Oracle's 90-day challenge to manage net customers

By ADAM GIFFORD

Oracle has packaged its customer relationship management (CRM) software into a fixed-price "CRM in 90 Days" offering.

CRM is seen as a growth area by many vendors, as firms try to automate the many ways they interact with customers.

Jeremy Burton, Oracle's senior vice-president for worldwide marketing, says the company's target is the number one CRM manufacturer, Siebel.

He said that while Siebel and other CRM vendors could offer only a 360-degree view of the customer by incorporating products from other vendors, Oracle could do it all with its own technology.

But, given Oracle's flair for marketing, it's worth reading the small print. There are restrictions on the nature and amount of data to be converted under the CRM in 90 Days offer - and no integration with existing legacy systems.

Mr Burton said the internet had allowed companies to consolidate data and systems.

Oracle has done so itself as part of what it trumpets as a $US1 billion reduction in operating costs. Another way to cut costs, said Mr Burton, was to buy integrated suites of software rather than try to stitch together "best of breed" components.

He predicts that within a few years the enterprise software industry will be down to three or four suite vendors.

Oracle is touting the concept of "business flows." Rather than seeing software as a series of discrete products, the overall business process is mapped within the suite.

CRM in 90 Days has a choice of nine such business flows, including Plan to Campaign, aimed at marketing departments; Click to Order, for selling online; and Call to Order, for call centres.

So what does Oracle provide for between $US150,000 and $395,000?

Well, it hosts the solution - at least during the implementation phase - delivers it over the internet, and controls the environment, including the hardware. The hardware itself is Sun or Hewlett-Packard servers and Oracle 8i databases, which must be bought new.

Oracle also insists customers stick with its package.

Mr Burton said that because applications did not fit businesses out of the box, companies could spend years and millions of dollars changing them.

"That will change. Instead of modifying application code, business will modify business processes."

The processes embedded in the Oracle applications include expense reporting, taking orders and processing invoices.

The deal does not include data conversion.

Oracle New Zealand expects the package to be available here in three months, or so, but cannot say where it will be hosted.

Oracle has been relatively unsuccessful selling CRM here, only three customers buying elements, two of them being Telecom and New Zealand Dairy Group web portal RD1.

CRM specialist John Devine's company, Sales Technologies, sells and installs the competing Vantive product, owned by Peoplesoft.

He said the 10 to 15 per cent of a business which could not be done by software out of the box "is the bit that makes all the bloody difference."

Mr Devine said New Zealand businesses "are becoming more conscious that CRM is about processes, not just software."