Although the market for CRM systems applications has trended toward smaller, incremental installations, industry leader Siebel Systems Inc. has closed one of its biggest deals ever with massive Hewlett-Packard Co.
San Mateo Calif.-based Siebel announced that its CRM software will become the core system HP uses to link its sales, marketing and call centre operations with its partner network. HP plans to install a total of 16,000 CRM seats, according to a Siebel spokeswoman.
Not only will this give the company a single view of a customer, but it will also eliminate the expense of maintaining the existing hodgepodge of CRM systems, HP said in a statement
“We estimate that the Siebel deployment will return IT savings in the range of tens of millions of dollars,” Mike Overly, vice-president for customer operations of HP’s global operation, said in the statement. “Siebel eBusiness Applications provide an integrated platform enabling HP to drive operational efficiencies, while also making it easier for our customers to do business with us.”
The eBusiness applications will be a key to HP’s CRM efforts to consolidate its direct and indirect sales channels, which include thousands of direct sales representatives, marketing professionals, contact center representatives and hundreds of thousands of partner resellers around the world, according to Overly.
The company has already installed Siebel sales software for its direct sales force.
HP will also be using Siebel Partner Relationship Management to manage its global network of business partners and boost business-planning and joint sales and marketing operations.