In an exclusive interview with Commercial Integrator, Gilad Yron, CEO of Kramer, and Bob Michaels, president and CEO of ZeeVee, Inc., provide additional comments on Kramer’s recent acquisition of ZeeVee. Financial terms remain undisclosed.
Yron begins by noting that initial talks with ZeeVee began two years ago when both companies realized the value of the combined expertise. He thus emphasizes the acquisition as a way of “…fostering innovation and driving growth” for Kramer. Yron strongly believes that the acquisition opens up the possibility of creating a powerhouse in the strategic domain of AV-over-IP. He says, “The future of this industry, in many aspects, lies in the direction of AV-over-IP technology and the ability to merge the IT environment into the AV environment.” Kramer is now optimally positioned to lead that charge, Yron declares.
Entering New Markets
Digging deeper into the reasoning behind the merger, Yron observes that ZeeVee has been a dominant player in the AV-over-IP domain for years. That puts the company in a unique position to help Kramer offer the entire span of technology to customers across markets. “I felt, obviously with Bob, that their expertise as someone that truly paved the road in both SDVoE with the 10-gig uncompressed and also, in general, this overall domain will create a true powerhouse that will allow us to take and elevate our market position and our R&D investment,” Yron says. “It also will allow us to enter new vertical markets.”
As an example of vertical-market growth potential, Yron points to ZeeVee’s full range of certified SDvoE products that serve the medical sector. He adds, “This is not a one-day journey. This is a long journey to create a sizable business from this domain.”
Michaels chimes in, saying, “One thing that was clear to me almost from the outset was that Gilad and I had the same type of cultural beliefs for our companies.” This includes having a clear vision for the company, seeking advancement opportunities for the employee base and understanding how this merger would go forward to serve the extensive customer base both organizations have cultivated. “We have so much to offer to our respective customer bases, so this represents a very strategic alliance,” he proclaims.
Enhancing Services for Integrators & Partners
Summarizing the benefits of the acquisition, Michaels adds, “With the depth and the breadth of the Kramer product line and technology, we can [now] sit at the table with the consultant, and we can talk about control, software, moving video and audio.” From his perspective, the uniting of these two brands creates a company that will be a much more valuable partner to integrators, to end users and to consultants.
In essence, Michaels says, the depth of experience and knowledge that Kramer and ZeeVee collectively have, plus the product and technology strengths, will bring about countless opportunities in the coming years. “With the extra resources and the extra capabilities that we can bring to the table, it really opens up the world for us,” Michaels declares.
Yron concludes by adding, “From my perspective, this combination of the long-term consistent portfolio with the much larger global footprint [will bring] an upside for our integrators and partners.”
The interview was conducted by Dan Ferrisi, group editor, commercial and security, and compiled by Amala Reddie, associate editor, Commercial Integrator.
