2About Siebel Personalization
About Siebel Personalization
Oracle’s Siebel Personalization provides an integrated multichannel personalization platform for customizing enterprise-wide interactions with customers, partners, and employees. Personalization is part of the core infrastructure of Siebel Business Applications and is fully integrated into the Siebel architecture.
This section includes the following topics:
Siebel Personalization Components
The following table lists the Siebel Personalization main components.
Table Siebel Personalization Components
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
Personalization rules |
Controls visibility and content in user interface elements such as applets and views. Personalization rules are evaluated at run time and use the available information about the user, such as his or her profile and any transaction information. Rules can control the visibility of views and applets or control the contents displayed in an applet. Personalization rules are created and managed in the Personalization Administration screens. |
Run-time events |
Allows applications to change in real time based on user inputs. Run-time events are triggered in response to user actions. Business managers can configure the actions in response to any event. Run-time events and the actions that trigger them are created and managed in the Administration - Runtime Events screen. |
Personalization Features
Siebel Personalization provides the following benefits.
End-User Layout Customization
Users can customize the layout directly from portal-style pages. The following table lists how to move hide, and minimize applets.
Table Using the Edit Layout Button to Move, Edit, and Minimize Applets
| To | Then |
|---|---|
Move applets to various positions in the view |
Click Edit Layout. This allows end users to express their preference as to where applets should appear. |
Hide applets |
Click Hide. Use Edit Layout to show the button again, assuming that the administrator allows this to happen. This allows end users to show only those applets that are most important to them. |
Minimize applets |
Click Collapse so that they appear on the view, but only the title bar appears. This allows end users to keep information that is infrequently used hidden until it is needed. |
Personalization for Another User
Users have access to their own profile when they log in, but they can also read the profile of other users with whom they are interacting.
For example, a call center agent can load the profile of the user with whom he or she is speaking to trigger personalization rules on that user’s behalf. This allows personalization to work consistently across all channels.
Personalization Business Rules Designer
The Personalization Business Rules Designer allows business managers to implement personalization rules without learning complex programming languages.
The Rules Designer uses Siebel Query Language to construct expressions. The if-then rule structure facilitates rule writing.
The template-based approach allows business managers to write rules by filling out a template wizard with the appropriate key words, while not getting in the way of expert users who just want to type rules in the expression fields.
The Rules Designer provides choices of rule elements based on the context of the rule. The context comes from the place where the Rules Designer is invoked: action, applet, rule, and so on.
For more information, see About the Personalization Business Rules Designer.
Advanced Testing Environment
Creating personalization rules is by nature a dynamic process. How the system responds to a user depends on who that user is, and what actions the user performs while using the system. Testing personalization rules before deploying them on a live environment allows an administrator to assess whether the rules are having the desired effect.
The administrator can test the effects of content targeting rules, and personalization events and actions in employee, customer, and partner applications.
The administrator can load the profiles of dummy users. These users can simulate the effect of personalization rules on hypothetical user profiles.
For more information, see Using Test Mode to Test Personalization Rules.
Personalization Within the Siebel Architecture
Siebel Personalization is installed automatically as part of the Siebel object manager. Personalization is administered in run time, providing maximum control without the necessity of recompiling the repository. This allows business managers to anticipate customer needs based on their actions and react to them in real time.
In the Siebel architecture, there are objects that define the user interface, business objects that define the business rules, a data manager for moving data in and out of the database, and the database itself.
Siebel Personalization forms a layer between the user interface and the business objects. The following figure shows the Siebel architecture, which consists of run-time administration, data, and business objects from the Siebel Repository.
Getting Started with Siebel Personalization
Use the following process to start using Siebel Personalization. Each of these activities is covered in more detail in this document.
Make sure that all persons engaged in personalization administration are assigned a responsibility in the Siebel system that allows them to see all Personalization Administration and Administration - Runtime Events views. This is especially important if you have configured multiple organizations in the Siebel system.
For more information, see Roles and Responsibilities.
If you delegate any authority to channel partners for administering personalization, make sure your LDAP server is configured to expect these logins.
For information on configuring the LDAP server, see Siebel Security Guide.
Analyze business requirements for personalized behavior. Consider requirements for employees and channel partners as well as customers.
For more information, see Understanding the Target Audience.
Create persistent user profile attributes as necessary to track the user information needed for personalization.
Create rules to control the visibility of views, applets, and content based on user profile attributes and content attributes.
Register events that you want to monitor in the Events and Events Aliases view.
Configure actions to be triggered when events of interest occur.
For more information, see Process of Creating Action Sets.
Roles and Responsibilities
The following table lists the main Siebel Personalization roles.
Table Main Siebel Personalization Roles
| Role | Description |
|---|---|
Business manager or analyst |
Analyzes and defines personalization requirements that meet business needs in the most cost-effective manner. Requests personalization behavior based on the experience of employees, customers, or channel partners. |
Personalization administrator |
Translates the business requirements into personalization rules, rule sets, events, and actions. Also responsible for reviewing and maintaining the implementation. The personalization administrator must have the responsibility associated with the Siebel administrator to have the necessary access to perform these duties. |
Personalization Terminology
The following table lists some of the terms used in this section.
