"In fact, Siebel Component Assembly is the best example of a shipping product that aligns with that specification. It may be the only product" that does so, Bernstein said.

Siebel Component Assembly takes Siebel on a necessary path toward componentization, said analyst Sheryl Kingstone, program manager at the Yankee Group.

"They have to succeed at it or Siebel will eventually just die out. They have to continue on this path of componentizing the architecture," she said.

In accommodating BEA and best-of-breed infrastructure, Siebel is differentiating itself from SAP's NetWeaver integration initiative, Kingston said.

Siebel's first supporting BEA over Oracle is related to BEA's having participated in the development of Siebel Component Assembly, Kingstone said. Extending support to Oracle is "going to take time," she said.