BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : FEBRUARY 21, 2000 ISSUE
SPECIAL REPORT The Davids and Goliaths of Customer Software Square Off The Goliaths SIEBEL SYSTEMS INC. MARKET CAP: $19.4 billion. REVENUES IN THE MOST RECENT QUARTER: $268 million, up 109%. NET INCOME: $45 million, up 127%. WHAT THEY SELL: Software for managing field sales; telesales and marketing departments in large corporations. STRATEGY: To beef up offerings for Web site sales and service and to provide companies with a single view of their customers on computer screens no matter how they buy--on the Web, or off. COMPETITIVE POSITION: The leader in the traditional corporate customer relationship management market, it's becoming a force to reckon with in e-business, too. ORACLE CORP. MARKET CAP: $170.3 billion. REVENUES IN THE MOST RECENT QUARTER: $2.32 billion, up 13%. Customer relationship software sales totaled $49 million, up 300%. NET INCOME: $384 million, up 40%. WHAT THEY SELL: Products for customer relationship management and e-commerce are relatively recent add-ons for a company whose core products are databases. STRATEGY: To offer large organizations one-stop-shopping for their key pieces of software that can be integrated with one another. COMPETITIVE POSITION: Oracle's databases power the top 10 consumer e-commerce sites, so it's in a strong spot to hawk software for Web sales and online service. NORTEL NETWORKS CORP. MARKET CAP: $161.6 billion. REVENUES IN THE MOST RECENT QUARTER: $6.99 billion, up 21%. NET INCOME: $755 million, up 53%. WHAT THEY SELL: Telecommunications gear, and, because of a pending $2.1 billion acquisition of Clarify, a suite of customer management software. Clarify revenues were $71.6 last quarter. STRATEGY: To combine the Clarify products with its software for call-center routing. COMPETITIVE POSITION: Clarify is the strongest of Siebel's traditional competitors. If the potential synergies with Nortel pay off, it could dominate the call-center software business--and be a strong contender in other markets. The Davids VIGNETTE CORP. MARKET CAP: $11.14 billion. REVENUES IN THE MOST RECENT QUARTER: $40.9 million, up 512%. NET LOSS: $5.6 million compared to $9.2 million a year earlier. WHAT THEY SELL: Software for managing all kinds of Web site information, from stock tickers to product catalogs. E-marketing will be available midyear. STRATEGY: To broaden from its traditional information-management niche into personalizing e-commerce--studying what people look at on a site and pitching them products that fit their interests. COMPETITIVE POSITION: The company established a rock-solid reputation by powering high-volume Web sites like CNET. Now it's becoming a major player in e-commerce--though BroadVision Corp. is still the segment leader. KANA COMMUNICATIONS INC. MARKET CAP: $6.94 billion. REVENUES IN THE MOST RECENT QUARTER: $6.5 million, up 650%. NET LOSS: $90.6 million, due to acquisition expenses. WHAT THEY SELL: Software to manage e-mail-based customer service and marketing campaigns. STRATEGY: To fill out its product offerings through stock-based acquisitions like its purchases last December of Net Dialog Inc. and Business Evolution Inc. Target: Customer analysis software for Web sites. COMPETITIVE POSITION: Kana leads its segment thanks to dot-com accounts like eBay and Lycos. It needs to win in corporate markets to stop giants like Siebel from encroaching on its business. E.PIPHANY INC. MARKET CAP: $4.14 billion REVENUES IN THE MOST RECENT QUARTER: $8.7 million, up 521% NET LOSS: $6.3 million WHAT THEY SELL: Software for analyzing customer information and launching marketing campaigns on the Web. STRATEGY: To create partnerships with e-commerce leaders like BroadVision and Art Technology Group--fitting in with their array of Web site sales software to offer corporations a full package of software. COMPETITIVE POSITION: Ultimately, the kind of software it makes will be an essential part of every Web site, and most e-commerce software companies will offer it. E.piphany has to get big fast, or sell out. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS An Eagle Eye on Customers TABLE: The Davids and Goliaths of Customer Software Square Off TABLE: A Guide to Customer Management Software How Marriott Never Forgets a Guest Salesforce.com: An Ant at the Picnic INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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