity and usage of the application, the application should spread. It should utilize community and social relationships and have a minimal IT footprint. These are the base principles for a consumable application, which are quite different from the enterprise software principles that we grew up with.

PROFIT: How will Siebel CRM On Demand evolve over the next year to address these principles?

LYE: We're planning to introduce about two releases a year, and I expect the release toward the end of 2007 to incorporate a significant number of these elements in the design and usage of the application. Also, we will offer personal productivity tools that for the first time will focus on the value proposition of a salesperson, a service person, a marketing person—and how to make those people more productive. Our goal is to provide applications that focus on making the salesperson more productive in his or her territory. That value will be compounded as more people use the tool and then allow the person to push the results of that information back into the CRM system, so that not only do the end users become more productive, but they also improve the overall level of visibility that an organization gets from the combination of these two tools.

PROFIT: Why is Oracle developing consumable applications?

LYE: Oracle is recognizing that companies are adopting a transformational or adaptive business strategy and that they want applications that meet those particular requirements. Given its own standing of business value, its application assets, and its ability to leverage middleware, the database, and the service organization, Oracle is in a great position to offer customers a consumable CRM product—one that's very easy to use, easy to set up, and easy to derive value.

Applications Unlimited @ Oracle OpenWorld

With Oracle OpenWorld just around the corner, Profit readers are already making plans for travel to San Francisco. To get a glimpse of this year's hot topics, visit Profit Online for the Oracle OpenWorld Special Report. The agenda for the November 11—15 show will include

Applications Unlimited. Get regular updates about developments to all of Oracle's application product lines.
Getting to Fusion. Practical advice about the steps you need to take to adopt Oracle's next-generation enterprise applications platform.
Oracle Database 11g. Find out how the latest version of Oracle's flagship product will deliver better business performance, management, and results.
Industry insight. Oracle experts know how your business operates. Learn how Oracle's industry investments will improve the results on your shop floor.

Visit oracle.com/profit/features/oow_specialreport.html for an ongoing preview of Oracle OpenWorld.

For More Information

Oracle E-Business Suite 12
Oracle Application Integration Architecture
Siebel CRM On Demand
Oracle Financials Centralized Solution Set
Advisor Webcasts on OracleMetaLink
Oracle WebCenter
Oracle Human Capital Management