tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311925712012-02-16T15:05:12.762-08:00Web Conferencing Best Practices, Web-Based Selling Tips, News from a Cisco Insider (http://davidchao.typepad.com)David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comBlogger811100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-72257644389501914042009-10-03T15:00:00.001-07:002009-10-03T15:00:38.261-07:00

If you are a non-profit organization, you need to get connected with TechSoup.org which provides information, resources and support for any technology need or requirement. TechSoup helps non-profits leverage technology to execute their goals and objectives. If you need consultation, a trusted advisor or an experienced organization that works specifically with non-profits on technology projects,

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-56654676851748166402009-10-03T14:58:00.001-07:002009-10-03T15:00:21.858-07:00

In January, I did a product review on an email management application called, Xobni, "inbox" spelled backwards. Loved the application then and loving it even more now.Since that posting, Xobni invited me to this year's Sales 2.0 this past March in San Francisco where I was finally able to put names to faces: Eric Grafstrom: VP of Business Development and Matt Brenzina: Co-Founder, who happens to

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-25797861133950957902009-10-03T14:57:00.003-07:002009-10-03T14:58:13.676-07:00

When you are good at something, it's very easy to rely on that strength to get you through most situations. You know you are good at it an it's worked in the past. Don't fix if it's not broken right? I get this but often times, what once worked in the past does not work in the present. One needs to constantly find ways to get better and improve. A colleague of mine is a tennis player and he's an

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-38901839763072031692009-10-03T14:57:00.001-07:002009-10-03T14:57:18.368-07:00

Every leadership book or article that I have ever come across always focuses on top leadership qualities, probably the easiest way to look at leadership I suppose. Select a handful of top companies and their respective CEO's and see what they have in common. Jack Welch: ex-GE CEO, John Chambers: Cisco, Steve Jobs: Apple, Meg Whitman: ex-CEO EBAY, Jeff Bezos: Amazon, Warren Buffett: Berkshire

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-60361853362551934402009-10-03T14:50:00.001-07:002009-10-03T14:50:53.958-07:00

Yesterday I provided information on CEO pay cuts from some of the largest companies in the US. I did some research tonight to see what companies are paying their CEO's top dollar even in the midst of painful downsizing and economic challenges.2008 CEO Salaries:Michael Jeffries of Abercrombie & Fitch: 39% increase in pay, though the company's stock fell 72% and he cut 9% of staff.Mark Hurd of HP:

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-30439793802975105922009-03-06T20:46:00.000-08:002009-03-06T20:47:42.409-08:00

iLinc lays off sales team!!!The writing was on the wall as iLinc deregistered from the stock exchange on Feb 13th. iLinc has officially laid off a large portion of their sales force! iLinc has approximately 80 employees but the actual number of those laid off has not been confirmed.Not sure if and when the company will officially close its door but I can only imagine that the investors and

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-90377822872882194832009-03-06T20:45:00.000-08:002009-03-06T20:46:30.102-08:00

Yesterday I attended day 1of the Sales 2.0 Conference 2009 in San Francisco hosted by Gerhard Gschwandtner: Founder and CEO of Selling Power Inc and David Thompson: Founder and CEO of Genius.com Inc.The focus of the conference was, "How to Accelerate Sales in a Slow Economy." Most of the speakers stressed that the most successful companies in a down economy are the companies that are deploying

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-78259065566145136062009-03-02T14:22:00.000-08:002009-03-02T14:22:01.183-08:00

The Federal Department of Finance in Australia will deploy 20 Telepresence units: 13, 3-screen CTS 3000's (USD: $299,000) and seven single screen CTS 1000's (USD: $59,000) to link seven Commonwealth offices, Prime Minister and Cabinet Offices and the offices of Premiers and Chief Minister agencies in every state and territory.This is the largest Government deployment of Cisco Telepresence in the

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-19722108266658175942009-03-01T14:21:00.000-08:002009-03-01T15:09:47.906-08:00

RescueTime is an great web-based application that helps you manage your time by providing real-time stats on where you are spending most of your time and which applications are you using the most. This information helps you optimize your day so you can have the most productive and efficient day possible.To RescueTime's credit, they have been mentioned in The New York Times, Newsweek, US News,

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-59331290035351742062009-03-01T14:20:00.000-08:002009-03-01T14:21:08.038-08:00

