Zoom Offering Hardware As a Service Offering (zdnet.com) 32
Zoom is teaming up with four video conferencing hardware makers to launch Zoom Hardware as a Service, designed to make Zoom Rooms and Zoom Phone more available to enterprises. ZDNet reports: The hardware providers in the package are DTEN, Neat, Poly, and Yealink. The hardware and Zoom bundles give tech buyers a monthly fixed price that varies by system and support by Zoom. Neat and DTEN have already designed hardware systems revolving around Zoom, which has become a household name with growth to match following the remote work shift during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zoom's Hardware as a Service (HaaS) pricing varies depending on hardware. For instance, Zoom Phone hardware runs from $5.99 per device for the Poly VVX 250 to $50 a month for the Yealink CP960. Zoom Hardware as a Service doesn't include software license costs.
The Zoom Rooms Hardware as a Service plans are pricier than Zoom Phone options. Pricing for Zoom Rooms hardware range from the Neat.bar with Neat.Pad controller at $110 a month per device to Poly systems that range from $100 a month to $150 a month. Software licensing costs aren't included. Zoom HaaS like other as-a-service efforts provides low upfront costs and predictable budgeting as well as the ability to scale up or down and get managed support.
The Zoom Rooms Hardware as a Service plans are pricier than Zoom Phone options. Pricing for Zoom Rooms hardware range from the Neat.bar with Neat.Pad controller at $110 a month per device to Poly systems that range from $100 a month to $150 a month. Software licensing costs aren't included. Zoom HaaS like other as-a-service efforts provides low upfront costs and predictable budgeting as well as the ability to scale up or down and get managed support.
Bonus! (Score:2)
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And it comes pre-equipped with support for zoombombing out of the box!
Please pay attention to proper grammar, it becomes irritating otherwise. Here is a more correct way to express your idea here on Slashdot:
"And it comes pre-equipped with zoombombing support for zoombombing out of the box!"
Just read the title as an indication:
Zoom Offering Hardware As a Service Offering
Interesting offering (Score:3)
At the low end, $6.month for a VVX-250 seems a bit high since you can buy one new for under $90. Unless it is hard to setup and use tech support would be minimal. I can see a business that anticipates a temporary need for the VVX -250 leasing them, assuming there is no long term contract, as a way of dealing with WAH until people return to office. In addition, if there is no long term commitment, a company can try out the system and see how it works before deciding to buy.The one advantage to a long term lease would be if they include replacement of malfunctioning units, so companies do not need to replace ones that break at their own expense.
At the high end, it appears to be a 24 month break even point, so leasing would allow companies to scale down, if they anticipate doing so, and avoid a $2500 upfront cost. If replacement of non-working units is included the costs become more acceptable since it would eliminate an unexpected 42500 expense.
Off course, tax advantages may lower leasing costs depending on how items can be written off.
Now, had they bundled them with a paid Zoom account at those prices it would be a more compelling offer, even for sole proprietors that need to use Zoom regularly.
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It makes sense for the business environment where businesses are irrationally obsessed with renting everything without looking at the actual costs.
I have seen offerings where the outright purchase price of a device is in the ball park of 6 months of renting the same device and still get pressure to go for the rental option, and the device wouldn't qualify for a refresh from vendor for 3 years. Even though it would be cheaper to buy a brand new one every 6 months, still some businesses would rent things.
Ther
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It makes sense for the business environment where businesses are irrationally obsessed with renting everything without looking at the actual costs.
I have seen offerings where the outright purchase price of a device is in the ball park of 6 months of renting the same device and still get pressure to go for the rental option, and the device wouldn't qualify for a refresh from vendor for 3 years. Even though it would be cheaper to buy a brand new one every 6 months, still some businesses would rent things.
There is an utter obsession with avoiding capital expense and doing operational expense and vendors keep making new offerings lower and lower down the line. At this point I'd not be too surprised at renting dry erase markers.
While I get your point, the lease vs. buy decision is not that simple. Sometimes tax laws make it more advantageous to lease since you will get a bigger tax break than via depreciation and you free up cash for other purchases.
Re: Interesting offering (Score:3)
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...businesses are irrationally obsessed with renting everything ....
... bigger tax break than via depreciation and you free up cash for other purchases.
In the U.S, depreciation is only required on items over $2500, so leasing a Zoom phone would not result in a tax benefit. Maximizing free-cash-flow is much more likely in this case.
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It's not irrational at all in the US. If you rent, the rental fee is deducted from income for purposes of taxation at the time of payment. If you buy, you have to depreciate over the course of a few years.
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POTS went away from this almost 40 years ago. I remember when my parents stopped renting the phone from the telco and bought a handset outright...
https://www.nytimes.com/1982/1... [nytimes.com]
'Round and 'round we go.
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You don't have to depreciate the sorts of products that Zoom is rentitng out (well, maybe a handful at the very top end meet the threshold). You would not depreciate a $100 dollar device, it would just be expense.
Wuh... (Score:2)
Zoom is offering an offering? Awesome!
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More! (Score:5, Funny)
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Truly an unmet demand (Score:2)
What business has NOT thought to themselves that they need to run a conferencing app infamous for insecurity and for spying on its users on camera- and microphone-equipped hardware provided by the company making the app?
To paraphrase Xzibit, they heard you liked companies snooping on your calls, so they added sketchy hardware so you can be spied on during your teleconference while you are being spied on during your teleconference.
"HaaS"... (Score:3)
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Yes. It is merging the obsession with cloud for IT and the obsession with capex avoidance to milk unreasonable amounts of money from businesses that in a sane world would know better.
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Isn't that just another word for "renting"?
Even worse, the whole -AAS thing is supposed to be served from "the cloud", so having a physical thing at the client side makes no sense at all.
Just marketing trying to be relevant...
Seems like a good way to not get stuck (Score:2)
with outdated conferencing hardware.
Or for places that only need occasional conferencing.
I mean it's not the 1990's with dedicated ISDN lines for video conferencing and thousands of dollars worth of cameras and tube televisions to view something that today has the resolution of a potato.
Why? Who needs this? (Score:1)
I honestly don't get it.
At my company we somehow manage to have all hands meetings with tens of thousands of people with nothing more than laptops.
Are we missing out on something?
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I honestly don't get it.
At my company we somehow manage to have all hands meetings with tens of thousands of people with nothing more than laptops.
Are we missing out on something?
Well, for the modern American business only Zoom has the proper abundance of security holes.
They're Doing It Wrong (Score:1)
Personally, I think that most services could make a working business model of offering appliance (server) hardware and paid support. The idea is simple, with a couple of caveats:
- Offer a 1U server with some verifiable lightweight (server) OS with your server software, either open or closed source.
- Let the purchasing company deal with securing the device behind the appropriate hardware.
- Offer before-encryption filte
Ma Bell (Score:3)
Zoom Offering Hardware As a Service Offering
Wasn't Ma Bell doing that a century ago, and wasn't it called "renting"? Seems more explanatory than that convoluted title about offering an offering.
$3.99 outlet fee + $2.99 box + $1.99 cable card (Score:2)
cable co's do it as well.
it's a lease (Score:3)