Siebel Open UI Enablement: Customer Loyalty with a Better User Experience

Share Icon Share 21 Sep 2023
Authors: Gökçe Ayber

DefineX teamed up with one of the leading Telco operators to meet the client’s need for a Siebel UI Upgrade and application accessibility from all devices.

The client was navigating troubled waters since their Siebel version was quite old and had reached the end of its support. They could also not leverage the capabilities and extensions of modern browsers like Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome, impacting the time to market new features. Existing highly custom processes were an immense legacy affecting both performance and stability.

The fact that the application is being used by the field force made this transformation critical to increase profitability, gain new prospects, and turn the existing ones into loyal customers. Hence, the client turned to DefineX to find a solution in this complex environment.

Challenge

Performance issues and outmoded user interface: The Siebel CRM application was deployed to the client more than ten years ago. Since then, it received only a minor architectural improvement eight years prior. As the business grew and the application gained new functionality enhancements, performance became a concern apart from the old-fashioned user interfaces.

The client is a state-owned and leading telecommunication company in the region. Around ten years ago, they kicked off a transformation program. They modernized their entire BSS stack, including the CRM application UI, as it was unsuitable for call center agents to follow up on their tasks effectively. The client chose the Siebel CRM application. At the time, it featured modern technology, valuable accelerators, easy-to-use screens, and the ability to serve an increasing number of customers with satisfactory performance.

Siebel CRM delivered its promise and required no significant upgrades for a long time. However, users’ expectations evolved with the examples they saw in the B2C market. The B2B market (including CRM applications) followed this trend. A user-friendly interface, as well as fast and flexible architecture, become a hygiene factor. In addition, the fact that the application can only run-on Microsoft Internet Explorer and the announcement of its retirement caused substantial concern for the client.

Strategy & Solution

At DefineX, we identified all the client’s needs and challenges and drew a phased roadmap to configure the best solution. We planned a deployment strategy by prioritizing the client’s preferences and daily routines.

How we approached and solved the problem can be summarized as follows:

  • The current version of Siebel supports only Internet Explorer 7. Hence, we planned the version upgrade in a way that does not disturb the daily routines of the call center agents. We made different browsers available on the agents’ devices two weeks after the initial upgrade. We allowed them to use whichever browser they liked.
  • We arranged existing customizations per new user interface designs provided by Oracle to form a base for the Siebel Upgrade Project.
  • To prevent problems that may arise due to the old version of Internet Explorer, Open UI was not enabled in a component. Only Siebel operation teams used this component for deployment. Thus, a temporary solution was provided until the upgrade project was completed.
  • Comprehensive training was provided to the field force to transfer the innovations provided by the improvement.

Results

A thorough user interface transformation for a CRM application requires working devotedly, a well-structured strategy, and a field-experienced team. That is why a leading telecommunications company turned to DefineX to achieve its objectives.

By providing a fresh look and a more intuitive user interface for the application and resolving the problem of being dependent on only one browser, DefineX helped the leading telecommunications company to modernize its solution and accelerate time to value.

With the new solution, the client:

  • Eliminated their primary concern and dependency on Internet Explorer and enabled Siebel to run on any other browser. Also, the entire field force, including the call center agents, could easily track and manage their tasks and display their activities and service requests thanks to the user-friendly and clean interface. Thus, the loading and response time of the application’s web interface improved the agents’ Average Handling Time by 26%. The new solution improved the application’s performance. It made it easily accessible from anywhere, anytime, and on any device, like mobile devices and computers.
  • Thanks to the enhancements and simplifications, developers’ defect resolution time has decreased by an average of 20%.
  • Oracle did not recommend open UI enablement on Siebel 8.1.1.11.4. Their recommended approach was to upgrade the Siebel version from 8 to 17, thus going through incremental upgrades, which were costly and time-consuming. At DefineX, we developed a way that incorporated the application of a minor patch (Siebel 8.1.1.11.17) and successfully went live without any critical issues. This resulted in enormous time saving and let the client deliver other functional enhancements requested by business units.
Gökçe Ayber All Insights