RESEARCH NOTE. Workplace Service. Hot Vendors in Webinars, 2015

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1 Author: David Mario Smith Hot Vendors in Webinars, 2015 Summary: Webinar and webcasting tools are required for internal and external communication in areas such as HR and marketing. These Hot Vendors offer alternatives to existing webinar providers. Topic: Collaboration Issue: Who are the Collaboration providers and how will they evolve? In the web conferencing space, webinars and webcasts are a popular use case and meeting type, used for internal training and by sales and marketing professionals to interact with prospects and customers. Most of the major web conferencing vendors have modules and facilities to accommodate larger webinar events. There are also specialists like ON24 that directly support large webinar and webcasting events. However, there is a new breed of providers who are challenging the established players with new pricing and licensing options using a freemium model. In this research note, we discuss a few of the emerging Hot Vendors in this space. Traditionally webinar offerings are predominantly cloud-based and can be sold per event for large one-time events or as a subscription. We believe there is downward price pressure in this market and the entire web conferencing space, as free and low cost providers are constantly emerging with good enough feature sets. These providers are using the freemium to premium model and packing lots of features that usually come with a higher price. Market Consolidation As the market undergoes consolidation and technology convergence, capabilities such as video have become common in many offerings. In fact, most RFPs include video as a required item. Video and web conferencing have been on a collision course as offerings naturally combine the two to satisfy the growing requirements of users. The need to meet and work with people in different locations is getting more critical in a digitally connected era. Businesses are more distributed and require real-time interactivity. High levels of Copyright 2015 Aragon Research Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Aragon Research and the Aragon Research Globe are trademarks of Aragon Research Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. This publication may not be distributed in any form without Aragon Research s prior written permission. The information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Nevertheless, Aragon Research provides this publication and the information contained in it "AS IS," without warranty of any kind. To the maximum extent allowed by law, Aragon Research expressly disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information and shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in such information. This publication consists of the opinions of Aragon Research and Advisory Services organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Although Aragon Research may include a discussion of related legal issues, Aragon Research does not provide legal advice or services and its research should not be construed or used as such. Aragon Research is a private company and its clients may include firms or financial institutions that have financial interests in entities covered by Aragon Research. Further information about the objectivity of Aragon Research can be found at aragonresearch.com

2 collaboration are critical to the enterprise imperative to improve and to innovate. Video is becoming commonplace as users seek more visual cues when interacting with internal and external constituents. Cloud and mobility have democratized access to video capabilities. The race to offer an integrated experience is an area of focus that is needed as enterprises begin to embed realtime meetings into other collaboration platforms. Multiple departments within enterprises are using real-time capabilities such as web conferencing and webinars for sales and marketing communications, training, corporate communications and collaboration. The vendor landscape is becoming more saturated with providers from different disciplines. Providers in the video conferencing domain are now adding content sharing to support video webinar capabilities. New entrants whose founders have a history in web conferencing are out to disrupt existing webinar providers with a lower cost option. It is causing reaction from established players who are now experimenting with freemium online meeting offerings. This research note is not intended to be a complete list of vendors in the markets being discussed. Rather, it highlights vendors with interesting, cutting-edge products, services or technologies. For 2015, we highlight these Hot Vendors in webinars: LogMeIn (join.me) MeetingBurner omnovia 2015 Aragon Research Inc. and or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Page 2

3 join.me by LogMeIn Note 1: LogMeIn and join.me at a Glance LogMeIn s join.me is a simple screen-sharing tool with unlimited audio for online meetings and instant collaboration. Location: Boston MA CEO: Michael Simon Key Offering: join.me Availability: Available online Website: Figure 1: The join.me Home Page Provides Quick and Easy Entry into Meetings (coffee not included). LogMeIn and its join.me product have risen in popularity as an easy-to-use tool for webcasts and webinars (see Note 1). join.me has had viral success in enterprises, where it has been adopted predominantly for specific departments and teams. LogMeIn has also been a driver for the downward price pressure in the web conferencing space. The freemium offering of join.me has been effective as a pull strategy to increase adoption of the paid version. It also offers recording options and integration with its Cubby file-sharing tool. Join.me is hot because its architecture offers a truly lightweight but still scalable option for starting meetings (see Figure 1). We ve seen technology vendors even in the collaboration space use join.me for briefings and product demos. Enterprises interested in a lightweight yet powerful tool should evaluate join.me for small and midsize meetings (up to 250 participants). Integration with Cubby, LogMeIn s file synch and sharing tool, allows easy collaborative sharing during join.me sessions Aragon Research Inc. and or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Page 3

4 MeetingBurner Note 2: MeetingBurner at a Glance MeetingBurner is a free online meeting and lowcost browser-based webinar tool with mobile and video support. Location: Ladera Ranch CA CEO: John Rydell Key Offering: MeetingBurner Availability: Available in the ios and Android app stores, and online for Windows and OS X. Website: Figure 2: MeetingBurner Offers Custom Branding and Social Integration on Multiple Platforms. MeetingBurner is a relatively new player in the webcasting and webinar space (see Note 2). Its $99.95 per month price for 1,000 webinar attendees helps to drive downward price pressure in this market. Cisco s WebEx Event Center and Citrix s GoToWebinar cost substantially more at that tier. MeetingBurner is hot because of its download-free browserbased access, custom branding and social media integration for webinars (see Figure 2). Even the free version has a lot of features and is without ads, albeit for only 10 attendees. Enterprises looking for a lower-cost alternative to GotoWebinar or WebEx Event Center, with similar or additional features, should evaluate MeetingBurner for small or larger webinars. If video is a requirement, MeetingBurner also supports live video streaming of the webinar host Aragon Research Inc. and or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Page 4

5 omnovia Note 3: omnovia at a Glance omnovia is a webinar platform that supports HD video streaming of live events and online education. Location: Houston TX CEO: Shawn Shadfar Key Offering: omnovia Availability: Available in the Apple, Google and Amazon app stores, and online for Windows and OS X. Website: Figure 3: omnovia has Some Unusual Advanced Features for its Price. omnovia is an emerging webinar platform increasingly being used by sales, marketing and training professionals (see Note 3). It supports Flash-based HD video streaming of live events such as webcasts, webinars and online learning to up to 5000 viewers. omnovia also provides professional services such training enterprises in webinar best practices and specific system integrations. It has an end-to-end platform that supports web and video conferencing and integrates with CRM and marketing automation systems. omnovia is hot because of its room-based webinar platform, integration API, an unusually broad suite of functions and services and 24/7 international support (see Figure 3). Its API lets users integrate it with a wide variety of enterprise applications including CRM, and marketing automation and AD or LDAP single sign-on. Enterprise planners looking for a versatile webinar platform with additional professional services and API-based integration capabilities should evaluate omnovia Aragon Research Inc. and or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Page 5

6 Aragon Advisory While cost is an important factor in webinar tool decisions, ensure that the features match your business requirements and use cases. If video is a major factor in your webinar tool selection, assess your bandwidth needs before starting negotiations. Network costs can vary widely across the industry. Evaluate these Webinar providers against existing providers. In some cases, the feature set and price performance may be compelling enough to switch providers. Bottom Line Webinars are now staples for marketing and business leaders for external communications with customers and prospects, and for internal training and corporate communications. A growing number of new entrants are driving prices down and offering freemium to premium tiers, forcing established providers to react Aragon Research Inc. and or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Page 6