Home > Companies > C-Suite On Deck > Q&A with Amy Barzdukas, Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer at Poly

Q&A with Amy Barzdukas, Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer at Poly

MEDIA 7 | November 21, 2019

Amy Barzdukas, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Poly is a marketing and communications leader with extensive experience in setting strategy, shifting perceptions, advising customers, digital marketing, revenue marketing, integrated marketing communications, and public relations in highly competitive product arenas.

Amy is known for her ability to create and execute winning turnarounds on a global scale.

MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing?
AMY BARZDUKAS: I was always destined for marketing, even if I didn’t know it. As a child, I collected promotional brochures. I was fascinated by how the words and pictures were used to drive action. My first job was as an advertising copywriter, and I’ve never looked back.

M7: How is Poly redefining the video conferencing experience for modern businesses?
AB: We’re in an unprecedented time of change in our industry. Voice and video services are moving to the cloud, and companies are changing how they approach their communications needs. Poly is the largest provider of the devices – video conferencing, audio conferencing, headphones and desk phones – you use to connect to these services so you can collaborate with your colleagues. That uniquely positions us to shape the video conferencing experience, and we’re doing so in four ways.

First, Poly has made both the Zoom Rooms and the Microsoft Teams video conferencing experience better than ever with our radically simple Poly Studio X video bars that deliver these experiences with no PC or Mac required. We’ve got decades of experience in understanding what makes meetings more human – for everyone in the room and those dialing in from other locations – and we’ve packed all of that into easy-to-install, easy-to-manage, and easy-to-use all-in-one powerhouses.

Second, we are bringing the world of AV and video conferencing into the modern app economy. Our Studio X series and Poly G7500 video conferencing devices run a common platform that can be updated and enhanced through a series of regular software updates. This Poly platform, built on Android, can run applications like a smartphone does today.

Third, Poly has introduced innovation that makes any video conference better. Our new Poly MeetingAI features use AI and machine learning to address the distractions that hit your senses in a meeting. We make it easier to hear what’s being said by blocking out the annoying noises that people make while talking, and we make it easier to see what’s going on in the room with the most advanced speaker tracking and framing, and our built-in production rules.

Finally, we are pricing our solutions in a way that completely resets the calculations on what it costs to outfit a room. The Studio X30, for huddle room and smaller spaces, costs just about $2,100, including the Poly TC8 touch controller. All you add is the cloud service and a monitor, and you have a room up and running for under $2,500. That’s easily under the cost of other solutions and with better audio and video quality.


"Baby Boomers and more than half of Gen Z say they are most productive when they were working around noise."

M7: As the CMO of Poly, what were the major challenges in rebranding and transforming two separate organizations (Plantronics and Polycom) under a single brand Poly?
AB: One of the greatest challenges of bringing together Plantronics and Polycom was doing so in a way that honored their brand equity, history, and positive associations while establishing a new story for the new company. Plantronics was already an audio pioneer– the first headset that transmitted Neil Armstrong’s famous words during the first moon landing. Polycom was the leader in audio and video conferencing – the conference phone used by business leaders and industry captains.
We had to figure out how to build a stand-out narrative in a crowded space for the general market. For customers and partners, we found a way to carry through the legacies and histories of both companies into the new brand. And for our employees, we had to inspire them to believe in the new brand and the new combined mission. These different challenges with different stakeholders took different approaches to confront, but in the end, we brought everyone to the same conclusion that Poly was moving forward, unified and stronger.

And like any acquisition, integration takes time. We’re proud of our accomplishments since rebranding to Poly in March 2019. Since then, we’ve refreshed our video conferencing line of products, broken new ground with a mobile phone station called Elara 60 Series and showcased our continued commitment to expanding the ecosystem with partners such as Zoom, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and more. As Poly, we bring a new level of quality, simplicity, and flexibility so that every communication can easily become a place for collaboration and innovation for the enterprise.


"Gen Z and Millennials came up in an era of digitization, so they are more accustomed to the tools and technology to deal with distractions in the workplace."

M7: A recent study by Poly reveals that employees prefer noisier open offices to closed, quiet spaces. What do you think is responsible for driving these unique demands in the workplace today?
AB: Our research shows that Gen Z and Millennials tend to prefer open offices compared to Gen X and Baby Boomers and that more than half of Gen Z say they are most productive when they were working around noise. What we’re seeing is that Gen Z and Millennials came up in an era of digitization, so they are more accustomed to the tools and technology to deal with distractions in the workplace. For example, they’re used to wearing noise-canceling headphones to block out the background noise, and similarly at home with video. They’ve been doing it all their lives!

