During my tenure leading Corporate Marketing at Highfive, the first company that introduced #WebRTC cloud-based #videoconferencing, we found ourselves in direct competition with Zoom. From my perspective, having hands-on experience with a variety of platforms like Zoom, Webex, GoTo Meeting, Skype for Business & Microsoft Teams), and Google Meet, Highfive at the time delivered a more elegant and user-friendly experience. However, what Highfive didn’t offer was something that Zoom did—“a freemium model," coupled with the ability to scale globally almost overnight, particularly in the education vertical—which would come into play during the pandemic.
I vividly recall March 16, 2020. I was sitting in Highfive CEO Joe Manuele’s office when we decided to shut down the office and send everyone home due to the escalating COVID-19 outbreak. At that moment, it felt like the end of an era for Highfive. Fast forward to today, and it’s clear that Zoom has emerged as the definitive leader in the video conferencing space.
Reading Zoom’s announcement on LinkedIn, I’m reminded of something analyst Dave Michels said to me years ago: “Zoom’s secret sauce is their ability to move quickly.” And once again, Dave hits the nail on the head. With Zoom's latest announcement—offering the capability to host up to 1 million attendees in a single webinar—it begs the question: Is it game over for competing webinar solutions like Adobe Connect, GoToWebinar, Webex Webinars, ON24, and BrightTALK? I’m curious to hear what Dave and other leading analysts Zeus Kerravala, Roopam Jain, Denise Lund, and Jim Lundy have to say?
Zoom’s relentless pace of innovation and adaptation has kept it at the forefront of the industry, continually pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in UC&C (and now #AI-based #ContactCenter and #RevenueIntelligence). As we look ahead, the question isn’t just whether other platforms can keep up Zoom's pace of innovation—but whether they can even compete long term. Zoom’s partnership with Anthropic, bolstered by the recent announcement of OpenAI co-founder John Schulman joining the Anthropic team, may have just put Zoom in the proverbial catbird's seat. I have to believe the Anthropic-Zoom partnership will only accelerate Zoom's future innovations. Amazing work, Eric S. Yuan (he / him / his)!
Virtual events just got bigger! Zoom Webinars can now host 1 million attendee capacities 🎉 ➡️ https://lnkd.in/g-huSP5k
Zoom Webinars include capabilities that provide greater flexibility and reliability in the world of virtual events, delivering unparalleled webinar experiences for both hosts and attendees.
Expand your guest list and get hosting 🌟
Sr. Manager, Business Development at Cisco
10moWelcome to to the 100,000 club. Webex was lonely serving these large customers