According to this reseller the entire channel is very dedicated to the company and the customers. Apparently the VARS are having trouble finding a Zultys replacement — they love the native SIP support and built-in redundancy. According to this reseller, many dealers have lots of sales pending in the pipeline
"The channel got caught by surprise as sales were doing very well," this reseller told me.
The irony in the story is that according to this reseller, "There is enough money in the pipeline to pay for the purchase the company!" I am not sure how he would know this but perhaps the point s sales are doing extremely well — better than ever it seems.
According to my source, Zultys is trying to come up with a management buyout and other PBX vendors are looking to buy the company as well. What is upsetting to the channel is the fact the company has just released the 3.0 firmware edition as well as WiFi and other phones. The channel was very pumped until they heard the bad news.
My source had a quarter million dollars in pipeline to close the week of the Chapter 11 announcement. Others had huge opportunities that were taking place right at this time as well.
I asked if they are still selling Zultys systems and was told by the caller that they are not selling systems to new users until they know what is happening with the company.
Even still they have done $50k in the last week and a half to existing customers and not on a fire sale basis.
The Chapter 11 auction takes place in mid-October. A group of VARS are looking to buy the company as well. The VARs are approaching Zultys customers and venture capitalists to not let the company go away.
This VAR feels that other perspective bidders should know how strong the channel is. He wants to make sure that prospective bidders are aware of this. His concern is that the resellers don’t have a voice on the matter. He thinks it is an important story to be told. I agree.
I plan on meeting with a number of resellers at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo to see if I can assist in any way but as this reseller said, the whole matter may be resolved by then. We will be sure to keep you informed on the matter. Please check my blog frequently for updates and also set a Zultys TMCnet News Alert to be notified of any pending Zultys stories.
Former employee
September 28, 2006 at 2:32 amThis is just more hype. Sales last 12 months were only $6M worldwide. This is nothing. So stories about $250K pipelines from one reseller are just simply hot-air promoted by Sunnyvale and swallowed by naive journalists. Milnes himself has said last 2 months sales were 40% of previous months, hardly enough to keep the lights on
Former employee
September 28, 2006 at 2:38 amThis is just more hype. Sales last 12 months were only $6M worldwide. This is nothing. So stories about $250K pipelines from one reseller are just simply hot-air promoted by Sunnyvale and swallowed by naive journalists. Milnes himself has said last 2 months sales were 40% of previous months. That is $250K a month WORLDWIDE hardly enough to keep the lights on. So dump the bullshit guys.
Not Buying It
September 28, 2006 at 1:48 pmObviously TMC is interested in advancing VoIP industry participants, but this promotion of an obviously over hyped company is disgraceful. Not naming the source essentially points to the source as being Zultys, and likely Iain Milnes in particular. It is the same kind of unsubstantiated bragging we have heard from him before. If the Zultys sales channel is “so strong” with sales “in the pipeline”, why go through bankruptcy at all. There are many alternatives to Zultys and VARs who have real customers will have no trouble filling demand with another vendors product. Do you really think your readers are so dumb as to believe this company is viable?
Rich Tehrani
September 28, 2006 at 4:50 pmThanks for the candid comments. The source of this conversation is not Iain Milnes. It is a real reseller and I verified the person is real and living and breathing. I spoke with him and unless Iain is great at disguising his voice we are Ok here.
But I cannot understand how my posting of a conversation assumes anyone is dumb. Is this really what you meant to imply?
Whether the company is viable remains to be seen over time. I have no bias. My goal in writing this blog was to ensure the little-guy has a voice. Is this reseller BSing me? It is possible. So we will have to see what happens here. I am just an objective observer.
Former Employee
September 28, 2006 at 6:19 pmYes he is. And he’s probably from Oregon!
California Reseller
September 28, 2006 at 6:24 pmI can confirm we still have a pipeline of $150K (cost of goods) of Zultys. Although most of that is likely to go to Shoretel or Nortel or vanish into thin air unless we hear some good news soon.
Additionally, we purchased at least $50K in the last few weeks primarily because of discounted software offered by Zultys. I even just installed a new MX250 with 20 phones and PRI.
We are just a drop in the bucket, so I can only guess what the total pipeline for all resellers might be right now. Whatever it is, it is shrinking everyday for sure.
I do agree that I was surprised to hear Zultys was only a 6M company. We had been led to believe they were much bigger than that..
That said, I _really_ believe in the product. It can compete with *anyone* in the market and win hands down with both features and price at almost any size. I see no good reason Zultys couldn’t become a 100 million dollar company in a few years except for the fact that they are filing chapter 11 and all their employees have found new jobs…
That never stopped Donald Trump though..
I think there are three possibilities of what could happen in the next few weeks. I’ll list them in the order I think they might happen.
1. Iain, purchases the company back, hires back some key players and makes another go at it. Afterall, he has $65 million of his own in this.
2. Someone else purchases it and kills it or rebrands it as their own. Seeing as they are only a 6M company and currently in chapter 11, this might not even be necessary..
3. Someone else purchases it and tries to get back on track with new management. This might be nice if you want to see Iain out of the picture, but chances are it would take so much efort to get things back together that Zultys would lose its competive advantage by the time it was back and running at full steam.
Rich Tehrani
September 28, 2006 at 6:56 pmI agree that the sales are shrinking fast so it would seem the longer Zultys waits to do something the worse off the company, its customers and resellers are. Let’s hope for the sake of the remaining employees, resellers and customers this gets wrapped up rather quickly.
Sean P. Robertson
September 28, 2006 at 10:59 pmMy crystal ball has been in the shop for a while now so I haven’t got any more of a clue than anyone else what is really going to happen here.
I can tell you that, as a technical support person for CTD, a distributor that has been with Zultys for two and a half years, I have seen the good and the bad.
Through it all, two things have always been true:
1. The features of Zultys’ core PBX product are far ahead of the other VoIP offerings out there.
2. Zultys’ resellers know this and are true to the product despite the times when the company has failed them.
I know these things because we have, with all of the cards on the table, continued to do BOTH post-sales installation support and pre-sales engineering support throughout this entire ordeal.
During a pre-sales call yesterday, I was told by a reseller that his end user, “knows the situation with Zultys but has decided to go ahead with this purchase anyway because the Zultys system does so much more than anything else out there.” Its a quote. I did not make that up.
This product line, scaled back to it core components and focused on expanding the solid enterprise features that it already has, is more than viable. In fact, it could devastating to the competition – that is why they are speaking out so loudly against it.
BTW: I know the reseller who did this interview. I helped his people with the pre-sales on many of their quotes and a number of large ones were in the signing stage when things fell apart in Sunnyvale. Attacking him, or me, will not change the truth of that.
east coast resller
September 29, 2006 at 12:41 amFor the record: just the other day we tallied that we have $265,000 (our cost from the distributor) of Zultys sales held up by the present chapter 11 situation.
The unfortunate thing is that we just started this summer to do the type of high value business we know the Zultys platform is capable of delivering & now we’ve lost momentum or possibly worse.
