Siebel CRM-Hosting App May Debut Soon

An analyst for JMP Securities yesterday said a long-rumored hosted customer-relationship-management offering from Siebel Systems Inc. should be launched by the end of the year.

In a note published Monday, analyst Patrick Walravens says the offering will be called Siebel OnDemand, and will be headed up by Ken Rudin, VP and general manager of Siebel's sales product line. Rudin was formerly a senior VP of products at Salesforce.com, a vendor of hosted CRM solutions.

Walravens writes that the introduction of OnDemand "is a response to Salesforce.com and pricing pressures Salesforce.com is reportedly doing $19 million in annual revenue a quarter using a subscription model (and) OnDemand and Siebel CRM products will provide lower price point offerings for Siebel customers and prospects," he wrote.

Walravens also wrote that he expects Siebel to repackage its midmarket product line as Siebel CRM, and continue to address the high-end market with Siebel Enterprise, its traditional application. Siebel didn't respond to information requests as of this writing.

Separately, Siebel announced new corporate governance initiatives, including creating and disclosing more specific criteria for the selection of future directors; ensuring that the compensation committee of the board of directors is comprised solely of independent directors; limiting the compensation of directors to a pre-set level that has been disclosed in advance to shareholders; providing advance disclosure of the date on which directors will receive stock options; and providing shareholders with more specific criteria used by the compensation committee in determining compensation awards to executives, directors, and employees.

The initiatives were announced as the vendor settled a lawsuit brought by the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana. "We're enormously pleased that Siebel Systems and its board understand the paramount importance of corporate governance as a means of protecting shareholder interests," said Tommy Reeves, general counsel of the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana, in a statement. "The new governance protocols represent changes that we believe should serve as a model for other companies."