Zoom Launches "Zoom for Home"Zoom Laun

Investment Analysis Clubs Saul’s Investing Discussions
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Here’s an edited part of their press release:

https://investors.zoom.us/news-releases/news-release-details…

Zoom Launches Zoom For Home, a new category of software experiences and hardware devices to support remote work use cases. In a time where employers are grappling with what the new normal of work will look like, Zoom for Home elevates employee experiences to connect remotely and be productive.

The future of knowledge work will be a hybrid of virtual and in-person experience. In a recent study by IBM, 81% of respondents… indicated they want to continue working remotely at least some of the time… Major corporations around the globe have already indicated that they do not foresee a return to pre-COVID ways of working. Additionally, according to a recent study, almost half of adults who are able to work remotely believe that virtual meetings are at least as effective as in-person meetings. Zoom for Home meets the needs of the present shelter-in-place and the new normal of hybrid workforces.

Zoom for Home - DTEN ME, is the first ever Zoom for Home device. Zoom partnered with DTEN to create an immersive and productive workspace. Features for the all-in-one 27-inch device include: three built-in wide-angle cameras for high-resolution video; an 8-microphone array for crystal-clear audio in meetings and phone calls; and, an ultra-responsive touch display for interactive screen sharing, whiteboarding, annotating, and ideation. Set up is simple: Zoom for Home - DTEN ME works right out of the box and seamlessly connects for anyone with a Zoom Meeting license.

Zoom for Home is also compatible with all Zoom Rooms Appliances, including other hardware solutions from Neat and Poly, allowing users to select the hardware they need to create the perfect work-from-home communications experience across spaces such as living rooms and mounted displays.

Zoom for Home top features:

Enhances the Zoom Experience - Log in to a Zoom for Home compatible device with a Zoom user account to create immersive office experiences without additional licenses (Zoom for Home is available with all Zoom Meeting licenses, including Basic.)

Always Ready - Easily start ad-hoc or scheduled meetings, take and receive phone calls, and virtually collaborate with content sharing and annotation.

Personalization - Syncs with the user’s calendar, status, meeting settings and phone for an integrated video-first unified communications experience.

Flexible Management Options - Zoom for Home devices can be set up to be IT-managed remotely through the Admin Portal or self-managed by the end-user.

Zoom for Home Design - Ensures hardware is a purpose-built solution and is accessibly priced for a home office setup.

“After experiencing remote work ourselves for the past several months, it was clear that we needed to innovate a new category dedicated to remote workers,” said Eric S. Yuan, Zoom CEO.

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This is huge. Massive opportunity across business, professional sports, broadcasting, education, healthcare, military, etc.

People say Zoom doesn’t have a “moat” I hate that term. They have some clear competitive advantages.

Speed of innovation
Technology
Speed to adjust to feedback
Partnerships (Slack, Okta, PagerDuty, etc)

also… just gonna say I called this one. I tweeted this to Eric Yuan in October 2019.

“Hey @zoom_us when are you going to make the Zoom monitor so my camera + phone is integrated in my monitor? It’s so hard to make eye contact now due to camera being independent. With the camera in my monitor, I’ll be looking at my teammates even when reading.”

Okay I had nothing to do with it, but this has been my vision for investing in Zoom all along.

This is also a clear indication that we are not going back to the way we used to work. Not because of Coronavirus but because we don’t have to. Video technology is good enough now (thanks to Zoom) that we don’t have to go back and we will have some type of hybrid model forever.

Companies can buy these for every employee and still save a ton on real estate/office costs.

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Maybe I missed it, but while this new feature is mildly interesting, of more interest to me is that Zoom completed their 90-day security only plan:

https://blog.zoom.us/ceo-report-90-days-done-whats-next-for-…

Zoom 5.0 includes:
• AES 256 GCM encryption (available to all users, free and paid)
• UI updates – Security icon, green encryption shield with data center location click through
• Report a User
• Meeting defaults – password, waiting room, and limited screen sharing
• Other features – host disable multiple device login, unmute consent, cloud recording expiration, tighter Zoom Chat controls, and more
• Acquired Keybase and started building end-to-end encryption (for all users, free and paid)
• Offered customized data routing by geography

Even better than that, mechanisms are now in place to make sure that security and privacy remain a priority in each phase of our product and feature development:

• Design phase: Security requirements, risk assessment, threat modeling
• Build: Secure code guidelines, self-service scanning, CI/CD tools
• Test: Security testing, automated test execution, web testing tools
• Stage: Secure configuration, integrity monitoring, validate requirements
• Production: Monitoring the security of our system, system health, threat landscape
• Includes White Box penetration testing

Also:
• Review with 3rd party experts
• CISO roundtables (Chief Information Security Officer)
• Transparency report coming later this year (Why is this taking so long?)
• Enhanced Bug Bounty program (no details on bounty $$ though)
• Weekly webinars on security progress
• Several new hires focused around security.

This is really good. Zoom was in danger of becoming the Chipotle of SaaS, but unlike Chipotle’s now ex-CEO, Yuan recognized the issues early enough and made sweeping changes quickly enough. Just as people stopped eating Chipotle after the 3rd or 4th sickness event, more people would have stopped using Zoom had more security issues been found and reported. At this point now, even if something is found, Zoom is prepared to have remediation ready very quickly and transparently.

That this is in good enough shape that they can roll out new features again, such as “Zoom for Home,” is great (even if it does indicate that all the engineers weren’t really all focused on security this past 90 days).

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“(even if it does indicate that all the engineers weren’t really all focused on security this past 90 days).”

That is just programist! Not all programmers do the same kind of work =D