Siebel tightens ties with HP, BEA

E-business software maker Siebel Systems is expanding its existing partnerships with Hewlett-Packard and BEA Systems, the company said Monday.

Siebel also released Monday a version of its flagship relationship management software suite, Siebel 7.5, for HP's Unix operating system. HP-UX has a current customer base of 1.7 million installations worldwide, according to HP.

Siebel's extended partnership with HP means customers will be able to tap HP for services such as remote management of Siebel software deployments, the companies said. The alliance builds on an earlier partnership between Siebel and Compaq Computer Corp., which HP bought earlier this year.

The Siebel-Compaq relationship covered joint marketing, reselling and development activities, including supporting Siebel software across a range of Compaq hardware. Today, Siebel says customers have deployed its software on some 1,500 ProLiant server installations, a line of Compaq servers that became part of HP's portfolio through the acquisition.

In a separate announcement, BEA said Monday it will support Siebel's Universal Application Network integration architecture, which is intended to be a standards-based, vendor-independent package for application integration. Other Siebel partners supporting its Universal Application Network include IBM Corp., SeeBeyond Technology Corp., Tibco Software Inc., webMethods Inc. and Vitria Technology Inc.