Is Chromebox For Meetings Worth A Look?

In case you missed it, Google just rebranded its enterprise strategy, marking the latest crossroads in its journey to rewrite the rules of work—along with more new ways for solution providers to build meaningful practices around the cloud giant's service portfolio.

And alongside that declaration have been a barrage of product launches from a who's-who of enterprise technology. Among them, Dell last week became the latest well-known hardware vendor to introduce hardware purpose-built for Google's $1,000 videoconferencing solution for mobile workforces, Chromebox for meetings. ASUS beat it to the punch, and Hewlett-Packard is gearing up for its own launch.

The technology makes it relatively simple for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) to add high definition video capabilities to conference rooms and mobile devices, without having to dedicate someone to figuring out how to use and manage it. It's an interesting opportunity for partners, and Google's focus on videoconferencing could also mark a turning point for an enterprise videoconferencing market traditionally dominated by vendors such as Cisco Systems and Polycom, which struggled during the second quarter, according to new stats out from market researcher IDC.

For existing Google partners like CDW and Onix Networking, the technology is a welcome addition, one that builds on SMBs' need for flexible, easy-to-use video meeting options. "This is a part of the market that hasn't been served well and we've had a lot of interest since the strategy was announced earlier this year," said Dave Lehtinen, sales director for Onix, a Lakewood, Ohio, solution provider that was Google's Enterprise Search Partner of the Year in 2013.

Onix formalized its practice in mid-August, mainly as a way of bringing more value to its Google customer accounts. "We think this makes Google Apps even stickier," he said. "We aren't overly concerned with the competition."

Among its rivals is CDW, which was a launch partner for the technology back in February. "Companies like Eventbrite, Gilt, oDesk and Woolworths have been testing Chromebox for meetings and have told us that they love the simple setup, the ease of use, and being able to see their colleagues in other offices," CDW vice president of product management, Caesar Sengupta, wrote in the solution provider's blog about its practice in February. "More importantly, the low price will enable them to extend these benefits to even more employees, rooms and offices."

The solution includes a Chromebox powered by an Intel fourth-generation Core i7 processor and endowed with built-in Ethernet, dual-band WiFi and HDMI ports, a 1080p high-definition camera, microphone and speakerphone, and remote control. It works with existing displays, but you don't have to be in a meeting room to participate. An organizer can invite up to 15 others to join from their smartphones, notebooks, tablets or Chromebooks.

"We continue to see the impact of delayed customer buying decisions, lower-cost systems, more software-centric products and competitive cloud-based service offerings on the worldwide enterprise video equipment market," Rich Costello, IDC's senior analyst for this technology area, said in a statement. "The mixed video equipment results are also indicative of the ongoing transition from a primarily hardware-based reporting model to one impacted by the interest in and growth of video subscription services."