In the end we’re in favor of any outcome that allows us to continue to sell this unique product in a VAR friendly environment…
Neil Darling
September 29, 2006 at 12:44 amHi Rich:
As a fellow reseller, I can confirm the authenticity of the reseller interview and his comments. There is a bottleneck of pipeline. I think he is right on the money with his comments and sentiment.
Best regards,
Neil D
east coast resller
September 29, 2006 at 12:48 amFor the record: just the other day we tallied that we have $265,000 (our cost from the distributor) of Zultys sales held up by the present chapter 11 situation.
The unfortunate thing is that we just started this summer to do the type of high value business we know the Zultys platform is capable of delivering & now we’ve lost momentum or possibly worse.
In the end we’re in favor of any outcome that allows us to continue to sell this unique product in a VAR friendly environment…
Neil Darling
September 29, 2006 at 12:48 amHi Rich:
As a fellow reseller, I can confirm the authenticity of the reseller interview and his comments. There is a bottleneck of pipeline. I think he is right on the money with his comments and sentiment.
Best regards,
Neil D
Former Employee
September 29, 2006 at 3:32 amI spent my whole career listening to talk of orders in the pipeline which never came. I usually figured maybe 25% would come to a sale … at VERY best! Contrary to some of the enthusiasts above I think it is the LACK of unique features which has been the downfall of the Zultys offering. Instead of a concise elevator speech of why it is unique, Zultys gives you pages and pages of trivia. They never did marketing 101. Anyway it is now a busted flush so it is all academic.
Former Employee
September 29, 2006 at 3:38 amO.K. then Rich give us the elevator speech. In a SHORT paragraph (not the many pages of trivia that Zultys promote), give us the UNIQUE features of the Zultys product. What a load of nonsense you talkk!
east coast resller
September 29, 2006 at 8:26 amUnique:
1)Unlike some solutions it is not based on Bill Gates’ super reliable/secure OS
& certainly not MULTIPLE boxes running his legendary OS….hmmm a couple of Units of rack space for a hardened appliance or a whole pile of Bill’s magic boxes, tough decision.
2)Mac native end user client
3)Well suited to application integration & development…preserves value, resists commoditization just what a Value Added Reseller needs & exactly where we can help our clients (end users of the product) make more money in their businesses!
I can make a whole pile of money on the last item while delivering a ton of value to the end user & I can rest assured because of the 1st item!!!
PS the 2nd point is nice in certain competitive situations
Rich Tehrani
September 29, 2006 at 9:34 amAs an FYI — once again I am an objective observer on this matter. I never claimed Zultys has or does not have unique features. Regardless, companies with the most unique features can fail. In my experience companies with average features and great PR and marketing can do better than companies who focus on features.
I do believe Zultys did a good job with PR and marketing and they have a solid brand in the mind of enterprise customers. Most people think the company is much bigger than it really is which is generally a sign of a strong brand.
Former Emloyee
September 29, 2006 at 9:40 amI said UNIQUE. You’ve described points that apply to most of its competitors. O.K. I realize that you have lots of stock of these products and have missed the opportunity to return it, so you need to make a big effort. Good luck with that, but sorry I’m not convinced by all the geeky stuff. I get terribly tired of the fashionable Gates bashing. I’ve been involved with many me-too products during my career and this one SCREAMS me-too!
A Midwest Reseller
September 29, 2006 at 10:13 amWhen the news hit we had $5.6 million in potential Zultys sales projected over the next 18 months. Some of that we would not have won but much of it was with customers that saw how advanced the zultys product was.(And cost wise we were always less then Cisco, Avaya, or Shoretel)
If Zultys is picked up by a big name like Avaya, Inter-tel, 3COM, or somebody else with a good name and some marketing capital it will put them at least 18 months ahead of the other major vendors in regard to SIP, ITSP support, EASY MANAGEMENT, and Presence.
Looking at the Zultys paperwork there were some big names looking…Avaya, Dell, Foundry networks, Inter-tel, Acatel, and others.
Lets hope that somebody that see the value of a good reseller channel picks them up and get the product back on the street.
east coast reseller
September 29, 2006 at 10:13 amActually other than our demo systems we have no Zultys product in stock, just a quarter million in pending Zultys sales……also we sell a ton of MS products to our clients, I just wouldn’t want what was a previously reliable application (Voice) to be moved over to a less than reliable platform (Windows).
Zultys (& some other systems on the market) allow the Voice application to be moved over alongside the rest of the Applications within the Enterprise in a more reliable manner than any Windows box can provide, so not bashing just the reality of the matter.
With voice residing amongst the other Applications on the Network that’s where real value can be derived extending the Voice application & integrating it w/ the other Applications (line of business, CRM, et al) & Databases.
Except for this the Zultys just becomes another “Our PBX feature vs. Your PBX feature” race to the lowest price
aka commoditization
And commoditization is best left to big boys not little guys like Zultys. So one key to continued success for Zultys is to build out the high value non-commodity aspects of the platform. This is important as SIP tears down the walls of proprietary systems & forces the PBX feature set to become even more commoditized.
Midwest Reseller
September 29, 2006 at 11:15 amI think “Former Employee” needs to change his name to “Bitter Former Employee”.
He attakcs Rich, Who is very vendor neutral
Then he atttacks the resellers that like the product
Bitter ex-employee is either still sitting at home watching Oprah or has taken a job at a competitor (or MacDonalds). Either way he has everything to gain and nothing to lose from the slams and attacks
David Lee
September 29, 2006 at 11:39 amAs a Canadian reseller, we too are disappointed in recent events. We didn’t have a huge pipe, but saw lots of potential.
Under the right banner, Zultys would have great success.
Norman Landerman
September 29, 2006 at 2:08 pmAs the reseller initially presented in this dialogue, I would like to thank my fellow resellers and distribution partners who know me and my business for verifying the accuracy of my statements.
I would like to thank Rich for his initially maintaining my anonymity until other channel VARs joined my ranks to verify the realities experienced by my business as being shared by their own.
It is interesting to have my truthfulness immediately challenged and my namelessness damned by somebody who maintains their name to be “Former Employee” (not even a VAR, now working for whom?).
As far as why we VARs like the product, particularly being located in South Florida? A totally SIP solution, including PSTN/data media gateway, fax server, instant messaging, chat, powerful call management client and soft-phone with exchange integration, hard drive RAID, dual redundant power infrastructures (120vAC and 48vDC), packaged in a single box with N+1 clustering and total fail-over/redundancy of all components… Please feel free to provide suggestions of alternate products offering ALL of the above at a reasonable price to [email protected]
Without selling to “new” customers until if/when this is over, we have delivered another $25K in the past week, and we have delivered the second of 14 intended systems to an end-user who knows what is going on and can’t believe the product will go away. We still have over $100K of new business waiting “on hold” in the pipeline.
As a VAR, I have no agenda or grudge. I just want my company to be able to keep selling a product that stands out to us and current and prospective customers as one that we don’t want to see go away. The marketplace, as well as the industry, should be interested in knowing this particular group of VARs and its shared experience and resultant product loyalty does indeed exist, for whatever it is worth. I keep in touch with more than a dozen active Zultys VARs. We don’t show up in a bankruptcy filing or on any balance sheet, but I can’t allow anybody to assert we don’t exist. And this would be the response to those labeling themselves as “Not Buying It”.
