科技巨头希柏陨落启示录

    不久前，我受邀为欧洲工商管理学院（INSEAD）的一个MBA班做了个讲座。讲话前我问大家，有多少人知道希柏系统软件有限公司（Siebel Systems，以下简称希柏系统或希柏）。我是这家公司创始高管团队的一员，在那儿效力了十年。

    结果全班只有约三分之一的人举了手。迄今为止，甲骨文公司（Oracle）收购希柏已经七年了。正是希柏开创了客户关系管理（CRM）业务，现在这个行业却被Salesforce公司（Salesforce）一统天下。2006年甲骨文收购这家公司时，我是产品部门的负责人。

    甲骨文收购希柏半年后，我就去了InterWest Partners投资公司，转行当了专业投资人。也就是从那时起，先后有几十个创业者来我们办公室展示他们全新的软件创业理念。这种提案的主题往往是这样的：“我们要颠覆（此处可以填入你最熟悉的科技巨头），就像当年Salesforce颠覆希柏系统一样。”

    这种说法隐含的基本前提是，Salesforce凭借自己革命性的“软件即服务”（SaaS）商业模式迅速打败了希柏，夺取了大量的市场份额，结果希柏到了2005年只好被迫卖给甲骨文。“大卫打败了歌利亚”（David defeats Goliath，《圣经》典故，以弱胜强的典型——译注）这个众所周知的故事看来在高科技产业里又重演了。

    这听起来是个很不错的故事，但它也就仅限于这点皮毛了。实际情况根本不是这么回事。

    希柏系统是汤姆•希柏和帕特•豪斯1993年创立的。短短五年间，这个公司就从一个籍籍无名的初创企业成长为年销售额近20亿美元的行业巨头，员工人数达到8,000人，市值高达300亿美元，俨然已是CRM市场的领军企业。1999年，希柏系统被德勤公司（Deloitte）评为美国历史上“增长最快的公司”，五年间增长率高达782,978%。

    但到了2002年，这家公司的销售额却开始止步不前，股价则从历史高位一路狂跌不止，随后到了2005年9月12日，甲骨文就最终签署协议收购了该公司。这项交易的估价是60多亿美元。2006年3月1日，希柏系统就不再作为独立实体存在了，对于一个一度似乎坚不可摧的公司来说，这个结局可真不怎么光彩。

    希柏最初是靠开发企业销售软件起家的。这些应用一开始也确实推动了希柏走上快速发展的轨道。但是希柏还开发了呼叫中心技术。1998年，希柏做了一个重大决策，收购了斯高帕斯技术公司（Scopus Technology）——这是一家在呼叫中心市场规模和希柏相当的企业。这笔收购让希柏的收入结构发生了剧变，直接推动它进入了高速增长的轨道。

    接下来的三年中，希柏收入增长中的很大一部分都来自全球多家根据希柏呼叫中心应用方案改造的定制化呼叫中心。实际上，希柏公司处于销售顶峰的那几年中，它的呼叫中心产品线对公司总营收的贡献高达70%。

    Not too long ago, I was asked to speak to a class of MBA students at INSEAD. Before I began my presentation, I asked the students how many were familiar with Siebel Systems, where I had spent 10 years as one of the members of the founding senior executive team.

    Only about a third of the class raised their hands. Seven years had passed since Oracle acquired Siebel, which created the customer relationship management (CRM) business, now dominated by Salesforce (CRM). I was the head of Siebel's products division when it was acquired by Oracle (ORCL) in 2006.

    Six months after Siebel was acquired by Oracle, I joined InterWest Partners as an investor. And, since that time, dozens of entrepreneurs have passed through our offices to present their new software business ideas. The theme of the presentation typically goes something like this: "We are going to do unto [fill in your favorite large incumbent tech company] as Salesforce did unto Siebel Systems."

    The basic premise is that Salesforce summarily dismantled Siebel through its revolutionary software as a service (SaaS) business model and took so much market share away that by 2005 Siebel was forced to sell to Oracle. The proverbial story of "David defeats Goliath" played out in the high tech industry.

    It sounds like a nice tale, but it's little more than that. The facts are quite different.

    Siebel Systems was founded in 1993 by Tom Siebel and Pat House. Within five years, the company went from little-known startup to a nearly $2 billion a year powerhouse, with 8,000 employees and a market cap of $30 billion. It was the leader of the CRM market. In 1999, Siebel Systems was recognized by Deloitte as the "Fastest Growing Company" in U.S. history, with 782,978% growth over five years.

    By 2002, the company's top line had stalled, the stock had fallen to a fraction of its former stratospheric level, and on Sept. 12, 2005, Oracle signed a definitive agreement to acquire the company. The transaction was valued at a little more than $6 billion. On March 1, 2006, Siebel Systems no longer existed as an independent entity, a rather inglorious end to a once unassailable company.

    Siebel started out developing enterprise sales software. And, these applications were responsible for Siebel's initial growth. However, Siebel also had developed call center technology. In 1998, Siebel made a key decision to acquire Scopus Technology -- a company in the call center market that was nearly as large as Siebel. That decision dramatically changed Siebel's revenue mix and propelled the company into hyper growth.

    Over the next three years, a significant amount of Siebel's revenue growth was due to the rapid conversion of the world's custom-built call centers to Siebel's call center applications. In fact, the Siebel call center product line was responsible for 70% of Siebel's revenues during the company's peak sales years.