Transports and Interfaces: Siebel eBusiness Application Integration Volume III > Using Siebel OLE DB Provider > Microsoft OLE DB >

Siebel OLE DB Provider

Siebel OLE DB Provider is a set of interfaces that allow you to access the Siebel business object layer. Using Siebel OLE DB Provider technology, you can build ad hoc queries, use third-party business analysis tools, and build Web applications that access business-critical information from Siebel Systems. Access to this information is essential for providing excellent customer service and making intelligent business decisions.

OLE DB consumers can access data stored in the Siebel Database by referring to Siebel objects such as Contact or Account, without having to perform mapping tasks between the Siebel Data Model and the external application. Siebel OLE DB Provider is integrated with Siebel Tools, allowing management and configuration of the Siebel business components that are exposed to the client application as OLE DB tables.

Most third-party business intelligence tools provide powerful Web-based ad hoc query tools that let you access, navigate, and explore relational data to make key business decisions in real time. This insight helps companies improve target marketing efforts and forge closer, more responsive, relationships with customers.

For example, your job might require forecasting sales opportunities. Using a third- party query and reporting tool such as Seagate's Crystal Reports, you could retrieve opportunities from Siebel Systems' operational data store using Siebel OLE DB Provider. You could even create a heterogeneous query across multiple data stores to get the level of detail required to make better business decisions.

As another example, you could determine the success of your Web marketing campaign by evaluating the number of hits your Web site received last month, last week—even today—and contrast that information with the number of products (or services) purchased.

You might also have a portal where customers can look up outstanding orders, and service requests. Using Siebel OLE DB Provider invoked from an ASP file on a Windows Server, the Siebel System Administrator could expose the orders and service requests, and the Web Developer could create a Web-based query which would:


 Transports and Interfaces: Siebel eBusiness Application Integration Volume III 
 Published: 23 June 2003