We all know that there is a huge market opportunity for telepresence at the enterprise level. From what I have heard, telepresence is the fastest growing product line at Cisco and John Chambers: CEO will continue to push telepresence as it's one of the top 5 corporate initiatives. In fact, John Chambers has said that his own company hosts 4,000 telepresence meetings per week!What about the

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-77221137571992959552009-03-01T14:17:00.000-08:002009-03-01T14:20:25.300-08:00

Act-On Software is a spectacular e-marketing application that enables marketers to create and manage programs for demand generation and lead qualification while working in conjunction with WebEx Event Center, a webinar-based delivery platform solution.With any demand generation and lead qualification system, the goal is to generate demand/leads, qualify prospects, and close deals. The challenge

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-21592259136908749832009-03-01T14:16:00.002-08:002009-03-01T14:17:11.228-08:00

About a month ago, Citrix and Global IP Solutions, a provider of IP technology, entered into a OEM license and distribution agreement to provide VoIP and PSTN audio conferencing for GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar. I'm curious what happened to the $26.6M investment Citrix made in Nov 2008 to acquire VAPPS, a provider of VoIP solutions. From my understanding, the acquisition was made so Citrix could

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-11610080102831128902009-03-01T14:16:00.001-08:002009-03-01T14:16:33.137-08:00

The Apple 3G iPhone now supports WebEx Meetings! This is the first device to ever support "Mobile Meetings." Leveraging Apple's 3G Network and WebEx's MediaTone Network for "Any Device Connectivity," iPhone owners can host and join WebEx meetings.With already over 50,000 downloads from the Apple App Store and a Top 10 Business Application rating along with the "Best in Show" Award from MacWorld,

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-52782513618527924532009-03-01T14:14:00.000-08:002009-03-01T14:15:45.132-08:00

Hackers are targeting a zero-day vulnerability affecting Adobe Reader and Acrobat with malicious PDF files. Adobe officials say a fix for the issue will be available for Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat in the coming weeks. (This vulnerability has raised some concern of starting Adobe Connect meetings directly from PDF files.)Hackers have once again turned to PDF files to spread their wares, this

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-46463207378354708122009-03-01T14:11:00.000-08:002009-03-01T14:16:03.905-08:00

On February 13, iLinc, a provider of web conferencing services, filed paperwork with the SEC to end the company's registration under the SEC and will no longer be listed on the American Stock Exchange.The iLinc Board of Directors concluded that the benefits of being a publically-traded company and having to report financial numbers no longer made sense and that de-registering was in the best

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-57864938555779877482009-02-02T21:04:00.000-08:002009-02-02T21:07:10.965-08:00

Evernote CEO, Paul Libin likes to call Evernote the "external brain," where things that you typically cannot remember on a day to day basis can be automatically stored and retrieved at a later time, thus never ever forgetting anything. Evernote is an easy to use application that enables you to quickly capture data, pictures, information, virtually anything you can think of or see and store it

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-31736434094472605922009-02-02T21:03:00.000-08:002009-02-02T21:04:10.510-08:00

Citrix lost 4.2% on net income for Q4 as license sales declined. In response to the decrease in its number, Citrix will reduce 10% of its global workforce as a cost cutting measure as the downturn in the economy has hurt the demand for their technology products. The job cut is expected to save the company $50M in employee expenses yearly before taxes.The first set of Citrix lay-offs were expected

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-47889749627779031972009-01-14T21:06:00.000-08:002009-01-14T21:08:36.284-08:00

Bill Gates called Xobni, "The next generation of social networking."I have read about Xobni, inbox spelled backwards, in a variety of product reviews but never had the chance to download it and give it a try. There are just too many cool applications to try but with enough word of mouth, I finally decided to try Xobni.Sooo impressive!It was a super easy download process with a quick MSFT Outlook

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-55169246144233832942009-01-08T21:57:00.000-08:002009-01-08T21:58:57.963-08:00

Back in 1999, I use to play pick up soccer in Mountain View, CA at a park called Eagle Park. I remember playing against a bunch of people who wore shirts that said "Google" on them. I had no idea what Google was at the time and I was working for a e-commerce company...who is still a publically-traded company and doing well today but to go back to 1999 and work for Google, WOW!!! Nonetheless, I am

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-15691368297819032112009-01-08T21:54:00.000-08:002009-01-08T21:56:48.938-08:00

