Siebel chief celebrating happy marriage

Paul Appleby (left), with Aden Forrest, says Siebel employees are excited by the merger. Picture / Paul Estcourt

Paul Appleby, newly promoted Asia-Pacific head of Siebel Systems, arrived in New Zealand on the end of a gruelling meet-and-greet odyssey through his new domain.

How many cities has he been to in the past four weeks? "That's a good question," Appleby says. "I'd have to sit down and count. Put it this way, every major capital city in every major country across Asia-Pacific."

It's an important time for Appleby to be getting to meet Siebel staff and customers, and not just because he's new to the job.

Customer relationship management (CRM) company Siebel was recently swallowed up by the much larger Oracle, so a long round of reassuring and reaffirming is called for.

Unlike Oracle's acrimonious PeopleSoft takeover in 2004, the Oracle/Siebel tie-up is a happy marriage - and Appleby is eager to reinforce that message.

"The feeling from the troops is very exciting," he says. "It's fair to say when we first heard the news we were shocked. We were running our own race as any organisation does - we had a very strong team, a very strong culture. There was concern as to what may happen.

"I've been surprised as to how warm a welcome we've received from Oracle and how willing Oracle is to learn from those organisations they acquire."

Appleby himself is a poster-boy for the upside of the takeover, having been promoted from Australian-based head of Siebel for the South Pacific to head of Siebel and all Oracle's CRM business for the wider Asia-Pacific region.

He brushes off reports of 2000 redundancies globally as a result of the takeover, saying although there are always "back-office efficiencies" out of such a deal, his job has been to encourage Siebel staff to stay on because Oracle bought the business for its human talent.

"Our guys went from being concerned to being surprised to being excited. We're at the point now where we have the opportunity to do all of the things we couldn't do before as a far smaller company."

Ironically, in his previous South Pacific role, one of Appleby's initiatives was to expand Siebel's New Zealand presence by opening an Auckland office.

New Zealand country manager Aden Forrest started work five weeks before the takeover was announced.

After an initial period of uncertainty, Forrest now finds himself working out of Oracle's Auckland office as head of the merged businesses' CRM operation.

In the midst of the upheaval late last year, Siebel scored a lucrative and high-profile New Zealand contract, the overhaul of Inland Revenue's CRM systems. Other key Siebel clients here include Vodafone and Vector.

Appleby says although CRM may have got a drubbing in the 1990s as an ineffective, technology-based solution to a human problem, it is back today, better than ever.

The Inland Revenue project is about using CRM to help build a more efficient customer interface through its technology, offering better service and making the organisation easier to deal with.

"It's a great example of an organisation that's truly transforming."


PAUL APPLEBY

* Who: Vice-president of customer relationship management, Siebel Asia Pacific.

* Favourite gadget: Siebel's in-house deployment of its own eBiz product. "I can monitor exactly where our business is at anywhere around the world. It's Siebel eating its own cooking."

* Next big thing: Better business analytics tools.

* Alternative career: "I like to get in and effect change. I like to be in a fast-growing and dynamic industry. I'm actually where I want to be."

* Spare time: Spending time with family, surfing and skiing.

* Favourite sci-fi movie: 2010.