Momentum Continues to Build for Spinnaker Support’s Unique Blend of Siebel CRM Services

January 17, 2017 | Bob Harland | Vice President, Global Oracle Services

Introduction

Last May, Spinnaker Support posted a blog featuring an interview with our very own Anthony Cefola, who leads the Siebel CRM Services practice. Anthony outlined why organizations around the world – from small to very large – were selecting Spinnaker Support for Siebel CRM Services.

Momentum is Building

Since Anthony’s blog was originally posted, Spinnaker Support has continued to sign new customers at a consistent pace. Spinnaker Support’s visionary approach, unique blend of Siebel CRM Service offerings, employee strength and diversity, ISO 9001:2008 certified processes, and attractive risk profile have combined to distinguish us from any other vendor in the industry. Siebel users choose us for one or more of our service offerings, including ongoing support, managed services, and technology/business consulting. We prove every day, customer by customer, that there is no Siebel implementation that cannot be advanced by Spinnaker Support’s Siebel CRM Services – regardless of version, product, level of customization, geographic location, in-house talent level, or surrounding technology ecosystem. Spinnaker Support customers realize better service for a fraction of the cost, no longer feel forced to upgrade to new versions, and aren’t trading in perfectly functional on-premise software for Oracle’s promise of cloud futures.

Third-Party Support is Our Bread & Butter – But We Are Not “One Trick Ponies.”

More than 75% of our Siebel CRM service revenues result from delivery of third-party support (maintenance). Customers who make the transition to Spinnaker Support, by replacing Oracle-provided support (or sometimes even by dissolving or downsizing their in-house resources), immediately realize faster response to ticketed issues, speedier issue resolution, full support for customized code, technology and interoperability advisory, and pricing considerations for unused software sitting on the shelf.

As an example, Anthony and his team were recently contracted to support a highly recognized Fortune 80 provider of aerospace, automation and control, and performance materials that operates in 70 countries. After a smooth onboarding and archiving process – with Spinnaker Support performing both heavy lifting and oversight – we now support 54 Siebel products for more than 6,000 users. Of note, we successfully supported this “largest of large” client while they were upgrading their Siebel and business intelligence (BI) versions.

So Much More Than Just Third-Party Support

From the inception of the Siebel CRM Services practice in 2013, the company wanted to offer services and skillsets to advance any Siebel implementation in the world. To accomplish this, we developed a unique blend of service offerings extending beyond third-party support/maintenance – to cover level three application and technical managed services, and a smart range of consulting capabilities.  We knew that third-party support would be our preeminent service line because of the growing dissatisfaction with Oracle-provided support and the immediate cost savings we offer. But, the market still needed that single vendor who offered more. Managed services is becoming a bigger element of our business as Siebel users are frustrated with conflicts between support vendors and managed services vendors. In a growing number of cases, customers have consolidated with us for both service lines – reducing vendor count, stopping finger pointing, and simplifying the management of their technology stack. Furthermore, we offer small-to-midsize consulting engagements that customers appreciate – sometimes stand-alone and other times blended.

Examples of How Customers Engage

  • A large consumer products company contracted us to provide a middleware solution to integrate an old Siebel version with a newer SAP version. Spinnaker Support led the project to develop the middleware solution, assisted SAP teams with their side of the integration, and configured Siebel via Tools and Scripting. Benefits included greater efficiency, more accurate order process flow and billing, higher productivity, and a happy staff.
  • Spinnaker Support performed a “proof of concept” for an industry leading product marketing firm to validate whether a Siebel 6 server would sufficiently run on Windows 2008 operating system. We proved the concept, including a step-by-step playbook complete with insights and documentation. This customer subsequently made the smooth transition from NT to Windows 2008 while keeping their Siebel applications fully functional.
  • For a multibillion-dollar financial services corporation, Spinnaker Support performed an evaluation of options for migrating off of an old SPARC 8i Oracle Database – without disrupting the operation of their existing Siebel version. Our recommendation to select Red Hat Linux 8i on the latest Intel hardware was accepted by this client. After the move, our client improved system performance several fold as processes that ran in minutes now run in seconds. Memory capacity was no longer an issue.

The Spinnaker Support Siebel CRM Services model continues to be embraced by Siebel users around the world – from all industries and company sizes. Momentum continues to build. What issues can we help you overcome?

SAP Cloud is Fueling SAP Third-Party Support Revenue Growth

January 10, 2017 | Lee Mashburn | Vice President, Marketing

In the early days of SAP third-party software support, most adopters were either financially distressed (and couldn’t afford to upgrade to new releases or pay high vendor support fees) or were in the process of migrating to a new enterprise application vendor (to better meet strategic business and financial goals).

A second wave of SAP third-party adoption featured those SAP users who were happy with the stability and value of their existing ERP release version and could no longer justify the costs of upgrading to newer releases. Spinnaker Support surfaced as a wise alternative to deliver more comprehensive, responsive support from seasoned experts for a fraction of the cost. New clients were excited to gain support for their customized code, restore tax and regulatory updates, and to receive pricing concessions for shelf ware they weren’t using.

The latest and fastest growing wave of SAP third-party support adoption has been spearheaded by SAP’s cloud migration strategy. Many SAP users are confused by the complex SAP cloud roadmap and are frustrated by ever-changing timelines. As you know, there has been a frenzied race to win the cloud – to displace or disrupt fully functional on-premise applications with cloud futures. Marketing hype and “attractive” incentives are being used by SAP, Oracle, and others to lock customers into premature cloud migrations. But SAP users are very savvy and are increasingly opting to take a “maintenance vacation” away from SAP support to regain control of cost and migration timing. They are sticking with what they have until the full promise of SAP cloud becomes reality.

