What is Open UI?
Siebel Open UI is an extension of the Siebel User Interface. It uses modern web standards (HTML, CSS & JavaScript) to render the client in the web browser, transforming Siebel into a powerful web application that can compete with any modern website. It’s all about UI Simplification and User Experience.
With Open UI, Siebel no longer depends on proprietary technologies, such as browser plug-ins or ActiveX. This means it can be accessed from any modern web browser and any mobile tablet or desktop device. No longer are you bound to Internet Explorer.
What are the benefits?
Modern look and feel out of the box. A sleek, stylish application replacing the clunky aesthetics previously associated with Siebel. What’s more, you can style and design the application to be consistent with your company branding/website or take inspiration from whichever site you like – you can even style Siebel to look and feel like LinkedIn or Facebook.
Siebel Open UI can be run on any modern browser on various operating systems. It can be run using Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, IE…the choice is yours! And with this comes native browser integration: browser history, print, print preview, zoom, find, spell check & email.
It’s still Siebel. As Open UI is an extension of Siebel you will continue to benefit from the abundant features Siebel offers. Open UI will coexist with your current implementation architecture and integration so there is no need for any rework.
Ultimate flexibility for custom development. Open UI provides ample opportunity to improve the usability and design of your Siebel implementation by creating a more intuitive application by leveraging the web technologies. Take advantage of data visualisation techniques to display information in a meaningful format, presenting data in graphs, charts and timelines instead of standard lists.
Increased productivity and user adoption. Open UI can be leveraged to create a more efficient application with fewer clicks to achieve the same goal using UIs with modern, familiar web concepts. It also WAI-ARIA compatible, allowing support for accessibility features such as advanced user interface controls using voice.
Responsive design creates optimal displays. Accessing content on your phone doesn’t need to be a painful experience. The display layout is driven by the device - familiar mobile controls such as flip switches automatically replace checkboxes creating an optimal interface if Siebel is accessed from a mobile device!
Furthermore, with mobile disconnected, offline use is supported allowing access to data in areas without signal.
Other great features. Open UI comes with a host of features Including:
- Capability for Map integration, Camera support & Location services (GPS).
- Combination Auto Fill (dynamically displays input/query options based on the letters typed in)
- Numerous themes so users can personalise the look of the application, including a choice of horizontal vs vertical screen menu bar.
- Option to switch between displaying contacts as traditional list or as tiles
- Dynamically sized list applets which fit the expand to fit the size of the data – removing unnecessary white space on the screen.
What are the costs?
There are no extra licencing costs with enabling Open UI. The same key navigation principles exist in Open UI with most out of the box controls being intuitive and in line with popular websites. By following UX design guidelines, any further customisations should be intuitive and hence adopted by users with minimal training.
No need to rebuild business rules or integration. Open UI uses the same business layer as Siebel. It is just a framework that sits on top. The same integration components and existing logic will continue to be used. Existing Siebel architecture and investment will not go to waste.
Future upgrades are setup to be smoother and quicker. With the dependency of Active X removed, the associated difficulties in deployments and upgrades are no longer present. In addition, with the introduction of Incremental Repository Merge – repository upgrades accelerated significantly.
Shorter development cycle, hence lower development cost. The Open UI JavaScript API allows open extension of functionality with a vast array of existing libraries available. This, compounded by the fact that JavaScript is client side customisation (meaning it is repository independent, hence, no need for an srf compilation) means that rapid delivery of functionality is made a possibility.
Continued support. Siebel continues being a very large CRM platform with a comprehensive data model and deep industry functionality. For an existing Siebel client, it provides the right backbone to tap into and maximise current/new cloud opportunities, yet retaining a true enterprise view. Oracle continues to invest in Siebel and Open UI - the current Oracle Roadmap for Siebel runs up to 2022+ and includes annual Innovation Packs and Monthly Patchsets.
Ready for Open UI?
If you are ready to start the journey with Siebel Open UI or you need help to maximise the true value of it, we are here to help.
With almost 20 years of Siebel implementation experience, and a strong pool of mobile and web development talents, our team has delivered truly amazing user experiences with Open UI for Siebel customers.
