Analysts Take Dim View of Siebel's Silence

Fair disclosure regulations would not prohibit Siebel, or any executive, from talking about financial issues or their business pipeline on a conference call. In fact, such calls have become the most common way for companies to comply with Reg FD and avoid "selective disclosures." Notably, Reg FD concerns didn't stop Siebel executives from talking up initiatives such as CRM OnDemand and their relatively new analytics business.

"That [CRM OnDemand] has exceeded our expectations in every respect," Siebel said, though he declined to give specifics, such as how many beta customers are using the product.

CRM OnDemand, or CRM software available via the Internet at a lower cost than Siebel's other products, will be generally available next week. Siebel also said integration of the recently acquired hosted CRM company Upshot also is complete. The company plans to continue to support Upshot products indefinitely, but plans to merge its code base with Siebel's OnDemand offering.

Siebel's stepped-up effort in the hosted CRM space marks the company's second attempt to gain a toehold in the market, which primarily targets midmarket companies and divisions. Siebel is taking on rivals such as privately held Salesforce.com, and midmarket public players such as Onyx Software(ONXS Quote - Cramer on ONXS - Stock Picks) and Pivotal(PVTL Quote - Cramer on PVTL - Stock Picks) in a relatively fragmented market.

Siebel cited a handful of metrics to back up the strong interest. He said 50,000 visitors have looked at a joint Web site on the product built by Siebel and partner IBM (IBM Quote - Cramer on IBM - Stock Picks), and said the company has more than 11,000 leads. Siebel said BT Group's (BTY Quote - Cramer on BTY - Stock Picks) British Telecom unit would sell hosted CRM in the U.K.

However, JMP Securities analyst Pat Walravens noted after the call that CRM OnDemand is unlikely to be a savior for Siebel's declining revenue because sales from the service will have to be recognized over the lifetime of contracts, rather than upfront, like other Siebel sales.

« Previous Page

1 2 3

Next Page »