A few months ago I read an interesting article by a news writer, Zach Church. I don't remember where I saw the article or what the exact title was. I presume is was something around "software audits," since that article is the motivation of this blog. In summary, Zach's article was about a CIO from Austin, TX that got slapped with a $10,000 fine on his Microsoft Exchange licenses and a $100,000

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-37060090436200520022009-01-03T09:20:00.000-08:002009-01-03T09:22:02.911-08:00

How many times have you heard people tell you, "You just need more product knowledge, then you'll start to close more business." All I ever hear is how important product knowledge is. Yes, product knowledge is important but how about teaching me how to use the product knowledge to close business. Most companies do not focus enough on fundamental sales training and development. Sad but true. For

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-30452432833988704202009-01-03T09:19:00.000-08:002009-01-03T09:20:24.998-08:00

"Do more than is expected of you.""Do more than is expected of you.""Do more than is expected of you." This is one of my favorite quotes from Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich," so I thought I would type it out three times to be dramatic. I've read the book multiple times and each time I read it, it's just as inspiring as the first time. Some truths are just timeless, this is one of them. "

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-12307098730763916582009-01-03T09:17:00.000-08:002009-01-03T09:18:39.711-08:00

Citrix ventures into the audio conferencing business with their acquisition of Vapps, based in New Jersey, for $26.6M. With the economy where it's at, the acquisition isn't that bad of an idea since there are many small business out there with cash-flow problems which an acquisition like this would solve. Citrix also benefits with a discounted purchase price. (Vapps has about 15 employees and

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-84722355293505639202009-01-03T09:15:00.000-08:002009-01-03T09:17:32.048-08:00

As I mentioned in a blog in October...that Telepresence would enter the SMB and consumer markets, John Chambers: CEO of Cisco, has predicted that Telepresence will be in homes in less than a year. http://davidchao.typepad.com/webconferencingexpert/2008/10/telepresence-ma.html Brett Caine, President of Citrix, sees things differently. Brett Caine sees little need or demand for video at the SMB

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-21910019494402903952009-01-02T20:35:00.000-08:002009-01-02T20:36:49.435-08:00

Earlier this month, IBM introduced its newest cloud-based service for web conferencing, Lotus Sametime Unyte 8.2 It should be noted that the cloud-based portion of this "new" offering comes from IBM's acquisition of WebDialogs in August 2007. Not many would have imagined the big players like IBM, Oracle, Microsoft and SAP move toward cloud-based offerings but it's clear that they need to to

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-85364130370454387832009-01-02T20:05:00.000-08:002009-01-02T20:22:05.688-08:00

Interesting stats from Comscore...Top Social Media Sites (ranked by unique worldwide visitors November, 2008; ComScore) Blogger (222 million)Facebook (200 million)MySpace (126 million)Wordpress (114 million)Windows Live Spaces (87 million)Yahoo Geocities (69 million)Flickr (64 million)hi5 (58 million)Orkut (46 million)Six Apart (46 million)Baidu Space (40 million)Friendster (31 million)56.com (29

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-74470346496796152462009-01-02T20:00:00.000-08:002009-01-02T20:05:08.777-08:00

Back in 1999, I use to play pick up soccer in Mountain View, CA at a park called Eagle Park. I remember playing against a bunch of people who wore shirts that said "Google" on them. I had no idea what Google was at the time and I was working for a e-commerce company at the time...who is still a publically-traded company and doing well but to go back to 1999 and work for Google, WOW!!!Nonetheless,

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-29045410007266890842007-10-15T21:24:00.000-07:002007-10-15T21:31:06.304-07:00

Worldwide total software revenue for software as a service (SaaS) within the enterprise software markets is projected to surpass $5.1 billion in 2007, a 21 percent increase from 2006 revenue, according to Gartner, Inc. The market is poised for strong growth through 2011, when worldwide revenue will reach $11.5 billion. (Within e-learning and Web conferencing, SaaS accounts for more than 60

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-91936992286106347552007-10-15T21:23:00.000-07:002007-10-15T21:24:53.108-07:00

According to Barry O'Sullivan, SVP of the voice technology group at Cisco Systems, the core of UC is the network itself, which the company sees as the unifying force behind the convergence of IP telephony, e-mail, instant messaging, contact center applications and other technologies. (This is in-line with my Collaboration Predictions for 2006. So I'm 2 years off...) "At Cisco, we believe we're

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-26683197270725008302007-10-15T21:22:00.000-07:002007-10-15T21:23:34.770-07:00