Norman Landerman
Industry Observer
September 29, 2006 at 2:37 pmThe passion expressed above for Zultys must have been its best kept secret until now.
“Former Employee” makes a good point about the absence of a persuasive value proposition for Zultys products in a highly competitive space, reinforced by the shockingly low sales of $6M over the past year. This number is confirmed in the bankruptcy filing.
Vendor passion and perceived product value to end users has not made Zultys profitable or retained shareholder value. With nearly four years in the market, it is reasonable to expect that Zultys would be able to at least sustain itself with the backing of a motivated sales channel. In the worst case, Zultys should have been an attractive acquisition candidate instead of bankrupt and on the auction block.
Any prudent investor or customer would have to ask, “with all the good marketing, innumerable business opportunities, and great products, how can it be possible that this company is insolvent?”.
Midwest Reseller
September 29, 2006 at 2:54 pmThe reason a possible buyer wanted them to go Chap 11 was to dissolve the debt. This makes them MORE ATTRACTIVE to a potential buyer since futre lawsuits have now been avoided.
Sales were picking up BUT their 35,000,000 in technology investment and research caught up to them.
The question asked before is valid. Please show us another product with SIP, Presence, Fax to desktop, T1/Pri/FXS/FXO, voice mail, EASY management, ITSP support, Call detail reports, Easy dial plan set-up, Instant messaging… at a price point that is under the big boys. We have spent 60 days looking at 3com, avaya, sphere, vonexus, objectworld, and a few others… Nothing comes close to Zultys MX250
I hope whoever buys them, changes the managment screen to their name, paints the box, applies a new logo, and gets a quick turn around
Rich Tehrani
September 29, 2006 at 3:37 pmThis has been quite an emotional ride and I am blown away at how well-liked Zultys systems are. In the end it is all about profit so I seriously hope there is a positive outcome for the resellers, customers and Zultys employees.
Greg Galitzine's VoIP Authority Blog
September 29, 2006 at 3:54 pmZultys Soap Opera Plays On
Sometimes the best part of a blog — and the least visited — is the comments section. Right now, there’s a veritable Zultys SOAP OPERA brewing in the comments section of Rich Tehrani’s recent Zultys posting. I urge you to…
VoIP & Gadgets Blog
September 29, 2006 at 3:56 pmZultsys firestorm brewing
There is a firestorm of controversy going on in the comments section of Rich’s article title Zultys reseller update. One comment reads, "Obviously TMC is interested in advancing VoIP industry participants, but this promotion of an obviously over h…
Anonymous VAR
September 29, 2006 at 5:25 pmIn response to the question ‘how can it be possible the company is insolvent’, one only has to look at the top of the pile. Just like a box of corn flakes, the biggest ones are always on top.
Mr. Milnes, in my opinion, is a classic example of an entrepreneur who made it big with the bubble, and thought he could ride roughshod over everyone in his quest to have another home run.
Want an example? Ask anyone who’s dealt with the guy. Couldn’t give you the time of day. Sales policies were developed and issued with absolutely no input from the VAR channel or from the regional managers (at least the ones I spoke with). Zultys’ outward marketing looked good, but it’s sales policies & licensing schemes were complex and convoluted, and had little relationship to making it easy for the dealer. Prior to the last change in demo licensing, dealers had to actually PAY for feature licenses to be able to go sell the features with any intelligence.
Want another? Our company sent 3 people for training for a week in Sunnyvale, plus 2 days travel time, and he didn’t even have the courtesy to drop into the training room to say ‘hello’ (although he walked by the window a few times).
The best thing that will happen out of this is Mr. Milnes will be gone – and if he’s not, we won’t be a dealer any longer.
Staying anonymous because if I didn’t, we probably would lose any remaining support (and those in the know, know what I mean).
Neil Darling
September 29, 2006 at 6:53 pmHi Rich:
I am surprised that anyone would swing such an anonymous bat so wildly. Obviously the former employees are pissed – but should “Mr. or Ms. Anonymous” not hope for the best in this run-up to the auction?
There are dozens of resellers who have based a good part of their business to making a go with Zultys – despite the obvious problems with Zultys approach to sales, marketing, distribution and developing the channel – all of which have been problematic to say the least.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I can say there appears to be a clear consensus among everyone I have spoken to (in the Zultys supply chain) that this may turn out to be a great opportunity in the end. That is for all of those who commit to doing whatever they can to keep the platform alive ( with the very real possibility of Iain making every decision in the future). There is no question that the engineering of this lil yellow box (for which you have to give Iain credit) is the top of the heap. I challenge anyone to dispute that fact – dollar for dollar and pound for pound this little Tivo sized monster is amazing.
So I see it not as a discussion of what will be done – or what will be sold. Rather, despite these chronic problems with brand, sales, marketing, distribution and channel strategy – we have used the the MX250 as a core of a solution that provides tangible value to our customers – in fact we won an Infoworld top 20 award about 10 months ago on behalf of one of our customers.
So, although the chips may fall as they may – start considering the opportunity that lies ahead. Consider yourself fortunate to have good knowledge about what this technology has done or could do in the right hands. Take a minute to consider what will happen if the chronic problems are resolved with some future owner of the technology that has a handle on branding, sales, marketing, distribution and channel strategy.
The future could be very bright indeed.
Best regards,
Neil D
Neil Darling
September 29, 2006 at 7:01 pmTypo and correction: I said ( with the very real possibility of Iain making every decision in the future).
And I meant to say: ( with the very real possibility of Iain not making every decision in the future).
Thanks
former Reseller
September 29, 2006 at 9:34 pmWe have sold Zultys for about a year now and its been a uphill battle the entire way.
$35M on product development and they can pass CallerID name? I gave up after loosing about $10k on a new MX30 unit we sold, which ZULTYS configured for me. and doesnt have a MAC MXIE interface which was promised. Oops engineering didnt tell the regional sales manager! Who got stuck with the equiptment? ME!
Right now I have an ASTERISK server sitting between Zultys MX250 and the CO. why? because ZULTYS resets the T1 and doesnt like DMS100(Dropping calls). Support? right…..
For my company Zultys was about a $20,000 mistake. Great Product. Core function Poor. Cooless factors Great. Phones UGLY.
Try to a $400 panasonic looking phone? Paging? buy a Zultys phone. Barge? Monitor? buy a Zultys phone.
A Realist
September 29, 2006 at 9:42 pmYes – the reseller is living and breathing and his name starts with N (and, no, its not Mr. Darling). Why doesn’t someone ask him to produce his Zultys Certification? He never bothered to even get trained on the company’s products (yet he now claims to live and die by their enormous market value). Now he is going to buy the company? But, heck, anyone would do a better job than Milnes. To take such incredible technology and flush it down the toilet due to business ineptitude is a real shame. And to then try to drag down a company’s employees down the drain with him? Disgusting. My favorite quote of the last 4 weeks is Milnes telling anyone who listen to him bitch that “the employees drove the company to bankruptcy”
“Strong” channel of resellers? Strong compared to what? A company that sells direct?? The very fact that this reseller thinks he was part of a strong channel demonstrates his overall unawareness to the market in general and what real players are producing from their strong channels.
