Zoom’s IPO and Delivering on the Promise of Video Communication
Tags: Lifesize, Video Conferencing, Zoom, Video Conferencing Rooms, Communication

By Craig Malloy, CEO and founder, Lifesize

📷 credit: Vyopta.com

Tomorrow, Zoom (NASDAQ: ZM) will celebrate its IPO — the first from a pure-play video conferencing provider in nearly 30 years. As CEO of one of Zoom’s closest competitors and someone who has committed the majority of my career to our industry, I’ve been reflecting on both the significance of Zoom’s listing and what it means to the long-awaited promise of the video-connected modern workplace.

Zoom’s IPO is historic and long overdue in our industry. It validates the new video market: cloud-first, affordable, scalable, easy-to-use and built around customer experience. It also reinforces video conferencing as a distinct and essential component of modern enterprises’ unified communication and collaboration strategy. There will be multiple successful companies in this space. Zoom is the latest, but not the last. Let’s review how we got here.

The early years: The promise of video communications

In 1994, my first job in video communications was as a product manager at a company called VTEL. Looking back, it was a fascinating time for the industry. There were only three public companies — PictureTel, CLI and VTEL — all chasing a very early version of video conferencing.

Early video conferencing hardware

At the time, video quality was barely 1/10th the resolution of broadcast TV, which itself was nowhere close to the ultra-high definition we’ve all grown accustomed to today. Even at $50,000 to $500,000 per system, customers began investing in the implied promise of video as the future of communication in the enterprise and the closest alternative to the in-person experience.

When I founded ViaVideo in 1996, the premise was simple: Deliver a basic set-top box for video conferencing coupled with a vastly-improved interface for systems administrators, all at a fraction of the cost. The technology was nascent, as illustrated by a Forbes article that lauded our flagship product ViewStation for its ability to “deliver 15 frames per second at 128kbps over only two digital phone lines.”

While the technology itself was relatively immature, video communication was still seen as the ‘next big thing,’ driving unprecedented demand and adoption.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a couple of important factors shaped video conferencing. Originally premiered in 1996, HDTV broadcasting hit the mainstream and many Americans had their first experience with HD-quality content. Similarly, the internet spurred innovation across all fronts in the industry, making it possible to transmit data faster and cheaper than ever before.

Polycom video hardware, circa 2003

In founding Lifesize in 2003, we knew HD-quality video conferencing over the internet would be impactful. It was abundantly clear that the market for video conferencing was global and significant, though it remained to be seen how it would be deployed, scaled and used.

Reaching maturity: The cloud arms race

Since 2009, there has been no greater influence on video conferencing than the industry-wide shift to software-as-a-service and the corresponding adoption of SaaS technologies in the enterprise.

The first wave of cloud video solutions — namely Skype, MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger — all targeted the consumer segment. Shortly thereafter, now-legacy B2B entrants like WebEx and GoToMeeting launched, offering simple video conferencing capabilities as part of broader web solutions.

Prior to Salesforce’s IPO in 2004, the notion of deploying and running a mission-critical enterprise application in the cloud was almost unthinkable. Yet, in the years since, businesses have become increasingly comfortable — to the point of preferring — applications that are built for and deployed in the cloud.

All grown up: Delivering on the promise

Tying it back to where we find ourselves at present, Eric and his team at Zoom were quick to recognize the momentum towards cloud and deserve credit for improving an aspect and lingering complaint around video conferencing that has long inhibited adoption — the user experience. By delivering a consistently reliable and intuitive experience, Zoom changed the perception that video conferencing is difficult or cumbersome.

That said, there’s still significant opportunity in modernizing the meeting room. There’s progress to be made in democratizing ultra-high definition 4K video through the cloud. Almost every organization around the world is reevaluating its suite of enterprise-grade collaboration tools to connect distributed workforces. According to analyst firm Frost & Sullivan, a $13.82 billion global video conferencing market exists over the next five years.

In my capacity as CEO of Lifesize, I could not be more encouraged by and excited about the opportunity in front of us. Lifesize, Zoom — all of us are going to help define this new era for video communication and finally deliver on the promise made decades ago.