What a Moron Manufacturer
Every so often, we run into a manufacturer so moronic, so completely clueless, that it stuns even us. Today, I'd like introduce you to Viaas / Third Iris.
Long term readers of the site may remember a test we did of Viaas in 2010 where we found it to be one of the more promising VSaaS startups. Unfortunately, the company did not make much progress and evidently now has new management with only modest fundamental improvements to the product offerings.
Ridiculous Marketing
Now, you may know Viaas by its ridiculous marketing activities. For instance, at ISC West, the dual booth babes framing their 10 x 10 booth or their spammy comments and discussions on LinkedIn.
Promotional Posts
In May, a Viaas employee posted a promotional comment on the Dropcam Test results, saying:
"Our company VIAAS (www.viaas.com) offers another VSaaS option providing hybrid edge-cloud storage, much more sophisticated cameras and playback/download options (FLV, MP4, JPEG) and the ability to tune bandwidth utilization by camera, schedule, and resolution (D1 or 720p). No DVR's, NVR's, or software."
I deleted it because it was essentially an ad, not relating to the test results therein nor anything being discussed in the comments. Their justification was that I asked another member specifically what recommendations he had, never that I asked for manufacturers to promote themselves.
Now, over the last week, Viaas has posted multiple promotional comments on IPVM. For instance, in the 3VR layoffs post, Viaas commented:
"Third Iris is growing and always seeking talented people, from engineers to sales. If you were recently laid-off by 3VR, send your resumes to jobs@thirdiris.com."
I deleted it because it was promotional. Our comments are for genuine discussions, not for manufacturers to solicit new employees. If we let manufacturers post comments like that, it will drown out real discussions.
Next, Viaas commented again on the 3VR post, saying:
"After $59M in funding, that's unfortunate. What is your analysis on their products and pricing? Why do you believe they may not be successful in the market?
My company, Third Iris, is gorwing and always looking for talented people."
I immediately and fully answered their question about 3VR's products, pricing and success. However, I removed the sentence about looking for new employees, because again it was promotional.
Finally, Viaas responded:
"So let me get this straight. I cannot discuss anything to do with our products, service or opportunity related to any topic in a discussion if it in anyway paints a good light on my company? Yet there are discussions written by your staff and other members promoting products and companies. Got it. I will have my admin cancel my user account."
It's ironic that Viaas claims they 'cannot discuss anything to do with [their] products [or] service' because we have allowed them to comment numerous times doing just that. For instance, about whether hosted video is really dead or on cloud video security or on using https for video streaming.
Sad
It's sad that a once promising startup has reduced itself to pestering people online and trotting out booth babes. Manufacturers, focus on real technology, real advances and what your actual value is.