MOVE ON. This ship sank and the captain is a pirate.
A Realist
September 29, 2006 at 10:08 pmNorman – Can you post your Zultys certification? Or wait – you didn’t even bother to get trained on this company’s products (yet you now claim to live and die by its enormous market value). Now you are going to buy the company? But, heck, anyone would do a better job than Milnes. To take such incredible technology and flush it down the toilet due to business ineptitude is a real shame. And to then try to drag down a company’s employees down the drain with him? Disgusting. My favorite quote of the last 4 weeks is Milnes telling anyone who listen to him bitch that “the employees drove the company to bankruptcy”
I love how everyone on here pegs the employees as bitter. You work for free for 2 months (without being asked, you are forced becaue of Milnes lying), you get ripped off of your time and personal expense money – then let us know how happy you are! As employees, we were bullied and lied to for years and years…all for nothing. Milnes and his wife robbed people of their own money in the guise of stock investments, then turned around and took away these employees paychecks. She gets fed up and decides to leave him, so he then uses company funds to pay her off (he calls it a buyout of shares). Ironically, one month later he can’t make his payroll? NOW he has the nerve to be collecting on loans he gave to employees to buy their stock options. He’s steals from them (their time and often their personal money for expenses) and then he swings back around and demands their savings? Anyone reading this who wants to resell the products of a company run by such an unethical human being might consider what will eventually be done to then. Something will happen, its not a matter of what, but when. Old habits don’t die. Shame on him the first time. Shame on you the second.
Give Credit Where Its Due
September 29, 2006 at 10:15 pmIain does not deserve or get credit for the engineering of the little yellow box. Far far far from it. You just insulted a very talented team of engineers who put this product together under a ridiculously bad work environment. This product was designed by a Zultys executive, but not Iain Milnes. Iain just funded the operation. While he likes to take credit for all the good things that happened (and blamed other – namely the employees – for the bad, such as the bankruptcy) Iain is neither a brilliant engineer (as he’d like you to believe) nor a brilliant businessman (obviously, enough said).
Give Credit Where Its Due
September 29, 2006 at 10:17 pmIain does not deserve or get credit for the engineering of the little yellow box. Far far far from it. You just insulted a very talented team of engineers who put this product together under a ridiculously bad work environment. This product was designed by a Zultys executive, but not Iain Milnes. Iain just funded the operation. While he likes to take credit for all the good things that happened (and blamed other – namely the employees – for the bad, such as the bankruptcy) Iain is neither a brilliant engineer (as he’d like you to believe) nor a brilliant businessman (obviously, enough said).
As The World Turns
September 29, 2006 at 10:32 pmIts funny – someone called this blog a soap opera.
The ironic thing is that for a small company that was relatively unheard of in mainstream business, there was a a lot of drama. Such as – Iain Milnes and his wife ran the company like a small sweat shop – the employees were overworked, underpaid peasants. Bonuses came in the form of peanuts. Not kidding! Mrs. Milnes main job function was to snoop through emails, find incriminating comments and to march the offender into Mr. Milnes office for a verbal lashing. Well, Mrs. Milnes found a better pond to fish in earlier this year and exited the scene. Mr. Milnes decided to pay her off with Zultys funds. Ironically, the very next month – oila! there is no money to pay the overworked, underpaid, emotionally beaten, peanut eating employees. The very next month, Mr. Milnes, now running a company with no employees but acting as if nothing is wrong, sends out notices to the very employees he just laid off after making them work for 30 days for free. The notice demands full payment on the loans which Mr. and Mrs. Milnes gave to the employees to purchase their stock options. Thats right! He lays people off, pays his wife a divorce settlement with their paychecks, then comes back around and asks for their savings accounts.
But, gentle readers and posters: you are right. The employees are just bitter little people who should hope Zultys gets purchased for a lot of money. However. and this is a big HOWEVER: It doesn’t matter how much Zultys sells for. Read how an “Assets Only” Auction works – the unsecured creditors (to which the employees belong) get ZERO. Put that in your Zultys pipe and light it up!
Sean P. Robertson
September 29, 2006 at 10:45 pmFinally, an ex-Zultys employee who is proud of what they have done and is willing to say it.
You all should be proud of what you did. We are all proud of you for it.
Sean
east coast reseller
September 30, 2006 at 3:15 amWell with all the above said the consensus seems to be:
Drama – far from being just another cold piece of technology there’s certainly a lot passion in all respects surrounding Zultys….
People got screwed – customers, VARs, distributors, manufacturers & worst of all employees…..
Substance – there’s something unique & of value here otherwise it would just go quietly into the night…
Rich Tehrani
September 30, 2006 at 11:57 amSubstance – there’s something unique & of value here otherwise it would just go quietly into the night…
—
That is my take as well — I have never seen this sort of enthusiasm for a company having financial problems. This is a new one for me and it reminds me of — excuse the geekiness here — the viewer revolt when the networks took Star Trek off the air.
Reviewer Soap Opera
October 2, 2006 at 3:01 am….pays his wife a divorce settlement with their paychecks,
Why is it that the investor pulled out in the 11th hour? Does anybody know?
Was it due to the CEO breaking his fiduciary responsabilities?
Former Employee
October 2, 2006 at 9:33 amVCs don’t just pull out without warning as he would have us believe. There was certainly something there they didn’t like. But don’t look for something odd. The following debts would do it for me!
Silicon Valley Bank $1.8M
Employees $2.751M
The manufacturer of the MX $648K
The manufacturer of the phones $438K
A credit analyst $278K
Marketeer $196K
Arrow Electronic $147K
Text100 $85K
Shareholders $40M
But this company is in great shape! Send him your checks.
Midwest Reseller
October 2, 2006 at 9:47 amI am sorry the employees were financial harmed. I am sorry they did not get paid for their last 30 days of work. Heck I am sorry that Iain got divorced. BUT we don’t make partnership agreements based on the company soap opera we make these decisions based on the technology and the go to marketablility of a product. We have 18 years in the networking market place and we ahve not seen any other product that could line up with what the MX product from Zultys would do. You might point to a product and say that a certain product does something better then Zultys on 1 or two point/areas..but no product out there has the overall funcionality of an MX250. Not Cisco, not Avaya, Not 3Com, Not Mitel.
We will see what happens on the 11th oc Oct. We hope that the products get picked and turned around in a short period of time and we can partner with the new owners.
Since the Zultys platform with its presence, ease of management, great admin interface, SIP, and the list goes on,, is at lest 18 months ahead of some of the bigger players it would give a boost to anybody with a name and a few dollars to market it
JF
October 2, 2006 at 9:49 amWow!!! What a lively discussion. One thing however that I don’t understand is the nature of some of these comments. Assuming everyone is being honest, why would people attack each other on this post? It seems to me that everyone involved has been hurt by what has happened at Zultys. Resellers are stuck with orders that can not be fullfiled and former the employees of Zultys looks like they got absolutley screwed in the process.