Cisco Systems has announced that it is buying Latigent, a maker of call center reporting software to strengthen its own software business. Financial terms have not been disclosed for this acquisition. This is the fifth acquisition that Cisco has done in 2007. February: Reactivity ($135M) and Five Across ($ n/a)March: WebEx ($3.2B) and Utah Street Network ($ n/a)April: Ozon ($ n/a)May: Broadware

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-85652402165797072612007-10-15T21:20:00.000-07:002007-10-15T21:21:57.017-07:00

As predicted, 2007 has been a year of consolidation for web collaboration companies/technologies. Google and Marratech for undisclosed amountCisco and WebEx Communications for $3.2 billion Now, AT&T acquires Interwise for $121M. Interwise has about 130 employees with $20M in sales revenue and based in Cambridge, MA. AT&T said that it expects to retain the Interwise management team, which is

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-22183388180089505382007-09-29T22:10:00.000-07:002007-09-29T22:11:04.954-07:00

Cisco is formalized a channel strategy to sell WebEx via an Agent Model starting next year. Keith Goodwin, SVP of Worldwide Channels at Cisco has been tasked with putting together the channel strategy to help scale WebEx globally. The goal is to compensate partners for reselling WebEx on standard 12 month or 24 month terms. Cisco captures and recognized revenue for at least a year and the

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-39108518224365764702007-09-04T14:53:00.000-07:002007-09-04T14:54:59.009-07:00

Convoq has decided to pursue different business ventures and will discontinue its web collaboration focus. Below is from Christopher Herot's personal blog. Christopher is co-founder of Convoq.Convoq, Inc., the company Chuck Digate and I co-founded in 2002, has been renamed Zingdom Communications, Inc. to reflect our new direction and new product line. Chuck has moved on, but over the past five

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-45809095956064706152007-09-04T14:51:00.000-07:002007-09-04T14:53:30.223-07:00

IBM has acquired WebDialogs, a web conferencing provider in MA, that has managed to stay in business since its inception in 1998 by offering its services to more established companies to resell under their own brand. Through the acquisition, IBM has rebranded WebDialogs to "Unyte," and will be part of the IBM Software Lotus division.Financial terms have not been disclosed, which typically means

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-72603981907820803182007-09-04T14:49:00.000-07:002007-09-04T14:50:40.396-07:00

WebEx has launched an iPhone compatible version of its PCNow on demand remote access service for wireless devices and desktops.The iPhone users can access desktop PC files, desktop search tools, Microsoft Outlook corporate mail, contacts, tasks and appointments from their handsets via the phone's Safari browser. The service also comes with SkypeOut functionality which allows users to make

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-62474704868285825132007-09-04T14:47:00.000-07:002007-09-04T14:49:21.455-07:00

Personally, I love tracking Google and seeing what new ventures they are pursuing. Word is that Google is looking to increase its prescense in the Chinese market. (China happens to be the fastest growing internet market in the world.)Well-know search site like Sina.com and Soso.com are already Google partners. Talks about an acquisition of Baidu, NetEase.com, or Sohu.com are never ending but most

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-20392742560222719352007-06-13T20:47:00.000-07:002007-06-13T20:48:24.985-07:00

Is the audio service really free? Well, it depends on how you look at it and more importantly that you are aware of what you are actually getting...or not getting. Technically, FreeConferenceCall.com does not charge you anything. You will never get a bill from them. Who actually pays for the calls are the callers you have invited to call your number! Essentially, FreeConferenceCall.com is just

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-50483016107322795832007-06-13T20:46:00.001-07:002007-06-13T20:47:40.565-07:00

Genesys Conferencing announced that its American Depositary Shares (ADS) will discontinue trading on the NASDAQ Global Market.

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-58109605732412403562007-06-09T19:43:00.000-07:002007-06-09T19:44:37.452-07:00

As companies continue to hire top talent, they also realize the need to allow top talent to work from remote or home office locations. Supporting remote workers is huge challenge that IT organizations are trying to figure out. Many remote workers have individual preferences setup, are not always logged onto the corporate network, or have special security and firewall configurations which make

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-78895436283254238322007-06-09T19:42:00.000-07:002007-06-09T19:43:48.637-07:00

Sprint Nextel Corp. has joined the other telecom companies who have also sued independent phone operators and Internet calling services for alleged “traffic pumping.” Sprint Nextel’s complaints are virtually identical to filings by AT&T. and Qwest Communications. The carrier said that local exchange companies have been partnering with companies that offer free conference or international calls

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-55181958562430781682007-06-09T19:40:00.000-07:002007-06-09T19:42:12.495-07:00

The web conferencing market continues to grow at an accelerated rate. According to Frost & Sullivan, the web conferencing market, which was valued at $725M in 2005, is forecasted to reach almost $3B in 2011, a compound annual growth rate of about 25.9%. (Data Source: Frost & Sullivan) Much of the global market capture will be from Small and Mid-sized Businesses and the international markets.

