Over time, [the system] will automatically configure role-specific UIs depending on [user] requirements. Also, finally, we're going to integrate with Microsoft Office so tightly that it will serve as the primary UI.

the people in the company who have mortgages to pay are taken care of. Oracle is sending all the right signals.

I think this puts a lot of competitive pressure in the marketplace. The first entrant in a market isn't necessarily the ultimate winner. Marc may have created awareness for an interesting market opportunity, but I don't believe this is game over. It has been our intent and will continue to be our intent to take all of our products and services and deliver them in an on-demand form factor.

Siebel CRM OnDemand was built on Siebel 7.5.2, and the fact is that that product line runs on any database and any application server. We created a partnership with IBM and we chose for that partnership, for obvious reasons, to run it on WebSphere and DB2. There is no technical linkage. We can make a different decision going forward if we choose.

An SOA is a collection of these services communicating with each other, either through simple passage of data or a coordinated effort to do a task. To get them to communicate, you need Web services. We used to buy a stereo system as a single integrated unit, all hardwired together--the speakers, the receiver, the tuner, and the turntable. Some stereos had a better receiver, while some had a better turntable. One day somebody figured, 'Hey, wouldn't it be great if we could mix and match components?' Now the bits and pieces work together, connected by standardized wiring.

I think it would be safe to say that if that ends up being a more cost-effective way of deploying our on-demand applications, we'll pursue it.