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?
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tandberg c60
So... question for all of you... anyone out there own a c90? I'm curious if much of any of them have been shipped. Last I talked to a wide group of people I had not even heard that anyone had received one. Curious...
But..this seems interesting. Where is TAA going with their products? Sure, the c60 is smaller and a bit cheaper than the C90..but its not even in the same ballpark as products from Polycom and certainly from Lifesize. I truly believe that the market is expanding in the "value" segment. And LS certainly has hit the mark. And especially in a down economy, I'd rather be gaining market share than gaining margin....with the goal of erupting out of the economic slump ready to move up stream.
TAA certainly risks not selling many of either the C60 or C90 and not being able to position themselves for lower prices in the market with what I assume might be a C30 or C10 in the future. I say its a risky bet on their part to not put out a product that the market can afford to buy. I haven't technically evaluated either... I'm sure its a good product. I honestly like the UI and the OS of TAA systems. Clean, simple, easy to use. But...when you have a budget, you buy what you can buy. My guess is that if you're a TAA shop, you're either sticking with MXP or you're considering Lifesize for new purchases.
But..this seems interesting. Where is TAA going with their products? Sure, the c60 is smaller and a bit cheaper than the C90..but its not even in the same ballpark as products from Polycom and certainly from Lifesize. I truly believe that the market is expanding in the "value" segment. And LS certainly has hit the mark. And especially in a down economy, I'd rather be gaining market share than gaining margin....with the goal of erupting out of the economic slump ready to move up stream.
TAA certainly risks not selling many of either the C60 or C90 and not being able to position themselves for lower prices in the market with what I assume might be a C30 or C10 in the future. I say its a risky bet on their part to not put out a product that the market can afford to buy. I haven't technically evaluated either... I'm sure its a good product. I honestly like the UI and the OS of TAA systems. Clean, simple, easy to use. But...when you have a budget, you buy what you can buy. My guess is that if you're a TAA shop, you're either sticking with MXP or you're considering Lifesize for new purchases.
LS has greater than life size results
They are kicking but and claim 150% y/y growth which is phenomenal..especially with the economy the way it is.
As I've said before in posts and in conversations with some of you... Lifesize's value pricing of HD is brining in lots of greenfield customers and really rings true in this economic landscape.
http://www.lifesize.com/pr.php?prid=129
As I've said before in posts and in conversations with some of you... Lifesize's value pricing of HD is brining in lots of greenfield customers and really rings true in this economic landscape.
http://www.lifesize.com/pr.php?prid=129
Thursday, January 22, 2009
PLCM results
Not really much to say about the PLCM results. For those of you who read my blog or know me... this was all expected.
But... couple of interesting tidbits...
Of the 6% or 150 laid off, 40 were in Petach Tikva. The other 110 were mostly in Boulder. Boulder is where Spectralink used to hq'd out of. Now... at first blush you might think, well... voice is doing terrible. And that is part of the truth. Wireless phones are mostly used in distribution and retail which is a battered sector. And...maybe Spectralink had way too many sales/sales engineers chasing too little revenue. I really think that is true too. And lastly... what is PLCM good at? Well...they unfortunatley buy a company and they seem to lose the human capital fairly quickly. If you look at the current PLCM employee base... the amount of original Accord employee has dwindled, the amount of PCTL employees is minor fraction, the ViaVideo execs all disappeared (and went to form Lifesize), and there's almost no-one left over from Voyant.
On another note... did you notice that PLCM dropped pricing on the HDX 7001? Its down to $5995 and the EagleEye is down to $3499. Why did they do this? One reason...one company... Lifesize. Even though PLCM announced bad numbers.... LS seems to be doing fine based on the channel checks I've done. And they're doing it based on value pricing. Get a HD Lifesize for the same price that PLCM was selling VSX 7000 (note...CIF based system). Now, with the lower priced HDX 7001, they can now compete on price. The market has really turned and it seems that LS is calling the shots.
But... couple of interesting tidbits...
Of the 6% or 150 laid off, 40 were in Petach Tikva. The other 110 were mostly in Boulder. Boulder is where Spectralink used to hq'd out of. Now... at first blush you might think, well... voice is doing terrible. And that is part of the truth. Wireless phones are mostly used in distribution and retail which is a battered sector. And...maybe Spectralink had way too many sales/sales engineers chasing too little revenue. I really think that is true too. And lastly... what is PLCM good at? Well...they unfortunatley buy a company and they seem to lose the human capital fairly quickly. If you look at the current PLCM employee base... the amount of original Accord employee has dwindled, the amount of PCTL employees is minor fraction, the ViaVideo execs all disappeared (and went to form Lifesize), and there's almost no-one left over from Voyant.
On another note... did you notice that PLCM dropped pricing on the HDX 7001? Its down to $5995 and the EagleEye is down to $3499. Why did they do this? One reason...one company... Lifesize. Even though PLCM announced bad numbers.... LS seems to be doing fine based on the channel checks I've done. And they're doing it based on value pricing. Get a HD Lifesize for the same price that PLCM was selling VSX 7000 (note...CIF based system). Now, with the lower priced HDX 7001, they can now compete on price. The market has really turned and it seems that LS is calling the shots.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Nothing interesting
Well...its q1 and its nose to the grindstone time. So, not much time to blog..but I did get a url emailed to me just yesterday that I wanted to share. Its not really interesting unless you're a CCIE.
SO...here's to self-glorification... lol...
http://cciehof.wordpress.com/
SO...here's to self-glorification... lol...
http://cciehof.wordpress.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
