WD Gives Away Free Milestone Licenses

•Published Jun 03, 2016 11:48 AM

Western Digital joined Milestone last year, pre-loading Milestone Arcus VMS software on their MyCloud NAS appliances.

Now, they are trying to boost sales by giving away unlimited Milestone Arcus licenses for free.

In this note, we examine the offer, share our test results of Arcus, examining the strengths and weaknesses of the offer.

Free *****

********, ** ******** * ******* ******** for **** *** ***** ******* ***** that ** ~$** **** (*.*., * 16 ******* ****** ***** ** ~$***: 14 * $**).

*** *** **** * ******, ***** the *** ** ****, ** **** be ****** **** ***** ********* ******* for ****.

WD ********* *****

*** ** ******* ****** **** ******** Milestone *** * *******, ********** ** to ** ******** ***, ********** *****:

******* ****** **** ~$*** *** *** entry ***** *** **** ** ******** and *** ** ~$*,*** *** *** highest *** ****** **** ** ******** and ****.

*********

*** ******* **** ******** ** **** the **** ** ***** '****' ** dropping ** *** ***** ** **% ** 55%, ** *********** *** **** *** VMS ********. *** *******, * $*** 10 ******* *** *** ** ****** cost *********** **** **** ******* ********, whereas ****** ** ~$*** ** *** not. ********, * $*,*** **** ***** server **** ** ********* *** ******** is ********** ***. ***********, **** ** attractive ******* *********'* *** ***** ****.

************, ***** ***************** ******************** *********** ** ***** ** ***** with ********* *********, ********* * **** low **** ********** ********* / **********. Even **** *** ************ **** ******* price ** $*** ***, **** ** still ***** *** *** ** ********** managed ********.

********

***** ** * ********** ***. ******** ** what ** ******* ***** (******* ********* XProtect, ********* ****-****, ***.), ** ***** like ***** *** ***** ** * weekend *********. **** *** ***** *** and **** *** *** **** *******. Worse, ********* **** *** ***** ** to *** *** *** **** ******** Milestone ***** ****** ****** *** ** Arcus **** ********* ************.

** *** ***** ****, ** ** not ****** *** *****, **** **** limited *************. ***** *** * ****** from ******** *** **** **** **** ****:

Arcus *** ** ***

** *** * ***** ********** ********, ** *** **** ******, **** limited ********, ******* *********** *** **** zero ********** **** *** ******. ** was ******** ** ** * '**** competitive *****' *** * ******** *** 'low-cost ******** *************'. ** *** *** worked *** **** ***. ** ********, ******, in *** **** ****, ********* *** redefined *** **** *** **** ** be *** $***, * ***** ***** higher **** **** ********* *****' ****** software *****.

Intriguing *****

** ***** ** *****' ********** **** challenges, ** ***** **** ** ** intriguing *****. ** ****** **** ** get **** ******** *** **** ****** trying ** ***.

**********, ******, **** ****, ********* *** WD **** ** ******* *** ******* $50 ****** ***** *** ****** ** to ******* *** ********* ** *****'* market.

Comments (2)

John Honovich

•Jun 03, 2016

IPVM

Btw, the backstory to how this post came about could be interesting to manufacturers. WD's product marketing manager cold emailed us. I exchanged a few emails with him, he provided an intelligent pitch, the specifics I needed, and I did a post.

Contrast this with how this normally works. A PR person asks for a phone call without explaining what they have. Almost always we decline and even if we do proceed via email, the PR person knows nearly nothing. "Oh you want to know how much it costs. You're smart. That's a great question. No one has ever asked that before. Give me a week to find someone who knows..."

Ultimately though, the article was published because (1) our members care about Milestone and (2) our members find free offers interesting. That said, having someone able to provide details quickly and clearly helps us do posts.

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(6)

Undisclosed Integrator #1

•Jun 06, 2016

I hate to say it but Arcus is the wrong product for this. As you covered the lack of Smart Client is what hurts it. Along with Interconnect they'll need something to connect to - Milestone Corporate with a base license w/1 year SUP approaching $4k. Also, interconnect is licensed per channel so an Axis M3007-PV ends up being licensed per view area, encoders end up being multiple licenses, etc. Seems like a pricey proposition just to use Smart Client... and Smart Client is definitely the way to go. Those drawbacks are fine if it was an enterprise product that WD was offering Arcus on.

To clarify, MyCloud is not a bad product. It is cost effective and what I personally use. This use case is just not the right on a product targeting the SMB/prosumer demographic.

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(1)