Therefore, why all the attacking? Sounds like everyone agrees that what has happened with Zultys hurt a lot of people. If what the employees and resellers all say is true, it sounds like you should all be sympathetitc to each others plights and place the blame were it belongs; on the shoulders of Zultys ownership!!!
One last point, to the person that attacks Rich, all he did was comment on what a reseller told him. To attack him is unjustified. Obviously it sounds like you have a valid reason to be angry and bitter towards Milnes not Rich…
Midwest Reseller
October 2, 2006 at 10:00 amPut yourself in the position of a large company CEO or a Venture Capitialist. Do you rush out and buy a company and assume $45,000,000 in debt in order to get a technology or do you wait until those debts are discharged and pick the company up for between $6 – 12 Million,,,,,WITH NO DEBT.
Lets think about that a minute. Imagine somebody with a used Ford Mustang, they owe $15,950 to the bank for the car. The car is worth $13,287. So WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND would give the owner $13,287 and also assume the debt of $15,950.
If you answered that you would, Please give me a call..I have a used 2002 Dodge caravan I would like to talk to you about.
Former Employee
October 2, 2006 at 11:48 amI think you mean $6 -$12. You slipped an M in by mistake.
California Reseller
October 2, 2006 at 12:16 pmThis is almost not worth saying (but I have to say it) To: Midwest Reseller, You do understand that the whole point of the Chapter 11 reorginization is that all that unsecured debt (40+ million dollars) is erased, right? This makes this a very attractive looking investment if you believe in the basis of the company (the product).
Also, I am not understanding your car analogy?.. I have never owned a car that had the potential to earn millions of dollars a year.. Comparing the purchase of a used car to a technology company makes absolutely no sense at all..
Sean P. Robertson
October 2, 2006 at 12:31 pmI think that California Reseller and Midwest Reseller are making the same point.
None of the suitors were willing to buy Zultys prior to the Chapter 11 because they knew that Chapter 11 would wipe some or all of the debt and would allow them to buy the company more cheaply.
Sean P. Robertson
October 2, 2006 at 12:32 pmI think that California Reseller and Midwest Reseller are making the same point.
None of the suitors were willing to buy Zultys prior to the Chapter 11 because they knew that Chapter 11 would wipe some or all of the debt and would allow them to buy the company more cheaply.
Sean P. Robertson
October 2, 2006 at 12:38 pmI think that Midwest Reseller and California Reseller are making the same point.
That is that the pre-bankruptcy suitors were probably not too keen on paying for the company and assuming the debt of the company without the protection of a judge.
Former Employee
October 2, 2006 at 12:57 pmI don’t think any of you have dealt with VCs. I have. They don’t buy basket cases and don’t think in the way you are implying. They buy thriving companies with a demonstrable future. Whoever buys this mess, I don’t think it will be a VC. I’m afraid the only suitors will be the ones who created the mess. And for those who think they will have a Zultys without you know who, dream on!
Reality Check
October 2, 2006 at 1:10 pmIf $65M went into these “awesome” products and $20M came out in the form of sales over the past 4 years, there is something very wrong. Hmmm, what could it be, ohhh maybe… customers don’t want it! They buy from Cisco, Avaya, 3Com, Mitel, and yes, even ShoreTel. It follows that a reseller in his “right mind” would strive to carry products from these companies.
The source of the emotion here comes from the misdirection of one person. The infuriated victims who placed thier trust in this person are dedicated employees, resellers, and the end users that gave the products a chance.
Thanks to Mr. Tehrani for the forum to be heard, but don’t mistake the reactions being expressed to be enthusiasm. This is just pent up frustration being vented.
Midwest Reseller
October 2, 2006 at 2:14 pmMy point was that NOBODY WOULD BUY A COMPANY AND ASSUME $45,000,000 in debt when they could wait a few months and pick it up WITHOUT DEBT.
Go back and read what I wrote. I was not saying that nobody would want it. I was saying that if you wanted and were a good business man (Person) you would not want to be saddled with teh debt and possible employee lawsuits.
I think that it will be picked up and hopefully by somebody witht a name that people will want to buy.
basic questions are this.
Is it a good technology?
Would it help a company to gain market share and grow business?
Would it help Avaya, 3COM, Foundry Networks, DELL?
If it had the name avaya on it would it sell?
Look at page 68-72 of the Chap 11 filing and you can see who looked at the company as a possible investment or purchase.
The MX250 is a greta product and if former employee thinks it is just another VoIP product and an also ran then they could very well be the reason Zultys is at where they are at.
Piss Poor Employees always hurt a company.
Midwest Reseller
October 2, 2006 at 2:34 pmDear California reseller.
Please go back and re-read my post to see if it makes sense the second time through. I was not trying to compare buying a car to buying a technology company. The point was about money and debt.
Company A has $45,000,000 in debt.
Company B is thinking about buying Company A
If B purchases A, B now owes $45,000,000
If B waits until A files Chap 11 then B can buy A and not owe $45,000,000.
NOW HERE IS THE IMPORTANT THING..
If A is on a train that leaves boston at 7 PM and is traveling at 80 MPH and B leaves Chicago at 8PM on a training traveling at 110 MPH, which Ford mustang will get a flat tire first the red one or the blue one.
a passer-by
October 2, 2006 at 3:01 pmAnd piss poor CEO’s kill a company and create lawsuits based on thier actions.
If the technology was desirable, it would have sustained the company. Tha much is clear. So it must be considered either duplicated or uninspired technology by those who count.
Seems to me that this whole bankruptcy thing is a sham anyway. If the company is bought back by the same people, the only thing that really has changed is the shareholder list. Someone said the owner’s ex-wife was paid off with company funds in his divorce. Maybe she got shares and he’s doing all this to stick to to her! Talk about a soap opera.
Midwest Reseller
October 2, 2006 at 3:57 pmI will not defend Iain here that is not my job nor am I trying to sell Iain to any of my customers.
Desireable technology…lol.
Zultys has around 3,000 to 5,000 installs
3com has 30,000
Avaya has 80,000
Cisco slightly less then Avaya
So 10% as much as 3COM and just less the %5 of what Avaya has. That is pretty good for an undesireable product.Most companies would love to have that type of success in the VoIP market place.
I think most resellers would hope that it is picked up by a large company with great marketing.
Look at Cisco, their products are at best second class but they are a great marketing company.
Think about how Zultys would do if they were the Avaya VX250, or the 3COM NMX250, or the Foundry Networks Voiceiron-250.
Put your facts where your mouth is, Show me another SIP System (the industry standard), that runs on Linux or unix (Security)
that has presence (productivity
ITSP Support (Cost Savings)
an easy management GUI (Management time saving=money)
Call recording
Fax to desk top
DID for voice and FAX
Auto Attendants
Voice to EMail
Call Detail reporting
That will connect with T1/FXo/FXS without a gateway
AND PS.. there will be NO lawsuits because the CHAP 11 will wipe them out.. hope you were not holding to much of that stock unless you are running short of toilet paper IT IS WORTHLESS. Be careful of the green ink on the stock paper, itis not hypo allergenic
Regardless of what happened in the past the future is what we are looking at. Oct 11th will tell us a great deal about the future of the platform.
