What is this Open UI that is taking Siebel world by storm? Is Siebel Open UI helpful, relevant to this age, and does it indeed have the potential to breathe new life to your Siebel implementations? If you are evaluating new CRM products, can Open UI influence your decisions?

1. What is Siebel Open UI?
crmcog.com/what-is-siebel-open-ui/
Prashanth Krishnamurthy
Siebel Open UI is not exactly new today, but there are more people confused about what exactly is the
value it brings to the table, and where to begin learning it. So after a long hiatus, I wanted to put
together something that may begin the end of all confusions!
But first, let us deal with what
exactly it is. Subsequent posts
explore more about what Open
UI is and how much of a value
that adds to Siebel CRM.
What is Siebel Open UI?
Siebel Open UI is a user interface framework that provides the next gen client abilities to Siebel
desktop and mobile applications. It is Oracle’s attempt to refresh Siebel Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) application suite and make it more acceptable to today’s user.
Before Open UI, Siebel provided (and continues to provide) user interface based on two primary
technologies for clients connected to the server:
1. Siebel High Interactivity Framework (HI), which provides a rich user interface and numerous

2. capabilities aimed at internal users. In Siebel parlance, these internal facing applications are
known as employee applications. Siebel High Interactivity applications use Microsoft ActiveX
technology to render UI for the clients based on Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) browser. ActiveX
is a technology of 90′s, and itself an adaptation of the earlier Object Linking and Embedding
(OLE) and Component Object Model (COM) technologies that enabled client access to data and
processes on a remote server.
2. Siebel Standard Interactivity Framework (SI) provides a more website-like experience, and
works on any standard browser and operating system. SI is intended for end-user or partner who
need a more flexible supporting platform to access Siebel functionality. This customer or partner
specific application works well in an ecosystem that is not subject to organization’s control and
is capable of applying the same business rules defined for employee-facing applications. SI
uses a combination of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to render the UI for the clients
Refer Oracle documentation to read up more on Siebel HI vs. SI.
Why bring in Siebel UI changes now?
Let’s look at burning issues with the UI choices that Siebel provided earlier:
HI is the only option for employees or partners who work seamlessly within the organization. But
HI is based on an ancient technology that has greatly diminished in usage. No major browser
other than IE support or have any plans to support ActiveX.
ActiveX does not seem to have a future. The new browsing experience in Internet Explorer
version 10 on Windows 8 operating system does not support ActiveX.
The “rich” client functionalities offered by ActiveX are considered a security issue. Though this is
controlled by using signed ActiveX controls, ActiveX did bring in a lot of critique in the way it was
implemented and deployed
SI is not a good option for both internal and external users. The UI looks dated, and the UI
behaves like an old HTML page of the 90s. The entire page suffers from frequent “refreshes” to
view or update data, the changes allowed to look and feel are basic, and overall does a good job
in frustrating users
The biggest problem however is – ‘change’. Internet technologies have moved leaps and bounds in the
past decade, and Siebel has lagged behind in embracing that change. With today’s users getting
exposed to the latest in consumer technologies (read
Gmail, Facebook, and the like), it is only natural that
they bring the same expectations to their workplace. UI
is the window to what the application can do, and if that
window is tainted, the actual and perceived dent in
productivity is immense. With a great back end system
tailor made to many industries, the decline of Siebel
was accelerated due to the bulky UI that could not
keep up with the times. So then, enter Open UI.
Open UI – A Game Changer for Siebel
Open UI is today’s technology. With a strong focus on JavaScript, CSS and HTML/HTML5, Siebel

3. changes the UI experience in one big sweep.
1. Open UI, as the name implies, is a about UI. The user interface undergoes a thorough overhaul.
The earlier ActiveX based system gives way to a new system that strongly leverages JavaScript,
and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). The use of JavaScript brings today’s standards and the
ability to leverage the framework in interesting ways.
The UI provides a polished user experience that is easy on the eye, and fully functional
2. Open UI frees the organizations from the shackle of closely controlled and restrictive
environments just to get Siebel to work. Siebel applications do not have a bright track record of
quickly following changes of browsers/operating systems. The problems will be mitigated largely
now that the applications are web-standards complaint
3. In addition to desktops, the new framework can support browsers on mobile devices as well.
Applications can be responsive to device layouts, and form factors. As of Siebel 8.1.1.11 offline
support for mobile devices is enabled for select applications, but there is no real reason for it not
to work elsewhere
4. While providing an enhanced user interface, Open UI uses
the same back end as the earlier Siebel High Interactivity
applications.. Siebel Open UI can co-exist with Siebel High
Interactivity and Standard Interactivity clients. The
architecture of Open UI provides a seamless transition into
deployment and usage of the all new client, while maintaining
the older Siebel HI technology (for now). Open UI as of
Siebel version 8.1.1.11 does not provide a replacement for Siebel Standard Interactivity clients,
which will continue to work as they were for the past decade.

4. Siebel CRM applications has been a strong leader in the CRM space across diverse industries. Siebel
CRM’s industry specific capabilities are often unrivalled and CRM products of today are still playing a
catch-up game in a few of those industries. Siebel Open UI is an opportunity to breathe some life into
your Siebel implementation.
What Siebel Open UI is not..
Siebel Open UI is not an answer to all of Siebel’s problems.
We still have the much-disliked way of working with a zillion screens, views and the drill-downs.
Although you can build a framework using JavaScript and make these problems go away, that is
a significant investment on top of an already significant investment
Development for Siebel can easily cross a million dollars pre or post Open UI. Open UI adds
further complexity to the development process. This is not really a problem with Siebel itself, but
mostly shows the complexity involved in the client deployments
Open UI development is still dependent on Tools (unless you try to introduce screens directly
reading from the database). The deployment process remains the same for the most part
Requirements from the client are more flexible now – Open UI supports more browsers and
does not require Windows operating system. But there are no significant changes that can be
made on the server
Upgrades can become more complicated. The way Siebel 8.1.1.10 provided the folder structure
was changed in Siebel 8.1.1.11, and this caused confusion for a point upgrade. I seriously doubt
whether there will be another major version of Siebel, but if there is, I can only wish you good
luck
Siebel is not truly multi-tenant application, and it will remain so
Wrapping up..
Siebel Open UI was released in Dec ‘13 as an innovation pack along with Siebel version 8.1.1.9. It
underwent two major iterations in the second and last quarters of 2013. With Siebel 8.1.1.11, Oracle
has fixed a few nagging issues and the application has been ready for prime time. There are a few
customers who have gone live as well, without any significant issues. So, Open UI is not going
anywhere for now – at least not until Siebel is here.

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