My friend and ex-colleague at PLCM has just started up a new blog...check it out
http://videonetworker.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Yet another SVP of sales gone at PLCM
http://phoenix.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=112660&p=irol-SECText&TEXT=aHR0cDovL2NjYm4uMTBrd2l6YXJkLmNvbS94bWwvZmlsaW5nLnhtbD9yZXBvPXRlbmsmaXBhZ2U9NjExODE1MCZhdHRhY2g9T04mc1hCUkw9MQ%3d%3d
I suppose PLCM isnt different than a lot of other companies... changing the head of sales like they change clothing styles... but PLCM surely does have a track record of changing out Sales SVPs. David Phillips who was there (if I remember correctly), just slightly longer than 2 years is gone. There was a gap of almost a year where there was no one in the top spot and prior to that it was Kim Neidermann who ran it for about 2 years as well.
Its a tough job being a sales SVP...heck....about the only way to really make an impact is to probably make your hiring/firing decisions on the first day so you can move on to watching your strategy. David for example took a year to make his big changes and then he just had one year to make them work. Its really not enough time to work out a strategy and work it to success.
So...PLCM is literally without a SVP of Sales...although technically Bob Haggery is filling in for the job. Not a good position to be in right now. The market is changing...customers are shifting to value products... and there are tons of new competitors...and its a bad economy.
I really wont state in a public forum like this whether I liked David or not. But...I do have to say, having someone at the helm right now, whether they are good or bad, is just out of the question. I'm sure TAA, LS, CSCO, and everyone else is damn excited at the prospects.
The market numbers are going to be very telling over the next two quarters. I think you're going to see a lot of market share leave the PLCM slice of the pie.
I suppose PLCM isnt different than a lot of other companies... changing the head of sales like they change clothing styles... but PLCM surely does have a track record of changing out Sales SVPs. David Phillips who was there (if I remember correctly), just slightly longer than 2 years is gone. There was a gap of almost a year where there was no one in the top spot and prior to that it was Kim Neidermann who ran it for about 2 years as well.
Its a tough job being a sales SVP...heck....about the only way to really make an impact is to probably make your hiring/firing decisions on the first day so you can move on to watching your strategy. David for example took a year to make his big changes and then he just had one year to make them work. Its really not enough time to work out a strategy and work it to success.
So...PLCM is literally without a SVP of Sales...although technically Bob Haggery is filling in for the job. Not a good position to be in right now. The market is changing...customers are shifting to value products... and there are tons of new competitors...and its a bad economy.
I really wont state in a public forum like this whether I liked David or not. But...I do have to say, having someone at the helm right now, whether they are good or bad, is just out of the question. I'm sure TAA, LS, CSCO, and everyone else is damn excited at the prospects.
The market numbers are going to be very telling over the next two quarters. I think you're going to see a lot of market share leave the PLCM slice of the pie.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Two ends of the spectrum
So..that was interesting... Last week TAA comes out with fairly high priced HD endpoint. And this week PLCM comes out with a 4CIF system.
I find this just weird...and its mostly weird around how two different companies with two different marketing and product dev groups can analyze the same market and come up with two different answers. Sure..thats good for consumers. And...my point isnt around how there can or cannot be different markets to service and how different business models are more tweaked towards one or the other.
Its really around, how, from my point of view in the US, how one would make a decision to go to market at this time with either strategy. The economy is down...businesses are spending less. They are certainly being more careful with their money... we hear this from both TAA & PLCM that sales cycles are lengthed. But...then we hear from LS that they did 150% y/y growth last year. I also heard from someone that the last six months of 2008 were even higher than 150%.
Ok..blah blah blah Jeff... you're going to say something like "value pricing is going to win". Ok...yep, thats what I'm going to say. I don't see how TAA's C60 is going to sell well as its priced way too high. I also dont seee how the new Polycom QDX 6000 released today will help either.
Sure... its at a nice price point; USD $4000. But...is 4CIF (aka SD). It also has some other weirdities like a VSX remote and what looks like analog Soundstation microphones. It looks like a hopped up VSX 7000e. Ok..all that is cool... but if I'm in a value priced market, why would I pay $4K for a 4CIF system when I can pay slightly more and get a LS 720P system.
Or as I was saying to my friend DK, why not go buy a used system. It seems there is a lot of used gear on the market and if I'm really saving money, why not track down a used MXP or VSX. Right? Why would I want to a buy a new 4CIF system? I'm either going to make a more permanent investement with 720P or why not save money and go used.
I'm not sure. Anyone else have thoughts they want to share?
I find this just weird...and its mostly weird around how two different companies with two different marketing and product dev groups can analyze the same market and come up with two different answers. Sure..thats good for consumers. And...my point isnt around how there can or cannot be different markets to service and how different business models are more tweaked towards one or the other.
Its really around, how, from my point of view in the US, how one would make a decision to go to market at this time with either strategy. The economy is down...businesses are spending less. They are certainly being more careful with their money... we hear this from both TAA & PLCM that sales cycles are lengthed. But...then we hear from LS that they did 150% y/y growth last year. I also heard from someone that the last six months of 2008 were even higher than 150%.
Ok..blah blah blah Jeff... you're going to say something like "value pricing is going to win". Ok...yep, thats what I'm going to say. I don't see how TAA's C60 is going to sell well as its priced way too high. I also dont seee how the new Polycom QDX 6000 released today will help either.
Sure... its at a nice price point; USD $4000. But...is 4CIF (aka SD). It also has some other weirdities like a VSX remote and what looks like analog Soundstation microphones. It looks like a hopped up VSX 7000e. Ok..all that is cool... but if I'm in a value priced market, why would I pay $4K for a 4CIF system when I can pay slightly more and get a LS 720P system.
Or as I was saying to my friend DK, why not go buy a used system. It seems there is a lot of used gear on the market and if I'm really saving money, why not track down a used MXP or VSX. Right? Why would I want to a buy a new 4CIF system? I'm either going to make a more permanent investement with 720P or why not save money and go used.
I'm not sure. Anyone else have thoughts they want to share?
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