Table Personalization Terms
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
Personalization |
The ability to provide specific information and application functionality based on known or inferred characteristics of a user. Decisions are made in real time about what to show or not show to a user based on the profile built up over time. |
Content |
All the visible components of a display, including data, text, images, and structural elements. |
Content Targeting |
The ability to display information dynamically to users based on their interests and behavior, either explicitly stated or implicitly observed. |
Profiling |
The ability to collect information about users in order to deliver the most appropriate and effective content. Profiling is accomplished using registration information, by explicit polling, and by real-time observation of user behavior. |
Rules-Based Filtering |
The ability to show users information based on rules defined by a system administrator or marketing manager. |
Personalization and Content Targeting
Siebel Personalization makes it possible to deliver a customized message to a large number of employees, customers, and channel partners across all channels. Driving personalization decisions from a business perspective is important, that is, to understand the business issues you are trying to address before implementing personalization.
Content Targeting Diagram
Siebel Personalization lets you combine together your detailed understanding of your content and your users. The following figure illustrates that by using content and users you define content attributes and build the user profile. Both are used to create rules.
Understanding the Target Audience
The key to implementing Siebel Personalization is to understand the target audience, whether customer, channel partner, or employee. When the target audience is identified, then the business imperative for that audience must be clearly defined.
You should consider the following:
What views should be shown or hidden, depending on the user interacting with the system?
Should certain applets be shown or hidden?
What opportunities are there to show customized content to users based on their profiles?
What events take place that should be tracked? Alternatively, are there business requirements for tracking certain events?
Can benefits be derived from delivering personalized content to employees as well as customers and channel partners?
Once a personalization system is in place, then the business manager and personalization administrator must develop an ongoing strategy to monitor and implement changes in business requirements as well as evaluate the effectiveness of the current personalization plan.
Personalization Usage Scenarios
Users experience Siebel Personalization as content targeted to them, such as on the home page. The personalized home page displays a calendar, and other content specific to the user.
The following are scenarios of using Siebel Personalization:
Real-Time Product Recommendations Scenario
This section consists of the following topics:
About the Real-Time Product Scenario
A company sells products in many areas. A typical customer is likely to be interested in a small subset of those products.
The company wants to:
Recommend only those products that are of interest to that particular customer.
Make sure that the products shown are in stock and are profitable for the company.
Implementing Real-Time Product Scenario
Use the following steps to implement this:
Create or borrow the recommended products user interface (a recommended items applet already exists in).
Write personalization rules to target content based on user profile attributes or other transaction data, such as past orders. For example, you can show customers products based on the industry they specified when they registered.
Write personalization rules to recommend products based on customer behavior. For example, when a customer adds a product to his or her Shopping Cart, the ProductInCart persistent or dynamic user profile attribute can be set. Products defined in the Product Administration screen as being related to that product can be displayed to the customer for cross-sell and upsell opportunities.
The following rule:
EXISTS([Related Product] = GetProfileAttr("ProductInCart"))
shows products that are related to products in the Siebel eSales Shopping Cart.
Create a business service to access external data or check for business constraints. For example, you can use an ERP system to determine whether a product is in stock and how well it has been selling recently.
Write personalization rules to access the business service and to show or hide products based on availability and profitability.
When customers enter the company’s Web site, they see products appropriate to their industry or other interests. After adding products to the Shopping Cart, new products are recommended that complement the ones they have already selected. The customers are more likely to buy products that are useful and readily apparent.
Personalization Through All Channels Scenario
The section consists of the following topics:
About the Personalization Through All Channels Scenario
A company wants to provide the same level of personalized service through all its channels, using the same set of personalization rules.
The company has the Siebel eSales Web site that it uses to sell its products. On this Web site the company recommends products to its customers.
The company also runs a call center. When a customer calls the company’s call center, the company wants its call center agents to recommend products based on the profile of the caller rather than the profiles of the agents.
The company also wants to recommend the same products to the customer as those recommended on the Web site.
Implementing Personalization Through All Channels Scenario
Use the following steps to implement this:
Create or borrow the recommended products user interface (a recommended items applet already exists in Siebel eSales).
Create personalization rules to target content based on the user profiles for both the logged-in user (the call center agent) and the secondary user (caller). These are called the Me and You profiles, respectively.
Load the secondary user profile (You) when a customer calls.
When the customer calls the company, the call center agent knows the customer’s interests, concerns, service request history, and past purchases. The customer gets personalized attention and a more efficient response from the call center agent. The agent can recommend useful products to the customer for cross-sell and upsell opportunities.
Third-Party Personalization Engines Integration Scenario
This section consists of the following topics:
About the Third-Party Personalization Engines Integration Scenario
A company wants to prevent its customers from switching to a competitor’s product by giving them special offers.
The company analyzes historical data and discovers a trend that is related to customer defection. Based on this analysis, the company creates a new model that uses relevant customer data to predict the probability of a customer switching to a competitor’s product.
You might create this model using a third-party personalization engine. Several such models exist for the pharmaceutical industry.
The company wants to monitor customer actions in real time while running the model. Based on the model’s predictions, the company wants to make a special offer to likely defectors to prevent them from switching.
Implementing Third-Party Personalization Engines Integration Scenario
Use the following steps to implement this:
Analyze historical data and create a new model that accesses the relevant data about customers and predicts the probability of their defection.
Create a business service that integrates Siebel with the third-party software and runs the predictive model.
Write personalization rules that trigger the business service in response to customer actions. These run-time personalization events are passed to the third-party engine through the business service interface.
Write personalization rules to deliver a special offer to a customer based on results from the model.
When the customer enters the Web site, he or she might fill out a survey or just browse the site. A special offer appears in a new browser window. Because the offer is targeted specifically to the customer, he or she takes the time to look at it instead of exiting the Web site.