And to your point that is the technology was desireable it would have sustained the company.. My guess is that if shut down had not occured that profitablility would have been within 6 months. of course that is just based on our pipeline. I could be wrong. MANY Cmpanies LOSE money starting out some lose money for years.
Call Shoretel and ask them how many rounds of financing they have and if they are profitably yet!!!
Get Your Facts Straight
October 2, 2006 at 4:37 pmZultys doesn’t have anywhere close to 3000 installs. Who on earth told you that? Try about 5-600. They could only produce about 100 MX250s/quarter (and that was in 2006. Prior, they were only putting in orders to manufacture 10-20 at a time!). They simply couldn’t afford to manufacture any more than that. The MX250 launched in 2004. MX250 installs by year were approx:
2004: 20
2005: 200
2006: 300
There are about 30 MX30s installed in the world. Most have since been taken out and trashed. If someone at Zultys told you the installs were in the thousands, they were simply passing on the lies that Milnes was spreading.
The company’s burn rate was $2million a month. Sales peaked at about $750K/month. Debt was and is staggering – the company WAS NOT close to being profitable. If it was, they would have been able to attract venture funding. Doesn’t anyone realize that Milnes shopped the company to the venture community for 6 months and had NOT ONE taker? Not one educated person would sink a dime into this company? all of the companies listed on the BK filing LOOKED at the company, but are not still looking at the company. They came, they were lied to, and they went home. End of story.
George Richardson
October 2, 2006 at 4:56 pmI have no knowledge of how many MX250’s were sold by Zultys, but I do have exact knowledge of how many were sold by CTD. Based on my exact knowledge of CTD’s Zultys sales I can tell you that “Get Your Facts Straight” is not even close unless there was limited other distribution.
Midwest Reseller
October 2, 2006 at 5:00 pmAGAIN. who in their right mind would purchase a company that owes $45,000,000 when they could wait until after Chapter 11 and get it for much less with all chance for lawsuit wiped out and all debt erased. Is this a hard concept for you to understand.
The reason they looked was because they were interested in the technology and now that the $45,000,000 dollars is wiped out there will be a few that will come back to the table and sit down.
OCT 11th WILL TELL US WHO IS RIGHT. Of course I will tell you that if the management buys the company back we will be selling another solution.
VoIP Blog - Tehrani.com
October 2, 2006 at 5:15 pmZultys Restructuring Documents
Recently I was sent the Zultys restructuring announcement as well as the Chapter 11 filing. If you aren’t following it, there is a very lively debate taking place on my blog about the future of Zultys, what led to its…
Reviwer Sopa Opera
October 2, 2006 at 6:09 pmCan someone email me the filing or forward the URL so I may download it?
(email: [email protected])
As they say there are 3 sides to a story. I have never personally used or sold any of Zulty’s technology. But, I’ve heard from a few people who claim Zulty’s products offered lots of value.
Do ya’ll think that Fonality will look to acquire Zulty’s out of Chapter 11? On the surface this looks to make some sense if they can take their box and make it work with Asterisks.
Thanks
Rich Tehrani
October 2, 2006 at 6:15 pmAt the bottom of the post — scroll way up in red it says update. There you will find a link to another blog entry with the document you request.
Maths Genius
October 3, 2006 at 5:03 amFinally we get someone who can perform simple maths. Midwest reseller is correct in his numbers. Just divide into $6M last year sales guys. It isn’t complicated. A chimp with an Abacus can do it.
Maths Genius
October 3, 2006 at 5:06 amSorry, I should have said “Get you facts Straight” has the correct numbers. Midwest resller is still in fantasy land.
Zultys Reseller
October 3, 2006 at 4:30 pmWe are a reseller of Zultys along with 3COM and Allworx. I have also been in this business since divestiture. Zultys technology is remarkable. The systems we have installed (and we have some large ones out there with Call Center, archiving, redundancy, call recording, etc.) have been performing excellent and the clients absolutely love them. We have a large client that ha evaluated all the competition and is sitting waitng to see what happens in the courts. The minute the see a path to stability, they would sign immediately.
It is obviously questionable if the existing management team will be at the helm of this technology however it is no question in my mind that this superior technology will not go away.
Zultys
October 3, 2006 at 4:33 pmWe are a reseller of Zultys along with 3COM and Allworx. I have also been in this business since divestiture. Zultys technology is remarkable. The systems we have installed (and we have some large ones out there with Call Center, archiving, redundancy, call recording, etc.) have been performing excellent and the clients absolutely love them. We have a large client that ha evaluated all the competition and is sitting waitng to see what happens in the courts. The minute the see a path to stability, they would sign immediately.
It is obviously questionable if the existing management team will be at the helm of this technology however it is no question in my mind that this superior technology will not go away.
Creditor
October 4, 2006 at 12:00 pmI hope your customer is very patient because the auction has been delayed a couple of weeks so the begging bowl can go round another couple of times.
Norman Landerman
October 5, 2006 at 5:01 pmI’ve been away from this BLOG for a few days due to a holiday and a death. It is interesting to see that it has largely degraded into a slugfest of name-calling and un-yielding support and/or hostility surrounding Iain, Zultys Corporate, and unresolved personal/personnel issues.
The name of this discussion is “Zultys RESELLER update” and it evolved from an initial conversation I had with Rich where I described what I perceived to be an interesting situation.
My concern was that this group of resellers and their opinions, experience, and current realities, were an un-heard and invisible potential commodity with a unique and shared determination to lend support and be an asset to any entity interested in maintaining and promoting the continuance of what we found to be an exceptional product.
The result is that the RESELLER comments within this discussion are overwhelmingly in support of my assertions. Even distributors have piped up to support some of the RESELLER contentions.
Former employees and creditors have legitimate issues. Why dispute them? I don’t. Who can? Chapter 11 seems specifically tailored to allow a business to create and then sidestep employee, shareholder and creditor predicaments and leave them behind as “collateral damage”. I find that reality as ugly as anybody else does.
Iain bashers and financial advisor wannabees have jumped into the fray. They all have their axes to grind and grudges to bear, and yes, I am thankful I did not go through what they have. I can also understand their frustration and anger that Zultys could conceivably be made whole, unlike they, who most likely will not.
“A Realist” even jumped in, thinking their opinion might somehow be enhanced by taking a personal shot at me and challenging my credentials. For the record: I received Zultys Sales Certification and training via the Web and co-produced numerous WebEx presentations with Patrick Ferriter, Van Do, Brian Denton, Darius Goodall, and various channel managers. In addition, I joined with others from within our company to sponsor, staff, and demonstrate at the last two Miami ITEC’s. Two of our Systems Engineers completed Zultys certification at the California HQ. This is appropriate, as THEY are the ones among our other SE’s who perform the Zultys installs and provide support, not I. They both hold valid MCSE’s as well as Cisco and SonicWall professional certifications. I completed my MCSE training at Florida Atlantic University. We (SDSI) have been a Microsoft and Cisco certified partner since 1996…. and unlike you, I am even using my real name. (Who is being “A Realist” here?)