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-29854800613678853462007-05-03T21:53:00.000-07:002007-05-03T21:54:09.562-07:00

In every sales engagement, you can take a variety of different approaches but in general they can be categorized as Direct, Indirect, Divisional, and Containment. Understanding the differences and when to use them will increase your win ratio dramatically. The most common strategy is the Direct Strategy. It's the easiest because you simply try to overpower your competition by a 3 to 1 ratio,

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-91885491130948063982007-04-20T11:22:00.000-07:002007-04-20T11:23:25.826-07:00

Google has quietly acquired Marratech, a video conferencing start-up company based in Sweden. Marratech was incorporated in 1998, has less than 20 employees and does about $1M in revenue. They were originally a spin-off from the Centre for Distance-Spanning Technology at he Lulea University of Technology. On a personal level, I always thought WebEx might be a great acquisition target for Google

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-90739743104238597612007-04-05T20:07:00.000-07:002007-04-05T20:13:45.083-07:00

In my sales career, I have been fortunate to have worked with some of the best sales reps. It's always interesting to examine the characteristics of the very top performers compared to the average performers. What is the secret formula? Is it product knowledge, sales experience, vertical market expertise, asking the "right" questions, or having a defined sales process? Perhaps a bit of all of

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-5982647282300023912007-03-29T20:51:00.000-07:002007-04-06T17:56:03.059-07:00

GoToWebinar, an extension of GoToMeeting, has gained some buzz in the market, mainly because it's so cheap. Kind of makes you wonder 1) How Citrix is making money from it? 2) How good or reliable is the solution? The old adage, "You pay for what you get," certainly rings true with all the GoTo products and GoToWebinar is nothing short of this. Example 1. When sending out email invitations to a

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-91292808090904062312007-03-16T23:36:00.001-07:002007-03-16T23:36:47.718-07:00

Cisco to Acquire WebEx: Enabling Collaboration in the SMB Market March 15, 2007 - CDO Charles Giancarlo speaks on acquisition: The combination of Cisco and WebEx will deliver compelling solutions accelerating this next wave of business communications. Listen to the podcast

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-83478030831842648122007-03-16T21:16:00.001-07:002007-03-16T21:16:50.939-07:00

Earlier this week, Cisco (CSCO) entered a definitive agreement to acquire WebEx (WEBX) for $3.2 billion cash buy out. WebEx CEO Subrah Iyar must have had his negotiation hat on as he delivered a hefty 25% premium on the deal for all WebEx shareholders. It's interesting to me that Cisco is buying WebEx for $3.2 billion when WebEx's 2006 revenue was $380M. The numbers just don't add up unless there

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-45451044676734232092007-03-06T20:09:00.000-08:002007-03-06T20:11:25.566-08:00

Imagine having the ability to access your PC from either another remote PC or your mobile device, such as your cell phone! Key Capabilities of PC Now 3.0: You can run any application and access the entire desktopYou can access your email, files, folders and your computer's network resourcesYou can transfer files to and from your remote computer You can print a document on the remote

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-44700727600147168392007-02-13T19:51:00.001-08:002007-02-13T19:51:35.128-08:00

The other day I was talking to a small business owner of an advertising agency in New York City with about 35 employees. We got into a lengthy conversation about how his company differentiates itself from all the other New York ad agencies, what some of the common marketing mistakes typical businesses make and what he wants people to think about when they hear his company's name. What I found

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-69246726419709960752007-02-13T19:49:00.000-08:002007-02-13T19:50:40.507-08:00

WebEx once again came out on top in the e-learning world capturing the two top industry awards by ELearning Magazine's Best of Elearning! 2006 Awards. WebEx won for Best Virtual Classroom and Best Web Seminar Solution. Elearning! readers cited WebEx Training Center's reliability, performance, and ease of use as key components. Other big pluses were: Seamless integration with multiple learning

