Oracle outlines CRM strategy

By Warwick Ashford, ITWeb London correspondent

Johannesburg, 26 Sept 2005

It`s to be business as usual until Oracle`s proposed deal to acquire Siebel Systems closes, but Oracle has already begun outlining plans for future customer relationship management (CRM) offerings.

Although Oracle has promised continued support for current CRM offerings from Oracle, PeopleSoft and Siebel, the company plans to fuse the best intellectual property from all three as part of its long-term strategy.

"We are going to make use of all the key features, functions and capabilities of Oracle, PeopleSoft and Siebel CRM for our future fusion suite," Barbry McGann, Oracle CRM applications strategy VP, told journalists at last week`s Oracle Open World in San Francisco.

McGann said a key part of Oracle`s future CRM strategy would be to exploit Siebel`s expertise and experience in the CRM industry, particularly in analytics and verticals like financial services, communications and the public sector.

According to McGann, there would be immediate benefits too. "Existing Oracle and PeopleSoft customers will be able to share CRM experiences in a much broader community, which is going to be helpful right away," she said.

Asked to characterise the future of Oracle CRM, McGann said it would evolve around three major areas: greater business insight, flexible industry business processes and solutions, and superior ownership experience.