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5 minute read
Summary
On this episode of Catching Up with, the Collab Collective's Craig Durr talks with Melody Brue, VP and Principal Tech Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, at Zoomtopia 2024. Together, they discuss Zoom’s innovative partnerships, AI advancements, and the strategic focus of this year’s event.
Their Discussion Covers:
- AI Advancements: Melody Brue shares insights on Zoom AI Companion’s integration and usability, especially for remote attendees.
- Partner Highlights: Craig Durr and Melody Brue explore Zoom’s strategic partnerships with Logitech, HP Poly, and Q-SYS, emphasizing their contributions to the ecosystem.
- Workflow Innovations: Melody Brue explains Zoom’s role in bringing together hardware and software for seamless boardroom setups.
- Event Structure: Both reflect on Zoomtopia’s mix of in-person and virtual experiences, with Craig highlighting backstage conversations and Melody noting strategic swag selections.
Transcript
Craig Durr: Okay, hey everyone. This is Craig Durr with The Collab Collective, and I've got a great friend joining me, Melody Brue.
Melody, how are you doing?
Melody Brue: I'm doing great
Craig Durr: And I want to make sure we get the name right. It's Moor Insights & Strategy.
Melody Brue: Yes
Craig Durr: Just one strategy.
Melody Brue: One strategy
Craig Durr: Anyway, we are still here in Zoomtopia, and we had a chance to talk to sales, and we did a great breakdown of the keynote. But this is something fun I wanted to do with you here. So we're fortunate, in this position that we're in, that we get these swag bags, right?
Melody Brue: Yeah, right.
Craig Durr: It's like the Oscars–you get these bags of presents and stuff. And I think we're gonna do a review of the haul. How about we do that?
Melody Brue: A little unboxing.
Craig Durr: Let's do that. Welcome to the Zoomtopia bag review. I mean, obviously it's going to start off so that we all know where we are, right?
Melody Brue: Yep, some very clear branding here. You do the front, I'll do the back. Here’s the back, “Work happy with Zoom AI Companion.” It's a big announcement.
Craig Durr: And that's a good tie in. I mean, the AI Companion, too. I was pretty impressed with that. I think they did a good job with that.
Melody Brue: I think even for people who were watching remotely, probably didn't get as much of a deep dive that we did when we went into, like the Experience Center, and really see how it works. So definitely something worth checking out.
Craig Durr: It's so front and center in the client. Alright, who wants to go first here?
Melody Brue: Okay, I'm gonna pick something out. I think what Zoom did a really good job with our swag bag here is highlighting partners.
Craig Durr: And that's the key. Let's talk about the partners and what they do with Zoom. How about that?
Melody Brue: And this is a really good reminder for all of us because it's a small event where, normally you would go into a showroom floor, and maybe Avaya has a booth and Logitech has a booth, and we go and visit. This time we didn't have that. So this is our reminder. Starting off with Logitech, MX Master 3S for business.
Craig Durr: That is a great mouse, but Logitech is a great partner. Now, you and I talk a lot sometimes about the room experience. Tell me about Logitech and their partnership.
Melody Brue: Well, I think we saw today… I don't know if you've seen the boardroom of the future.
Craig Durr: Oh, yeah. That was great.
Melody Brue: That was a very great demo. But I think they have a lot of different integrations with Logitech.
Craig Durr: They do.
Melody Brue: And the big one, obviously, is with their boardroom setups.
Craig Durr: It is. That is the multiple camera setup that they have, which is the Zoom Director.
Melody Brue: Yeah. And what did they say? Was it a two plus one or a three plus one?
Craig Durr: Oh, that's right. Alright, I'm gonna keep going while you're gonna go through that. Also, the next item in this haul. Well, this one's branded right there in front. We've got HP Poly. In fact, I just had a chance to come back and visit them from HP Imagine. So HP Poly, they just released all their devices, actually. As a matter of fact, they announced today that they're Zoom certified. Their recent X Series–the X32 and X72 and…
Melody Brue: The room bars?
