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	Issue TOC Print full article Print this page Download as PDF E-Mail this URL Flame the author     In this article Introduction CRM, Online Scheduling Hit Snags

Converting client/server applications to a Web interface should simplify things. But when Life Time deployed a pilot of Siebel Systems' CRM suite it discovered a conflict: Siebel 7 Service Pack 2 prefers version 5.5 of Microsoft Internet Explorer, but Life Time's Member Management System was designed for version 5.0 of the browser. And although you can tap into Siebel 7 using Netscape, you'll lose the richness of the ActiveX controls, Life Time CIO Brent Zempel says. ActiveX controls account for roughly 90 percent of the browser functionality in Siebel 7.

The fix: Life Time's developers spent weeks updating MMS, then testing both applications for IE 5.5 compatibility. Tests are ongoing. The goal is to create enough parity so users don't have to juggle multiple browser versions. "It's a case where one application forces all other Web apps to be compatible with a specific environment," Zempel says--and, we would add, an argument for Java.

"Siebel hasn't been playing real well with our other apps," Zempel says, "so we had to make some tweaks."

The scramble may be for naught, however, if Life Time doesn't follow through with Siebel. Life Time execs were mulling over that decision as we went to press. "We're going to finish the pilot and then figure out if we want to keep Siebel," Zempel says.

Life Time has outsourced testing and implementation to Surebridge Corp., a systems integrator. When asked about the decision to outsource, Life Time said it didn't have the resources to run the pilot in-house because the Siebel time line was aggressive and IT was focusing on other high-priority projects. Outsourcing was the only way to meet the deadline.

Zempel wouldn't say how much Life Time paid Surebridge for the pilot test, but he noted that Siebel helped negotiate a "discounted rate." He acknowledges that management "wouldn't be terribly happy" about the lost time and money in the event that Life Time doesn't ultimately choose Siebel. That said, he is "pretty certain" Life Time will use Siebel, at least for sales-force automation.

"We may use other products to round out our CRM suite," he says. "The route we're choosing is best of breed with app integration."

The relationship between Life Time and its facilities-scheduling ASP, Xtime, also appears to be cooling. Despite a successful Web services deployment to connect MMS to the online scheduling application, Life Time halted the scheduling pilot midway through the test phase because it was clear that Xtime's applications couldn't scale to 26 clubs and 400,000 members. Among the alternatives: Sun's Calendaring Server, which would require a good deal of customization, or an entirely homegrown system.

Life Time could even forgo online scheduling for the near term, says Wesley Bertch, director of software systems. The question is whether online scheduling can create enough returns to justify cost.

"The top guys are now asking the question: 'Is this the most important thing we could be working on?' " Bertch says. "Suddenly, we're not in a big hurry to make this happen."