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CRN: Are there adjacent markets that you see as holes in Polycom's portfolio? New markets you need to enter you're not in now?
Miller: We're really focused on software, cloud and services support. Those are new areas for us not in terms of solutions but in terms of how we support them. Most of that growth will be in M&A for us, and so will cloud technologies.
CRN: At the same time, you're divesting the SpectraLink handset business. Are there other businesses you're getting rid of or de-emphasizing?
Miller: No. I love our device business, and it's on a great growth trajectory. And we have opportunities with hosted voice through carriers like Verizon and people who partner with BroadSoft. Some of those are really accelerating our personal device voice and video products, which hang off this hosted voice environment. We have no plans to divest anything other than what we've already done.
CRN: Jumping back real quick to your partnerships, most of the industry analysts who covered CloudAxis couldn't help but notice that Apple Facetime isn't a supported service. Will it be?
Miller: Apple's a great company. But when you think about Skype, Google, presence-based engines, all these things are very powerful in terms of B2B connections and B2C connections. We hope that Apple will follow and open up their technology to be part of a solution set.
CRN: When you talk to CIOs and enterprise buyers, are you hearing that investment in video and infrastructure is a priority for them? Do you still have to convince them or have they boarded the train?
Miller: Q1 this year was a tough quarter for everyone. We reported our earnings first, and after we reported, we were sitting around saying, 'Did we get stupid overnight, or is something else going on?' We did gain 8 points of market share against Cisco and other competitors, so it meant two things: there are macro-economic headwinds, and CIOs are taking a pause on buying. They're asking questions. Do they want to be closed video or open video systems? Are they buying video as an application?
I feel comfortable now that in my conversations with CIOs, we have the ability to answer all their questions. Our products are backward- and forward-compatible, and we can extend our platform and enable them to take advantage of their investments through technologies like SVC [Scalable Video Coding] and the H.264 standard. Now, we have to execute. We can deliver the products, deliver the messaging, do the education, and get partners to tell the story and savor their moment. For many companies right now, there is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change the way communication works.
PUBLISHED DEC. 19, 2012
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