Now that we can work from anywhere – coffee shops, airports, waiting rooms – we are more accustomed to dealing with distractions and working through them. We take that mindset into the office along with the tools we may use to address distraction, from a pair of comfortable headphones with ANC to deciding to do different types of work in different settings.

M7: What features have made Poly Studio win the 'Best of Enterprise Connect' award in the '2019 Communication/Collaboration Device'?
AB: Poly Studio is our answer to the need for easy-to-use video conferencing devices for smaller spaces called huddle rooms. Poly Studio is a video USB bar with premium audio and video capabilities. Its standout features include NoiseBlock, which mutes distracting background noises, Automatic Group Framing and Speaker Tracking, which zooms in to focus on the speaking participant. This board-room like audio and video transforms small meeting rooms into a center for collaboration. We’re also pleased that it was recently certified for Zoom Rooms and Microsoft Teams. The device also works with Skype for Business, Google Meet, Cisco WebEx and Amazon Chime, and virtually any cloud-based video collaboration service.


"Poly combines legendary audio expertise with powerful video and conferencing capabilities to help our users overcome the distractions, complexity, and distance, making communication in and out of the workplace challenging."

M7: What traits make Poly a global leader in communications and a leading choice for every kind of workspace?
AB: Our in-depth expertise, tireless innovation, and emphasis on partnership make Poly a global leader in communications and a leading choice for every kind of workspace.

Poly combines legendary audio expertise with powerful video and conferencing capabilities to help our users overcome the distractions, complexity, and distance, making communication in and out of the workplace challenging. When the world was on a race to space in the ’60s, NASA approached us—Plantronics back then—with a seemingly impossible task: create a headset that would equip astronauts to communicate with Mission Control from the earth to the moon, and back again.

Fifty years later, we share the same mission today: to create powerful connections that unify people the world over. We’re designing technology for the different ways people work – open offices, remote locations, mobile-first workers. We are the largest provider of headsets, video and audio-conferencing devices that you use to communicate and collaborate for your work, whatever that may be. And we continue to innovate with products like Poly Studio X that change how people collaborate.
Through partnerships with industry leaders like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Zoom, Poly takes an open-architecture approach that allows users to seamlessly connect across all the best technologies. Whenever and wherever people connect with these services, we will be there to provide the best-in-class audio, video and voice technology to make the experience that much better.

M7: What’s your superpower or spirit animal?
AB: My superpower is the ability to read amazingly quickly, thanks to the experimental elementary school I attended. I don’t know how anyone gets through their workload without it, honestly. My spirit animal? I told my husband the other day that I think it is Tom Petty. I’m a huge fan. If you have a problem, there is a Tom Petty song that can solve it, or at least make it more fun.

ABOUT POLY

Plantronics, Inc. (“Poly” – formerly Plantronics and Polycom) (NYSE: PLT) is a global communications company that powers meaningful human connection and collaboration. Poly combines legendary audio expertise and powerful video and conferencing capabilities to overcome the distractions, complexity, and distance that make communication in and out of the workplace challenging. Poly believes in solutions that make life easier when they work together and with our partner’s services. Our headsets, software, desk phones, audio and video conferencing, analytics and services are used worldwide and are a leading choice for every kind of workspace.

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ReasonLabs Unveils RAV VPN Wi-Fi Security to Enhance Online Privacy for Home Users