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1171091577183038512007-02-09T23:11:00.001-08:002007-02-09T23:12:57.240-08:00

Demonstrating significant annualized growth, WebEx (Nasdaq: WEBX), the leader in on-demand applications for collaborative business on the web, has made the Forbes 25 Fastest-Growing Technology Companies list for the fifth year in a row. Only two other companies, both WebEx customers, have made this prestigious list five years running.“Our continued success showcases the strength of the on-demand

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1171091497145963402007-02-09T23:11:00.000-08:002007-02-09T23:13:52.636-08:00

The well respected Credit Suisse initiated coverage on WebEx (WEBX) with a neutral rating and a $50 price target. Research Analysts, Jason Maynard and Bryan McGrath agree that, "WebEx is the premier player in the Web conferencing and collaboration market. In our opinion, the company boasts a vastly superior technology delivery platform and a pure On demand model." Key advantages for WebEx:

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1171091342707876742007-02-09T23:08:00.000-08:002007-02-09T23:09:02.796-08:00

Issues with Adobe applications are starting to become so common place it's scary. Again, why take on the much added risk with a solution that does not have any 3rd party security certifications? Though Adobe Connect and Adobe Acrobat are different solutions, the Connect solution is 100% dependent on Acrobat.I previously mentioned that Adobe released a Security Bulletin in October of 2006 for

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1171091276794993822007-02-09T23:07:00.000-08:002007-02-09T23:07:56.883-08:00

The Software as a Service model is certainly here to stay. I think there is a misconception that SaaS is geared only for the CRM market. Sure SaaS has been successful in this space, as seen by a short list of CRM providers listed below, but we are seeing more and more successful SaaS-based companies emerge in other markets: supply chain, email marketing, recruiting, content management, etc. SaaS

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1171091182385886842007-02-09T23:05:00.000-08:002007-02-09T23:06:43.753-08:00

It's important to know that web collaboration solutions are not created equal. Example, no other company, except WebEx, has 3rd party security certifications like WebTrust and SAS-70 Type I & II. With that in mind, buyers need to be aware of the risks of using un-secure technologies that have not passed stringent requirements from 3rd party security certification firms. Case in point: Adobe

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1166840842767737052006-12-22T18:23:00.000-08:002006-12-22T18:27:23.576-08:00

Deliotte & Touche named WebEx as part of their Fast 50 Program. From 2001 to 2005, Webex increased revenue a whopping 280%, earning them the #20th spot on the prestigious list. To qualify for the Technology Fast 50, companies must have had operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 2001 and $5,000,000 in 2005, be headquartered in North America, and be a company that owns proprietary

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1166678734236130082006-12-20T21:24:00.000-08:002006-12-20T21:25:34.450-08:00

WebEx released a plug-in that enables Yahoo instant messengers to "co-browse" websites at the same time. My wife and I actually used it the other day when she was showing me some XMAS presents she wanted to buy. In the past, she would copy and paste the URL's into IM. I would then have to click on the URL's and navigate on my own until I found the product she described to me over the phone. With

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1165422093390816892006-12-06T08:17:00.000-08:002006-12-06T08:21:33.593-08:00

The other night I was watching the Will Smith movie, "Hitch." Will Smith plays a date Dr who promises any man that he can help woe any woman. Throughout the movie he provides some pretty clever dating tips. The one that stood out to me was when he said, "You need to listen. That way when it's your turn to talk, you'll have something interesting to say."In sales, LISTENING is critical. Too many

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1165268669053155762006-12-04T13:42:00.000-08:002006-12-04T13:44:29.546-08:00

WebEx will be making a presentation to investors at the Lehman Brothers Global Technology Conference on Wednesday, December 6. A webcast and replay of each presentation will also be available on the company's investor relations website. Click Here to View the WebCast Thanks,David ChaoThe Web Conferencing Expert

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1165258685807363902006-12-04T10:55:00.000-08:002006-12-04T10:58:06.133-08:00

Confirmed by a close insider, last week Genesys laid-off a large part of its sales team and executive management team, mainly VP's. The reason...Genesys needed to shake things up since the company was not hitting the revenue target goals.Today's stock price for Genesys (GNSY) = $1.45 a shareI presume the numbers below played a large part in the lay-offs:Profit Margin: 0.30% [Lack of Profitability

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1165122889641839502006-12-02T21:12:00.000-08:002006-12-02T21:24:23.276-08:00

