Tech firm invests $2 million in e-government lobbying

Flush from eight years of rapid growth selling software to manage customer relations to the private sector, Siebel Systems has launched a major new push into the e-government marketplace, and the firm is backing its commitment with a new lobbying shop in Washington and a $2 million political action committee (PAC). "We want people to start running for office talking about" e-government, Mike Maibach, the senior vice president of government affairs for the San Mateo, Calif.-based company, said in an interview with National Journal's Technology Daily. Founded in 1993 by entrepreneur Tom Siebel, the $2.5 billion software company has been among the top three fastest-growing U.S. firms for each of the past three years. Sold in partnership with the hardware of vendors like IBM and Sun Microsystems and with the system integrators of firms like IBM and Accenture, Siebel's products have focused on helping large companies, including Bank of America and Ford, better manage interactions with customers. Now Siebel sees an opportunity with the government. "There is no question that the largest vertical market for what we do will be the public sector," CEO Siebel said this week at a conference in Aspen, Colo. That marketplace has only recently begun to open, he said, because of the three- to four-year lag time for government adoption of technology. Both Siebel and Maibach attribute the company's private-sector success to its ability to integrate customers' Internet-based communications with the interactions they conduct over the phone, through the mail and in retail outlets. They see the same multi-channel need in government because some citizens will never want to use the Internet and hardly anyone will always want to communicate online. But Siebel and Maibach said e-government will not happen unless there is pressure from the legislative branch. Maibach cited the example of the state motor-vehicle department chief being grilled on his agency's e-government plans and budget as evidence of the resistance to moving more government functions online. That resistance explains the need for Siebel's $2 million PAC, which is second only to Microsoft in the technology sector, he said. In 2000, Siebel gave $500,000 to the National Republican Congressional committee. Siebel said the PAC will "allow us to participate in the dialogue and assist the election and re-election of representatives who are committed to increasing the quality and services of government operations. We expect to be very, very focused" on e-government and avoid other policy questions like privacy or high-speed Internet access, he added. Maibach seems well-suited to the task of running the company's Washington operations, having founded Intel's Washington office in 1983 when it was the same size, adjusted for inflation, as Siebel's D.C. office is today. Perhaps equally important, he has political battle scars. In 1992, he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the congressional seat now held by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. His platform? "Desktop, user-friendly, 800-number government. Let's make government as easy to deal with as Federal Express," he recounted.