Craig Durr: Yeah, exactly. And then the Android version, which is the V32 and V72.
Melody Brue: I think HP probably has done a really good job of partnering with all of the different meeting platforms to be certified so that you have an open up and go kind of experience.
Craig Durr: Yeah, just like Logitech. I'm bullish on these guys, too. They both have a really complete portfolio. Alright, you’re next. What do you got?
Melody Brue: Okay, this is a wireless charging queue, is that right? And this is the Avaya brand.
Craig Durr: Oh, you actually know a lot about these guys. Tell me about that.
Melody Brue: I do. I've spent a lot of time with Avaya, and this is a nice little charting pad. I think you have to plug it in. But they announced last May or June, a partnership with Zoom. And we actually had Eric at the Avaya event, which was in La Jolla, California. And Eric Zoomed in to talk a little bit about the partnership with Alan Masarek, who is departing as Avaya CEO–new CEO, Patrick Dennis taking over.
Craig Durr: That's right. I like Patrick.
Melody Brue: Yeah. Did you know he has a restaurant?
Craig Durr: Really?
Melody Brue: Yes, in Denver. And it was ranked one of the top restaurants in Denver. So we need–
Craig Durr: Next analyst event should be there.
Melody Brue: We're going.
Craig Durr: Alright, I'll go to the next one here. Okay, this is an easy one. It's branded right in front. Q-SYS, right?
Melody Brue: Right
Craig Durr: So Q-SYS actually has a really strong integrated control story that I think is Zoom certified. So for example, think about video over IP and audio over IP. They have their own cameras, but they also look at other cameras. So we saw the multiple-camera set up. And actually, what Q-SYS does really nicely is they have a platform. They kind of approach this from a software point of view, which I like, not just that it's a hardware but that allows them to tie in to all those control planes, which are important as we get to those large rooms.
Melody Brue: Yeah, they were talking about that today–about the software ties. And do you think there's any tie-in to a notebook?
Craig Durr: Well, what I noticed is that I'm missing a pin. I'm gonna have to go back and give this. Maybe it's a good one. I'll talk to Jason about this afterwards, but the pin could have been a better one here. Alright, we got one more magic box. I don't know. Let's see. This is the Zoomtopia mini one here.
Melody Brue: It's got a USB charger somewhere...
Craig Durr: It's actually from Zoom itself. I know what this is. This is a remote control for slides. It's a Zoom brand. The dongle, and you have the ‘up and down’ for the slide. It's a laser pointer.
Melody Brue: Off and on. It’s a laser pointer.
Craig Durr: This is Zoom branding itself here. It's in the presentation. Overall, I would say this is a pretty good haul here, right?
Melody Brue: This is great. And I think it's strategic. I like that about it. It's not just like, “Oh, here's some, you know, water bottles or whatever.” They each kind of highlight a partner. And that's strategic.
Craig Durr: Well, actually, I think what's nice is–these are good partners. And probably, one of the downsides of this event this time is that there wasn't enough air time for all these partners, you know. I think they're going to rotate between being virtual and live. That live event, we had the whole experience area where everyone had a chance to visit and highlight themselves. I'm sure we'll see that later on.
Melody Brue: So I think they said today that there were about 40 something thousand people virtually. And I think here in person, there's maybe four or 500 smaller events this year. Nice that we were invited.
Craig Durr: I enjoyed the event. It was some great backstage conversations.
Melody Brue: And we've got a full-on haul.
Craig Durr: Alright, let's go ahead and wrap this up. Now, everyone, this is Craig Durr with The Collab Collective.
Melody Brue: Melody Brue with Moor Insights & Strategy.
Craig Durr: One strategy
Melody Brue: But it's a good one.
Craig Durr: It's a damn good one. We're here from Zoomtopia. Take care.
