Siebel Systems is looking to crank up the tepid market for its business-automation software in Hong Kong following the launch of its CRM OnDemand service this week.
Through an alliance with IBM, Siebel is lowering the cost of deploying customer relationship management (CRM) programs that help enterprises unify, track and manage customer data and processes across their sales, marketing and services departments.
That cost has been whittled down to $650 a month for each user in an enterprise, large or small, under the pay-as-you-go business model. Siebel is also offering a free 30-day trial.
There is no software for companies to install or hardware to buy because the Siebel service is hosted on IBM's data centres.
'As the global CRM market leader, Siebel Systems has been working with IBM since 1999 to deliver CRM solutions that help organisations around the world increase profitability while delivering the highest levels of customer service and support,' said Mike Betzer, Siebel's vice-president and general manager for OnDemand products.
'With more than 2.36 million Siebel CRM users, 82 Siebel offices in 28 countries and more than 1,100 joint customer engagements, Siebel Systems and IBM are uniquely positioned to meet the large and growing demand for integrated hosted CRM solutions worldwide.'
The CRM OnDemand service also ensures that subscribers have full control over their data, even as advanced technologies such as multilevel firewalls and Secure Socket Layer encryption at IBM's data centres protect that information from unauthorised users.