Siebel Systems Inc and Ariba Inc have entered into a partnership whereby Siebel will pass on its supplier customers to Ariba in return for Ariba giving those customers more detailed information about buyers to help them improve customer service and boost sales. The partnership, which isn’t a financial deal between the two, is designed to give Ariba more users for its collaborative on-line marketplace while feeding Siebel’s customers (suppliers) with better information about potential buyers for their products.

Under the deal, the next version of Siebel’s CRM suite, in particular the eSales application, will come equipped with a feature which lets those suppliers sign up to be part of Ariba’s Network platform marketplace. If users agree, Siebel will pass those details on to Ariba who will automatically place that supplier in the marketplace for no additional fee. In addition, Siebel said it will use the cXML standard to integrate its front office applications with Ariba’s e-commerce marketplace.

The way Ariba’s marketplace works in by giving users a desktop application, called Ariba ORMS, to enable them to link with their suppliers and partners to purchase operational (ie, not manufacturing) goods over the internet. Because Ariba ORMS sits on individuals’ desktops, Ariba knows specifically who’s doing what purchasing and when; information that would be valuable to Siebel, who typically only knows a purchaser to be an IT manager or a purchasing executive.

Today, the purchasing process is complete once the buyer receives the ordered products. But according to Dave Wilt, a spokesperson for Ariba, a wealth of customer information – including purchase history, product and vendor preferences, and buying patterns – is lost from the process as soon as the transaction is complete. From the buyers’ standpoint, specific information that could lower costs and increase productivity, for example targeted product information based on purchasing history, is not available. If captured, however, the information could be used to help suppliers better serve their customers in every subsequent interaction, while providing a more efficient buying process.

As a result of the integration of Siebel’s CRM applications and the Ariba marketplace organizations can access the Ariba internet catalog and link to the supplier’s web site to search for, configure and select products using Siebel eSales. That application then transfers the selected products and services into the Ariba user’s electronic purchase requisition via cXML data feeds, which the Ariba application routes for approval according to the buying organization’s business rules.

Once a customer places an order with a supplier, all of the specific information associated with that individual customer will be automatically captured in Siebel’s CRM applications and instantly shared across Siebel Systems’ sales, marketing and customer service information systems.

This enables the suppliers’ sales professionals to automatically cross-sell related products, allows marketing professionals to create personalized campaigns to alert customers to promotions and special offers, and ensures that the customer service department is offering service packages directly related to each purchase. Also, the suppliers can fully recognize customers every time they interact with them, regardless of the channel they choose, via the call center, through the field or the internet.

According Wilt, Ariba has 14 of the Fortune 100 already using its application software, so the potential for user data for Siebel customers is enormous. But the technology is available yet. Wilt said Siebel and Ariba were currently working together on integration and that announcements would be made in the first quarter of 2000. á