Switching from one company to another is perhaps not the biggest news on the block, as they say. After all, it’s something that is done every day.
What is perhaps interesting, however, is that IBM, the owner of Lotus Notes (which itself is being left behind), should also move away from a computer-based system to a cloud or web-based solution.
If this is true, it could spell the downfall of Siebel.
What is IBM moving? Its CRM system, I believe.
For those who are unaware of what CRM means, quite simply it is customer relationship management whereby businesses keep in contact with customers, clients and potential sales contacts. In other words, it’s a database management tool, and traditionally this sort of thing has been done on a computer using computer software.
Siebel, it seems, has not yet realised the value of cloud computing, but IBM has, so it appears to be Siebel’s loss and cloud’s gain.
In a way, I feel sorry for Siebel as apparently it was at the forefront of CRM technology even before the multibillion dollar Oracle got in on the act. However, like so many companies, Siebel doesn’t appear to have kept up-to-date quickly enough with the rapid changes now taking place. When that happens it is bound to lose out; in this case IBM is switching to SugarCRM, which is a web-based customer relationship management system.
Moreover, anyone using Lotus Notes can easily migrate their documents, etc. to SugarCRM.
I have a couple of issues here.
How is Lotus Notes being “left behind?” Can you provide any backup? According to analysts in the link below, IBM wanted something that will integrate with their existing tools, like Lotus Notes.
Also, one of the reasons why IBM chose SugarCRM is because of it’s ability to run on-premise, according to IBM’s Gary Burnette, Vice President of Sales Transformation. The benefit of that would be the “flexibility in where and how we run it.”
Please see the following analysis of IBM’s switch to SugarCRM: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/ibm-clock-runs-out-on-massive-siebel-implementation-enter-sugarcrm/75708
“Moreover, anyone using Lotus Notes can easily migrate their documents, etc. to SugarCRM.”
Perhaps you can easily migrate data from an email system like Exchange/Outlook but how do you migrate the business logic that is built into customised Notes/Domino applications? More than one “migration” away from Notes has plucked the low-hanging fruit of email then ground to a halt when faced with the challenge of duplicating the business applications built inside Notes. The end result is that the company winds up maintaining Notes to run applications as well as paying for another email system.