My comments and concerns surround the Zultys product, and my only effort is to allow the other Zultys RESELLERS to be heard. Those who remain stubbornly loyal to what they consider an excellent product. Those who wish to continue to have access to that product to enhance their ability to generate revenue for their companies and income for their employees. Those who stubbornly wish to continue to provide ongoing support for what they consider to be a quality solution for their current/future customers. (Read the RESELLER contributions in the discussions above.)
My goal was simple: to let the world know that those like-minded RESELLERS exist, had/have similar experiences, and share desires similar to ours.
I believe enough RESELLERS have participated in this discussion to significantly support and provide proof of this point, while gaining some industry notice of this situation. The rest is up to the courts and the bidders with the resources to affect an appropriate resolution of this situation.
At least we have been heard. Rich gave a forum to what he recognized as a stubborn channel anomaly, unusual in this business and under these circumstances, and more unlikely to be found than the other discussions, issues and emotions which were eventually thrown in.
Rich Tehrani
October 5, 2006 at 7:47 pmIt has been my pleasure really. Thank you all for contributing to this blog and whether you or disagree with me or others is immaterial. This discussion is a living breathing diary of what has happened in the final tumultuous days of this company. Like I have said all along I hope whatever happens is extremely positive for all involved. I understand many have been and may continue to be hurt by these proceedings. But hopefully this situation will eventually have us saying “things always happen for the best.”
Former Employee
October 6, 2006 at 3:51 amWhat a superbly written article above by Norman Landerman. It is a pleasure to see that the art of good writing has not died out. It almost looks like Milnes himself wrote it. Milnes, as anyone who has dealt with him knows, is a devotee of the written word.
However I find the sentiments written by “a realist” more compelling.
Former Partner now Observer
October 6, 2006 at 11:38 amGentlemen,
I have been watching this discussion go on for several days, and have a couple of comments and a question.
Former Zultys employees, I’m not trying to attack you, but would you please lay off the conspiracy theories? This is not an Indymedia group. The resellers like the technology that you guys created so much, they are willing to fight to keep it. I would think that you would be flattered.
Mr. Darling and Mr. Landerman, I am not trying to attack you here either, but why are you so intent on shutting up the non-RESELLERS in this conversation? I don’t think you realize that there is still a lot on the table for the former Zultys employees, and, to be perfectly honest, the only way Zultys is going to ever make it, if it ever will, will be because a lot of the employees who got shafted decide to trust the new management (I think we all hope it’s new management) and come back. It really makes me wonder why you would ignore the people who know best what’s really going on. Closing off a yahoo group just because a former sales director gives you some bad news is just shooting yourself in the foot.
Also, resellers, I have a question for you. What will you do if Mr. Milnes is successful and buying his company back? Will you trust him to do right by you again? He’s shafted employees, distributors, creditors and you once already, do you trust him again? Also, where will new product come from? Do you really think his old manufacturer will actually do business with him again?
Former Partner now Observer
October 6, 2006 at 12:01 pmAfter reading my own comments, I come across as harder on the resellers that I intended. For that I apologize.
However, I do think my criticisms and questions are valid ones.
Chris Romine, Digital Biz
October 6, 2006 at 2:17 pmNorman does write superbly and I agree with all that he says.
We are a small Zultys reseller in Oklahoma that was formed about two years ago to sell Zultys…..
I reviewed all available IP-PBX Technolgy and I could find none that offered more value in any area that you might care to consider. I believe that the Zultys Solution is the best available solution for our smb clients today. I also believe that Zultys Technology is at least 18 to 24 months ahead of any competetion that we are aware of.
Please fell free to advise me of a more competent technology at any price let alone at Zultys price points. [email protected]
1. We have finally created a pipeline with over $600,000 in proposed Zultys Solutions. The possibilities of closing most of the proposals are being reduced daily.
2. We just closed a mx250-47 user sale all with mxie. The Zultys Chapter 11 was fully disclosed to our oklahoma client. They thought about the situation a day or so and advised us to move forward as they had reviewed serveral other solutions and none came close to offering the value that we offered with the Zultys solution.
To the x- employees of zultys- You should be proud of what you helped created and I am sorry for your plight. The management team at Zultys was not perfect, are you? When I was in Sunnyvale for my ZCSE all of the Zultys staff that I had contact with treated me suberbly and I do wish all the very best.
To the creditors of Zultys business failure (not paid debt) is a normal cost of doing business- you win some and you lose some. You know it and large companies have it budgeted.
As to Zultys’ ability to have product manufactured- get real, there are numerous worldwide resources for continued development and manufacturing that would be happy to take Zultys as a client regardless of thier management and the CH11. They might negotiate stricter terms but they will do business with Zultys.
To the competitors of Zultys in this blog- I guess I say good hunting. If you have to sell your product by speaking poorley of Zultys what do you have to sell?
We stand to lose quite a bit if Zultys “dies” as it will be difficult to find a replacement solution.
I am a Zultys VAR and I wish to remain one. I would be happy if Ian continued to manage the enterprize (like I said no one is perfect, not you and certainly not me) or happy if someone else steps in and takes over.
MY NAME IS CHRIS ROMINE, ZCSE! Do You Know Your name?
PS- thank you Rich for this forum
Chris Romine, Digital Biz
October 6, 2006 at 3:25 pmNorman does write superbly and I agree with all that he says.
We are a small Zultys reseller in Oklahoma that was formed about two years ago to sell Zultys…..
I reviewed all available IP-PBX Technolgy and I could find none that offered more value in any area that you might care to consider. I believe that the Zultys Solution is the best available solution for our smb clients today. I also believe that Zultys Technology is at least 18 to 24 months ahead of any competetion that we are aware of.
Please fell free to advise me of a more competent technology at any price let alone at Zultys price points. [email protected]
1. We have finally created a pipeline with over $600,000 in proposed Zultys Solutions. The possibilities of closing most of the proposals are being reduced daily.
2. We just closed a mx250-47 user sale all with mxie. The Zultys Chapter 11 was fully disclosed to our oklahoma client. They thought about the situation a day or so and advised us to move forward as they had reviewed serveral other solutions and none came close to offering the value that we offered with the Zultys solution.
To the x- employees of zultys- You should be proud of what you helped created and I am sorry for your plight. The management team at Zultys was not perfect, are you? When I was in Sunnyvale for my ZCSE all of the Zultys staff that I had contact with treated me suberbly and I do wish all the very best.
To the creditors of Zultys business failure (not paid debt) is a normal cost of doing business- you win some and you lose some. You know it and large companies have it budgeted.
As to Zultys’ ability to have product manufactured- get real, there are numerous worldwide resources for continued development and manufacturing that would be happy to take Zultys as a client regardless of thier management and the CH11. They might negotiate stricter terms but they will do business with Zultys.
