The Establishment of CRM
When thinking back about a week, I have just thought of something really cool that I would like to share with my fellow bloggers. It is not really my opinion of anything, but it is a case that my classmates and I had to do a report on for our marketing class. The reason I want to share it is because the entire case has to do with IT and Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
The case is about a company called Siebel Systems. Siebel Systems was formed in 1993, and it is software used for CRM. By 2000, Siebel had reached 2 billion in revenues. This was amazing. Because if you think back that was a long time ago, and 7 years is not that long to get your company out there and make that type of money. Siebel Systems differentiated themselves from other new CRM companies by setting their company up as one that would endure over time, due to the fact that it was based on traditional values and a commitment to making its’ customers happy.
The case goes on and on about CRM and how Siebel became the world leader in it’s’ software, and had over 50% of the market share. What trumps Siebel, is when they try and break into the Employee Relationship Management (ERM) software. Here, Siebel was faced with a few options of joining with another company, or simply picking a company at a few fairs to invest in and buy. At that point, the talk about IS and IT kind of vanishes in the case and takes a path more towards finance and marketing. So what I would like to talk about is how Siebel Systems was founded. This was in the breakthrough of the internet in the early 1990’s, and Siebel still is the one of the leading companies in the CRM market.
When Siebel was founded in 1993, by Tom Siebel, he said that he was pursuing a market opportunity that he had thought about for a long time. Also, a market that in fact, had to happen. Tom Siebel was exactly right. At the time, their were 400 vendors competing in the emerging sales force automation space, but no one really offered much when it came to electronic contact management. So Siebel knew they had to get into that market, and went to other successful companies for help. They found potential customers, such as Cisco, Sun, Clorox, etc… and simply asked them if there was a way to apply IT to sales and Marketing. These companies were very interested, and got involved in forming the product. Years later, CRM technology was a strong market, and Siebel was the market leader. The case goes on about it partnerships and money. But one aspect of it that really amazed me was the fact that Siebel Systems was used at the CEO level, on a daily basis. This just shows you how important their product is.
I really wanted to give a brief overview of this case, like I have, because it was so related to what we have been learning in MIDS class. It is not very often that I get to do a report on a case that has so much to do with IT. What really amazed me about this case, is how internet used companies just took off like Siebel Systems did. It is just more proof that we really do depend on IT and the internet to do business today. Without it, who knows where we would be. Siebel Systems knew that the world would one day depend on it, and they were right. Now, every one that had to do with that company is extremely wealthy.
Comments