Siebel re-shaping plans laid bare
Published: 11 Oct 2004 12:10 BST
You mentioned corporate culture. How is that so difficult to change? Siebel's corporate culture is legendary for being very cutthroat and political. Do you think the Larry Ellison school of management -- from which Tom Siebel, Marc Benioff and Craig Conway have all graduated -- is an effective one?
I don't know. I think certain cultures are right for certain times. But I think times change, and when they do, cultures need to change. That was my experience when I worked for IBM. Our culture changed many times based on the requirements of our customers.
What I do think is a mistake is to think that one culture will constantly fit an ever-changing set of market dynamics and customer requirements. You need to be attuned to what customers require and then make sure you're adjusting your strategy, your culture and all the things we talked about to make sure that you can better serve those customers. And those things do change.
How do you think Siebel's corporate culture needs to change?
I think we have to be more focused on the long-term relationship with our customers. I think we have to be balanced between our transaction focus, which is a good focus, and the longer-term solution focus. I think we have to be focused on assuring our customers and our partners that we deliver the business outcome for which our customers are looking. Those are very significant cultural changes.
You're talking about putting a greater emphasis on services. Do you envision a sort of mini-IBM Global Services at Siebel -- a Siebel Global Services, if you will?
No. Siebel is first and foremost a software technology company and will remain a software technology company. But I think services is a very, very important part of the going-forward value proposition, and you have to be willing to invest in that to ensure that your customers are getting the business outcome they're looking for.
I don't think it's a simple as, "Gee, I want a services business" or "I want this" or "I want that." What we want is for customers to be successful and to be able to get a significant return from the investment they've made. That's the mission. Then you work backward, and you say, "OK, if that's what we want, what do we need to deliver that?"
You say that Siebel CRM OnDemand, your subscription software unit, is a top priority for the company. Are there any limitations to that model?
There are limitations to every model. There is not one thing that fits every customer. What is clear is that there is a market for those who want to buy software more as a service -- who do not want to invest in the infrastructure and the skilled people to support that infrastructure.
We think that if we're going to continue to be the leader in this space, we need to offer all those alternatives. I don't believe in sticking with one thing just because that's what you've been doing for 10 years. There's no reason why you can't walk and chew gum at the same time. These are not mutually exclusive.
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