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Siebel unveils 'Homeland Security' software

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CIOL Bureau
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SAN MATEO, California: Siebel Systems Inc., the world largest seller of

software to manage sales and customer service, on Wednesday became the latest

Silicon Valley heavyweight to offer technology to help improve security in the

United States.

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With the announcement, Tom Siebel, the software maker's founder and chief

executive, joins top executives such as Larry Ellison, of Oracle Corp., and Sun

Microsystems Inc.'s Scott McNealy who already are backing a national identity

system. Ellison has even gone so far as to offer the government free copies of

Oracle database software.

Siebel takes a different approach, said Frank Bishop, vice president and

general manager of Siebel Public Sector.

"They're trying to track the citizens on their side. This system ... is

more tracking the bad guy side of it," Bishop said in contrasting the two

security strategies.

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Siebel -- offering its own solution -- also has no plans to give away its

software, named Siebel Solutions for Homeland Security, which was built from

existing technology, and aims to help law enforcement and other government

agencies manage tips, share suspect information and dispatch emergency

personnel.

Government back on radar



The move by San Mateo, California-based Siebel Systems comes as Silicon Valley
companies are looking to government spending to pick up some of the slack from

dried-up corporate spending.

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To that end, government -- which employs about one-fifth of all US workers --

suddenly is back, in a big way, on technology companies' radar screens. But

targeting government may not be a quick cure for Silicon Valley's sagging tech

sector.

Government deals are slow-moving and ruled by a formalized bidding process.

What's more, serious competitors often must engage in intense and expensive

lobbying efforts just to stay in the game.

Siebel, which beefed up its government division before the deadly Sept. 11

attacks, already is in the mix. Board Member Marc Racicot, Montana's former

governor and attorney general, has talked with new Homeland Security Director

Tom Ridge about Siebel's new product, Bishop said.

The company also is making its pitch to state and local governments and think

tanks.

(C) Reuters Limited.

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