With the new Vista Operating System, Microsoft has once again proven that is stands behind it's traditional fat-client business model. Considering that Windows and Office account for more than 60% of the companies revenue, I suppose it make sense to stick with what has worked in the past. Only problem is that ultimately it's the customer that suffers in the end with the hefty annual fees for the

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1164064316767857052006-11-20T15:10:00.000-08:002006-11-20T15:12:02.676-08:00

In the "World Web Conferencing Market Report, 2006, Chart 1.15, by Frost & Sullivan, Breeze/Adobe Connect was listed in the "Others" category for market share meaning that Adobe Connect has less than a 0.3% market share in the on-demand space. WebEx has a 60%-plus market share in the same report. More on Adobe ConnectMany people do not know that Macromedia originally acquired the Breeze

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1164064204039572322006-11-20T15:08:00.000-08:002006-11-20T15:10:19.776-08:00

SugarCRM is an open source CRM application built on LAMP stack: Linux OS, Apache server, MySQL database server, and PHP language. With their open source architecture, over 2,000,000 downloads of their solution have taken place! Though they are not the current market leader in the on-demand CRM space, they are creating waves because of their unique value proposition: flexibility, customization,

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1163192326198660892006-11-10T12:57:00.000-08:002006-11-10T13:03:01.336-08:00

You can check out http://davidchao.typepad.com also....The WebEx Connect Strategy is already gaining acceptance and traction in the marketplace with recent partnership wins with Business Objects, Mindjet, FaceTime, Spring CM, BMC Software, OpSource Optimal, DreamFactory, AdvenNet/Zoho, and SugarCRM. The idea behind WebEx Connect is to extend the WebEx Network to 3rd party partners so they can

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1163051412155900602006-11-08T21:49:00.000-08:002006-11-08T21:55:25.760-08:00

According to Frost & Sullivan, the web conferencing market is currently valued at $725.4 million and projected to reach $2.9 billion in the next 5 years, which equates to a market growth rate of 24.4%! Even more shocking is that the web conferencing technology penetration rate is less than 5%!Frost & Sullivan also states that the web conferencing companies that are focused on integrating their

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1161570689982323352006-10-22T19:29:00.000-07:002006-10-24T19:50:28.096-07:00

Upon my return from Las Vegas, some very, very compelling news was waiting for me in my inbox..."Security Rivals Shut Out Of Microsoft Meeting." Microsoft hosted an online meeting last Thursday using their very own "Live Meeting" solution to discuss Windows Vista with Symantec and McAfee among others. About 15 minutes into the presentation, the meeting crashed and Symantec and McAfee were unable

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1160485324158437072006-10-10T06:00:00.000-07:002006-10-10T06:49:30.393-07:00

WebEx has launched "WebEx Connect," which consists of the WebEx Connect Grid and the WebEx Connect Workspace. Via the WebEx Connect Platform, people are connected and integrated with their most critical business applications. No longer is there a disconnect among people, process, and technology. The WebEx Connect Grid, provides a set of "connector" services so that any 3rd party application can

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1160279177173182832006-10-07T20:43:00.000-07:002006-11-20T15:16:13.863-08:00

A few weeks ago Adobe announced "Adobe Connect," which is simply a rebranded version of the recently acquired Macromedia Breeze application with Adobe Acrobat. Same capabilities as before, nothing really new except for the integration piece and now a different name. It looks like Adobe is doing the same thing Macromedia did when they acquired the Breeze technology from Presidia and the same thing

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1159244357397447782006-09-25T21:15:00.000-07:002006-09-25T21:19:22.626-07:00

I believe that one of the strategic IT objectives of all companies is to increase utilization and efficiency of existing infrastructure investments. Most companies have a hodgepodge of systems that each perform a unique set of functions. Sometimes these systems are designed to serve only the needs of either one region, one office, or one department. The problems that arises is a siloed IT

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1158383922644791302006-09-15T22:12:00.000-07:002006-09-16T11:12:33.580-07:00

Yesterday, the financial analysts at Robert W. Baird held firm on their "outperform" rating while raising the target price from $38 to $42.Casey Ryan from Nollenberger Capital set a price target of $40 on August 21st and with a close on Friday of $38.71, it looks like Casey is on point so far. Peter Goldmacher and Jim Bao, both analysts from Cowen and Company also maintain their "outperform"

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1158209944430590772006-09-13T21:53:00.000-07:002006-09-14T19:51:04.620-07:00