PR Newswire | May 25, 2023

ReasonLabs, the cybersecurity pioneer equipping families and individuals with the same level of cyber protection used by major global companies, today announced the launch of RAV VPN, its virtual private network that uses the most advanced security practices in the industry to protect user's privacy and keep them secure while connected online. Without proper protection, any Wi-Fi network can be vulnerable to malware and different types of advanced security threats. Cybercriminals often take advantage of vulnerable Wi-Fi networks, such as unsecured public networks, to steal discreet information like financial data, login passwords, and other data. RAV VPN provides defense against unsafe networks while encrypting all transferred data with the latest security protocols - Wireguard, IKVe2, and OpenVPN. It's simple to install and extremely easy-to-use, allowing users to connect quickly, encrypt their internet traffic, and enjoy a trouble-free VPN experience. "We are thrilled about the launch of RAV VPN and what it means for home users worldwide," said Kobi Kalif, CEO at ReasonLabs. "RAV VPN provides a higher level of privacy and security for users to surf the web, stream safely, and connect to public or unsafe networks without worry. By equipping families and individuals with a VPN that is designed for enterprise use, we are delivering on our promise of democratizing enterprise-grade technology for everyone around the world." The release of RAV VPN further expands ReasonLabs' cybersecurity suite aimed at families, individuals, and remote workers. It perfectly complements RAV Endpoint Protection, ReasonLabs' flagship Next-Gen Antivirus solution, as well as RAV EDR, its Endpoint Protection & Response (EDR) software, to provide multilayered protection to users. Led by AI, cybersecurity, and machine-learning experts, ReasonLabs is able to provide the highest levels of cyber defense and digital privacy protection possible. RAV VPN is available for download today with various subscription possibilities and a 30-day money-back assurance. About ReasonLabs ReasonLabs is a cybersecurity pioneer equipping tens of millions of families and individuals worldwide with the same level of cyber protection utilized by Fortune 500 companies. Its AI-powered, next-generation antivirus engine scans billions of files around the world to predict and prevent cyberattacks in real-time, 24/7. Its flagship product, RAV Endpoint Protection, together with its other products combine to form a multilayered solution that safeguards home users against next-generation threats. Co-Founded in 2016 by seasoned cybersecurity expert Andrew Newman—an architect of Microsoft's native cybersecurity program, Microsoft Defender—ReasonLabs is based in New York and Tel Aviv.

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VIRTUAL DESKTOP TOOLS, SERVER , VPN

CBC Tech Partners with Zenlayer to Extend its Global eNet SASE Connect to Global Emerging Markets

Businesswire | May 16, 2023

CBC Tech, a leading provider of next-generation Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) in more than 30 markets, today announced a partnership with Zenlayer, a leading global edge cloud services provider, to offer secure, high-speed and global-scale connectivity solutions to its customers worldwide.Leveraging Zenlayer's massively distributed infrastructure, CBC Tech will be able to extend the reach of eNet Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Connect –- from the current 25 PoPs (Points-of-Presence) to 50 worldwide over its global fabric. Its customers will not only enjoy high-speed connectivity into far-reaching locations across ASEAN, India, Middle East, and South America, but also access a suite of additional edge cloud services powered by Zenlayer, such as bare metal, virtual machine, and IP transit. CBC Tech, at the same time, will deploy security services over the Zenlayer backbone as part of the joint offering. “We look forward to working with Zenlayer and leveraging their global infrastructure to be able to offer SASE services, integrating network and security services with deterministic and high-performance middle-mile optimization to global and China enterprises, powered by CBC’s eNet fabric. At the same time, via this collaboration, we can also enable Zenlayer to extend SASE service to their customers,” said Hoo Shu Yee, VP, Product and Solutions of CBC Tech. Operating over 280 hyperconnected edge nodes in the fastest-growing regions in the world, Zenlayer is a leader in edge cloud and the easy-button partner for SD-WAN/SASE providers to extend their global reach in an elastic and cost-effective manner. “The partnership combines advanced networking capabilities of both companies to drive our business forward and stay competitive in today’s market,” said David Xie, Chief Product Offer of Zenlayer. “It’s exciting to see how this strategic endeavour will enhance eNet SASE Connect’s capabilities to meet the rapidly evolving market needs.” About Zenlayer Zenlayer, a massively distributed edge cloud services provider, offers on-demand connectivity through its vast network of more than 280 PoPs, with expertise in fast-growing emerging markets like Southeast Asia, India, China, and South America. Businesses utilize Zenlayer’s global edge cloud platform to instantly improve digital experiences for their users with ultra-low latency and worldwide connectivity on demand. About CBC Tech CBC Tech is the next-gen Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) provider with our own patented SD-WAN/SASE fabrics across 50 cities in China and internationally. CBC Tech enables cloud-native network and security for enterprises over our SD-WAN fabrics integrated with our congestion-free IP and networks, mobile access, network appliance, multi-cloud connects and cloud-based security to deliver the best application performance with excellent customer experience. For more information about CBC Tech, please visit us at cbctech.com

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