Ex-Siebel VP joins Salesforce.com board

Former Siebel Systems Vice President Craig Ramsey has joined the board of Siebel rival Salesforce.com. Ramsey, who oversaw worldwide sales at Siebel, the world's largest maker of customer service software, fills a board seat left vacant in 2000 by Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison, Salesforce.com said Tuesday. Before his tenure at Siebel, Ramsey was vice president of U.S. sales at Oracle. His role on Salesforce.com's board includes guiding the company's product distribution strategy, Salesforce said.

San Francisco-based Salesforce claims its "hosted" software model is gaining converts. Instead of requiring companies to license and install its applications, it sets up and maintains them on its own computers for a monthly fee.