 SAP Cloud Market Research

I recently ran across a smartly written article on the subject of the SAP cloud. Authored by Shaun Snapp, the article is entitled SAP’s Cloud Chaos Offering with Hybrid Cloud. Mr. Snapp is a seasoned SAP consultant who researches his topics before forming his opinions. This particular piece provides but one of the powerful examples of why third-party support is on the rise for SAP users large and small across the world. My key takeaways from Shaun’s article are:

  • Hybrid cloud is a popular term that is often loosely defined. Go-forward implications are often minimized or omitted from discussions during the sales process.
  • SAP emphasizes choice when it comes to SAP cloud but, according to Mr. Snapp, some options are bad ones.
  • SAP users are often tasked to decide what applications remain on premise and which ones are best moved to, or purchased in, the SAP cloud. Integration of hybrid cloud components is a big challenge.
  • SAP certified partners appear to be adding little value for clients after the sale is made (regarding the hybrid cloud migration). Mr. Snapp refers to these partners as “bobble heads” that repeat the SAP party line but might not be adding enough color during the implementation and testing phases of the migration project. The rules appear different for big enterprises versus smaller ones and “out-of-the-box” integration is often overstated.

To wrap this blog post up, there are good reasons why more and more SAP users are taking a maintenance vacation from SAP support. A new wave of adoption of third-party SAP support is just beginning, fueled by an uncertain cloud migration path. Join the wave!

https://www.spinnakersupport.com/sap-support-services/

 

Why utilize so many database support vendors, when all you need is one?

Spinnaker Support recognized for power of one-stop Oracle Database managed services and Oracle Database support

January 5, 2017 | Iain Saunderson | Director, Oracle Support Services

When there’s an issue with your Oracle database, how does it affect the day-to-day operations of your company? Are you customers left hanging? Is your business giving up competitive advantage? Are you losing time and money? Do your various support providers seem to point blame at each other?

Most sizable corporations need to have some kind of software support contract, whether it’s with the software vendor or independent support provider. But to prevent issues and keep things running smoothly, businesses also need a managed services partner.

The problem is, Oracle database managed services and support are two very distinct things. Taking a bifurcated approach puts you in a potentially difficult position: You’re paying one vendor for support, you’re paying another vendor for managed services, but sometimes the lines between what one vendor should do and what the other should do can get blurry. Unfortunately, those blurred lines can promote a vicious cycle of finger pointing between vendors. And you, the customer, are caught in the middle.

Spinnaker Support has got you covered

In fact, addressing that challenge in a meaningful way is just one reason why CIOReview named Spinnaker Support one of the Top 20 Most Promising Database Technology Solution Providers for 2016.

CIOReview assembled a panel of CEOs, CIOs, IT VPs, along with the CIOReview editorial board, to conduct in-depth reviews of leading vendors and consultants in the database market. When all the reviews were in, the panel selected Spinnaker Support for its significant contributions to solving database issues for organizations that rely on data to achieve organizational effectiveness and sustainable competitive advantage.

The distinction for Spinnaker Support, the thing that sets us apart, is solving one of

the biggest frustrations in the IT industry: When you’ve got one partner for both Oracle database managed services and support, there’s only one call you’ve got to make. That’s peace of mind – and money in the bank.

Your system is unique; every problem is unique.

One reason customers come to us – and stay with us – is because of our “super senior” experts who not only understand Oracle database and the technology stack, but also can create innovative solutions to overcome real problems.

What it comes down to, why Spinnaker Support is one of CIOReview magazine’s 20 Most Promising Database Technology Solution Providers, is our culture. And the excitement around that culture, the passion, curiosity, never stopping.

We recruit and hire people with expanded skill sets, highly developed troubleshooting aptitude and passion. People who are committed to delivering value, who have can-do attitudes, who own the problems, who thrive and succeed in any area and who get it done.

Because our professionals can provide top-of-the line expertise in the technology stack, managed services, and support, we can take on the unsolvable and find solutions. We hire people who don’t mind rolling up their sleeves and just figuring it out no matter where the eventual problem lies. They make it easy to maintain our ISO 9001:2008 certification, the set of controls that ensure we’re doing everything correctly.

No database is an island. System performance relies in part on interoperability between the database, applications and middleware. That’s why Spinnaker Support focuses on hiring people who understand the full technology stack – not domain specialists in just the database, only the application, or merely the middleware. One Spinnaker Support professional can troubleshoot the whole picture for you. There’s no finger pointing, no blurred lines – just solutions to your technology problems. And that means avoiding costly downtime, not losing revenue opportunities, keeping customers satisfied and maintaining competitive advantage.

Get out of the middle and get in charge!

Think about this:

  • Do you have a backlog of issues you can’t get support for?
  • Are you paying for support on products you no longer use?
  • Have you dreamed of getting better support at a fraction of your current cost?

At Spinnaker Support, our flexible model allows us to focus on one thing – making your Oracle database perform at its best – and do that one thing well. We have one job. And we know it.

You can eliminate costs. You can reduce number of vendors. You can eliminate finger pointing. With the Spinnaker Support predictable pricing model, you pay only for what you use.

With Spinnaker Support you are no longer stuck in the middle – you are on top and you are in charge.

Contact us to find out more about how you can make your life easier with Oracle database managed services and support.