Founded in 2003, LifeSize pioneered HD (high definition) video communications, with all systems architected from the ground up for High Definition video communications. LifeSize aims to deliver a superior quality of experience to users with HD conferencing solutions that are easy to use and uniquely flexible to fit into any environment. The company also focuses on ensuring the best performance at any bandwidth. Therefore, LifeSize delivers HD video at just 768kbps, which enables more users in more environments to benefit from HD video communications. This is all in line with the company’s vision and mission of extending video accessibility beyond the boardroom to desktop and notebook users.
User demand and the evolving technology are both contributing to the expansion of conferencing adoption. Elaborating on this William Yu, regional director, LifeSize, says, “Video communications is much more powerful than just audio communications. It is proven that attention, retention and comprehension are increased when people are face-to-face. The need to be more effective with the resources at hand is a requirement of any organization today.”
He adds, “Video technology has matured and HD technology has advanced so that conferencing is now considered a fundamental tool in many organizations’ communications infrastructure. At the same time, IP networks have become more robust and affordable, whilst advanced video codes can now deliver greater performance. LifeSize leveraged this technology convergence and designed an architecture that enables HD video to be delivered at unprecedented price performance levels. Our ‘glass to glass’ advantage drives design efficiencies so we can maximize the quality of the user experience at affordable pricing.”
In today’s business climate, organizations have mandates to stay competitive and reduce carbon emissions, and on the whole, have to do more with less – less budget, less travel, less staff, etc. LifeSize has harnessed these challenges by delivering a communications experience that is as real as being physically present in the same room for all conferencing participants – thus, affording users the benefit of effective communication and collaboration across distance.
Measurable dollar savings from reduced travel costs is a key priority, particularly in today’s challenging economic climate. “LifeSize has met this requirement with thousands of customers to date. As a matter of fact, for the cost of one business-class ticket, customers can purchase a LifeSize HD video communications system – guaranteeing immediate ROI.”
According to Yu, with LifeSize, users no longer have to waste hours or days travelling to meet face-to-face, which leads to more than just quantifiable travel cost savings. In addition, organizations are adopting HD video for the ‘soft’ benefits – including reduced travel time, faster decision making, improved productivity, quicker time to market, a more connected globally distributed work teams, which drive competitive advantages. At the same time, green initiatives are met as reduced travel limits carbon emissions and an organization’s carbon footprint.
Specific growth areas where HD video and telepresence communications are key solutions include:
- Enterprises refreshing and expanding their video communications networks
- Small and medium businesses adopting video conferencing for the first time
- Healthcare – enabling telemedicine, enhancing distance training and education, extending the reach of medical experts
- Education – facilitating distance learning, bringing the world to the classroom
- Government
- Telejustice
- Banking
LifeSize currently has a direct presence in eight countries across the Asia Pacific responsible for sales, marketing, and channel partnerships. Asia Pacific for the company consists of six sub-regions, namely, Japan, India, China, Korea, Australia and Rest of Asia.
Yu shares that the company has gained tremendous momentum in the past few years, doubling their revenue every year.
“So far, our focus has been in top tier markets of China, Japan, India and Australia. Recently, we started to expand our focus in Korea and Taiwan. We have sales enablers in both Hong Kong and Singapore to further support our sales managers and channels across Asia Pacific,” he expands.
LifeSize does not go direct at all, so all sales are indirect through distributors and VARs.
A challenge the company has to address, says Yu is that it needs to change the market perception that they are a small company and be recognized as a medium-large video conferencing vendor. He adds, “We plan to establish executive briefing centers and demo facilities across the region. In addition, we will expand our Asia Pacific footprint through additional direct resources and channel partnerships to ensure wider distributions. And finally, we will scale our operation by expanding our support resources, both in frontend sales and backend support – including OM, finance, HR, and logistics.”
Just how has the global economic slow-down affected LifeSize in the region? Yu’s answer: “We are in a counter-cyclical business since LifeSize delivers solutions that organizations need in this economic climate. We enable organizations to save time, save money, bridge their globally dispersed work teams and stay competitive. As such, LifeSize is adding 600-800 new customers each quarter – which is a testament to the need for and adoption of HD video communications. Organizations are turning to HD video to drive their cost-savings and business-efficiency.”
Elaborating on LifeSize’s channel approach in the Asia Pacific, he shares that they use a hybrid channel model:
- Distributor (locally and regionally) – here, LifeSize shares the responsibility with Tier-1 distributors to seek, identify, recruit, and develop 2nd-tier channel networks
- Direct VAR for particular vertical markets
This model has been successfully applied to China, Japan, India, Australia, and Korea. There is also a plan to engage and establish relationships with telco and broadband service providers to target SMBs/SMEs and broader corporate customers.
According to Yu, LifeSize is still very much under distributed across Asia Pacific. LifeSize is looking for distributor(s) in their larger Tier-1 markets. They are also looking to add VARs for particular verticals such as Finance, Education, Government and TeleMedicine. In addition, the company will expand their partner networks horizontally to channels in the Unified Communications and IT/Data space.
“We will also develop and our 2nd tier channel with a goal to build a 4x/5x sales funnel through these 2nd tier channels,” Yu shares.
A key channel challenge that LifeSize is facing in the region, Yu says is, “Driving loyalty and contributing to the sales funnel building process. This is especially difficult since LifeSize has multi-channels. We address this through lead distribution, discount rebates for registered opportunities, and MDF rewards.”
“However, we are growing LifeSize market share and doubling year-in-year revenue. Our existing top 20 channels have been evangelizing LifeSize since we shipped our first system,” he notes.
LifeSize’s channel program is slightly different from other regions in that they allow combo channel status (i.e. - they can sell direct and indirect). In addition, according to Yu, their 2nd tier channel requirements and qualifications are less demanding, mainly due to the region’s market size and cultural aspects and issues, where customer relationships are valued more than initial investments.
“We are definitely not over distributed and a key focus is minimizing account conflict and maintaining price integrity for maximum profit margin for our channels. We need our channels to help us to scale (human/operational resources, channel resources, financial resources). We need them to reach to wide range of customers. And we need a commitment upfront to invest in LifeSize with a 2-year business plan and measureable goals,” observes Yu.
With the deployment of video becoming more widespread and commonplace, LifeSize is a company to have an eye on, so watch this space!
By Shanti Anne Morais
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