In reference to my Collaboration Predictions for 2006 back in February 2006, it seems as though parts of the predictions are coming true. Earlier this week, WebEx released the first enterprise-class on-demand application for enterprise instant messaging (EIM). EIM has more robust capabilities and compliance policies that the standard MSN, Yahoo IM, Trillian, Skype etc lack. (Instant Messaging has

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1158104996111239922006-09-12T16:48:00.000-07:002006-09-12T16:49:59.666-07:00

Take a look at my Linkedin.com profile. For those that are not familiar with Linkedin.com, it's a business networking site that connects you to old collegues or new business contacts.Check it out http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidchao

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1157866363652241122006-09-09T22:27:00.000-07:002006-09-09T22:34:19.656-07:00

Wainhouse Research recently released a new study on web conferencing and its impact on small businesses. Wainhouse Research had over 1,500 survey participants, of which 75% worked at companies with less than 500 employees. A majority of the small businesses leverage web conferencing as a competitive advantage to drive revenue, penetrate markets, and expand territory reach with minimal resources.

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1157038399958441462006-08-31T08:31:00.000-07:002006-08-31T08:33:23.480-07:00

Web 2.0 is simply a fancy name for the "next generation" of the Internet. It is a term used to reference the many different facets of how the Internet can be leveraged for business, development, communication, collaboration, e-commerce, etc.With the growing popularity of Software as a Service (SaaS), more and more companies are thinking about the possibilities of running all their traditional

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1156996068187443832006-08-30T20:45:00.000-07:002006-08-30T20:47:48.276-07:00

Every now and then I will come across a company that still uses NetMeeting as a customer-facing communication tool. I never understand why a company would subject their customers, partners, or prospects to the time consuming process required to establish a connection with NetMeeting. Imagine starting a customer meeting with, "Sure Mr. Customer, I can show you a quick demo of my product but can

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1156995880489152852006-08-30T20:41:00.000-07:002006-08-30T20:44:40.636-07:00

I have to admit that there has been quite a buzz about GoToMeeting, maybe because it's a $49 per month product offering from a pretty reputable company. Citrix is a pubically traded company that sells Enterprise Application Integration Software, so they sell traditional servers, gateways and software for load balancing, application development, and resource management (Their flagship

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1156995670022631592006-08-30T20:36:00.000-07:002006-08-30T20:41:10.170-07:00

Recently, I was at a technology symposium that focused on new emerging technologies and business process strategies. It soon became apparent to me that everything really revolved around helping companies become more productive, more agile, and more responsive to customer needs and market changes. It was all about "Convergent Collaboration." Many of my customers have been talking about "

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1156995375377706092006-08-30T20:35:00.000-07:002006-08-30T20:49:13.633-07:00

If you look at a typical sales force, leads are generated the old fashion way: cold calls. A few drawbacks of generating leads by cold calling: time consuming, low hit rate, lowers morale, and rejection. However, the grand daddy of them all is the overall high cost and low numbers produced from cold calling. As an example, if a sales rep's annual compensation is $100,000 a year, that means each

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1156995305037769632006-08-30T20:31:00.000-07:002006-08-30T20:48:22.366-07:00

The old adage of "Never outsource your mission-critical business functions or processes," no longer holds true. More and more companies are seeing the benefits of a Software as a Service (SaaS) business model. It enables companies to focus on revenue-generating activities and lets the service provider handle the product upgrades, hardware, performance and network connectivity. IT departments do

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1156994907533423442006-08-30T20:26:00.000-07:002006-08-30T20:50:56.080-07:00

In a recent online poll that I conducted, corporate productivity, operational efficiency, customer service, and revenue generation topped the list as to components that were strategic areas of focus, followed closely by product development/innovation and lead generation. The most common questions executives asked were the following: Productivity and Time Management: How do I do more with

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31192571.post-1153028828443409952006-07-15T22:46:00.000-07:002006-08-30T20:29:59.070-07:00

Often times I hear people tell me, "David, my product is becoming a commodity. How can I win more deals when I am selling a commoditized product?" If you think this is the case, you are dead wrong. How has Toyota climbed to the #1 selling car manufacturer, out selling Ford and GM? What about Kleenex and Coca-Cola?Differentiation is critical!How do you explain Miller Beer capturing huge market

David Chao (Twitter: @davidchao)http://www.blogger.com/profile/01538938969388451113noreply@blogger.com