To the competitors of Zultys in this blog- I guess I say good hunting. If you have to sell your product by speaking poorley of Zultys what do you have to sell?
We stand to lose quite a bit if Zultys “dies” as it will be difficult to find a replacement solution.
I am a Zultys VAR and I wish to remain one. I would be happy if Ian continued to manage the enterprize (like I said no one is perfect, not you and certainly not me) or happy if someone else steps in and takes over.
MY NAME IS CHRIS ROMINE, ZCSE! Do You Know Your name?
PS- thank you Rich for this forum
Rich Tehrani
October 6, 2006 at 3:30 pmIt is my pleasure to be of any assistance. Thanks for writing Chris.
Neil Darling
October 6, 2006 at 3:45 pmDear Former Partner Now Observer:
You can attack me if you like. I don’t mind. I don’t understand why – but you can. If you do though, I’d appreciate it if you’d sign your name so I may respond in a proper context.
If your concern is the Zultys Partner Group on Yahoo, please submit a request and we will be glad to approve you. The ONLY requirement is that you are a Zultys VAR. I can assure you though that there is much more content and discussion on this blog now (thanks to Rich) than on the group.
But let me know if you or any other partner would like to sign up for the group.
Best regards,
Neil D
Chris Romine, Digital Biz
October 6, 2006 at 3:47 pmNorman does write superbly and I agree with all that he says.
We are a small Zultys reseller in Oklahoma that was formed about two years ago to sell Zultys…..
I reviewed all available IP-PBX Technolgy and I could find none that offered more value in any area that you might care to consider. I believe that the Zultys Solution is the best available solution for our smb clients today. I also believe that Zultys Technology is at least 18 to 24 months ahead of any competetion that we are aware of.
Please fell free to advise me of a more competent technology at any price let alone at Zultys price points. [email protected]
1. We have finally created a pipeline with over $600,000 in proposed Zultys Solutions. The possibilities of closing most of the proposals are being reduced daily.
2. We just closed a mx250-47 user sale all with mxie. The Zultys Chapter 11 was fully disclosed to our oklahoma client. They thought about the situation a day or so and advised us to move forward as they had reviewed serveral other solutions and none came close to offering the value that we offered with the Zultys solution.
To the x- employees of zultys- You should be proud of what you helped created and I am sorry for your plight. The management team at Zultys was not perfect, are you? When I was in Sunnyvale for my ZCSE all of the Zultys staff that I had contact with treated me suberbly and I do wish all the very best.
To the creditors of Zultys business failure (not paid debt) is a normal cost of doing business- you win some and you lose some. You know it and large companies have it budgeted.
As to Zultys’ ability to have product manufactured- get real, there are numerous worldwide resources for continued development and manufacturing that would be happy to take Zultys as a client regardless of thier management and the CH11. They might negotiate stricter terms but they will do business with Zultys.
To the competitors of Zultys in this blog- I guess I say good hunting. If you have to sell your product by speaking poorley of Zultys what do you have to sell?
We stand to lose quite a bit if Zultys “dies” as it will be difficult to find a replacement solution.
I am a Zultys VAR and I wish to remain one. I would be happy if Ian continued to manage the enterprize (like I said no one is perfect, not you and certainly not me) or happy if someone else steps in and takes over.
MY NAME IS CHRIS ROMINE, ZCSE! Do You Know Your name?
PS- thank you Rich for this forum
Former Partner now Observer
October 6, 2006 at 4:43 pmNeil,
As I said before, I’m not attacking you, and the reason I’m not posting my name is that I like my job, and would like to keep it.
I’m not upset with anything, I just want to make sure you understand that your fate right now is closely tied to the people you’ve been arguing with. I have no stake in the Zultys wars anymore, but I truly hope all of you are successful.
The yahoo group I brought up is just a case in point. The person who left the message in question was trying to be helpful and warn you about potential dangers, and you responded by removing all non-VARs from the group. If you wanted it to be VARs only so badly, you could have just denied the memberships in the first place. But I suspect the real reason is just that you didn’t want to hear what she had to say. But when you did that, your really only hurt yourselves, because you cut yourselves off from some potentially powerful allies (not me, I’m just a peon.)
As I said, that is just a case in point. I see the same behavior here.
Just let me reiterate, Neil, I’m not attacking you. I want you guys to succeed, because you certainly don’t deserve what is happening right now. I’d love to see Zultys continue on with good and honest management, and you guys getting rich off all the business. I’m just hoping you guys will be smart about this, and use your resources wisely.
Good luck gentlemen.
To Chris Romine
October 9, 2006 at 6:34 pmChris Romine: Your company sold 1 system in the three years you were a VAR. And that was to yourself as a demo kit. If we count this latest sale to the company you mentioned with 47 seats, you are averaging less than .8 seats per month. I don’t think you are in a place to be all over this forum as a represantative Zultys VAR. Sorry to be harsh, but its ironic that you have been more active on the boards and forums than you ever were as a reseller. There are people making decisions and plans off of the posts on these forums and I think it is only fair that the information be real and useful. You really should be in a position to have sold and (tried to) maintain some systems before espousing the virtues of the products. Selling the systems was usually the easy part of being a Zultys VAR.
Neil Darling
October 9, 2006 at 10:09 pmBeing anonymous and attacking people is chickensh*t.
You lack integrity.
What is your name chicken without a name? Bock, bock and bock.
My name is Neil.
Call me to discuss Toll-free 888-260-5235 (cause your undoubtedly the cheap kind of chicken).
Chris Romine, Digital Biz
October 10, 2006 at 5:22 pmThanks Neil……
To Chris Romine writer: I AM A representative Zultys VAR- I am spending 90% of my resources trying to sell Zultys. I may not have been a successful Zultys VAR, but we are (were) changing that- no thanks to you. I have said in all of my post that we are just learning how to sell Zultys and that our large pipeline is new. I don’t know who you are (I can guess) but what you say is true- we have only sold one system to date, however we have finally developed a meaningful pipe of over $1,200,000 in Zultys based proposals in the past 4 or 5 months which may never close now. So what difference does it make if I only sold 47 seats in the past three years, if I sell 500, 1000, 3000 or 4000~ plus seats in the next 12 months? We developed our current pipeline with very limited sales support in the field from Zultys! I assume we had limited field support from our last channel rep due to what you said in your post. I. E.- We were not going to be a successful VAR.
We had no telecom history whatsoever- in fact we were formed new to sell Zultys and had or have no other business at all. We have been through 4 or 5 channel reps- we lasted longer than the reps). We had to learn how to sell phone systems in general and then how to sell Zultys in particular. I think most of the small resellers had the same problem we had – staying around long enough to learn how to engage valid prospects, then sell Zultys to those prospects. I have always been committed to Zultys technology regardless of the revolving door at Zultys. I hope that we have a chance to close some of the proposals we have in our pipeline.
FYI- I makes no difference what you think. We wish to have the continuing opportunity to sell Zultys Technology.
Chris
Neil Darling
October 13, 2006 at 4:17 pmA new investment club is forming. If you are interested in becoming a part of our club – let me know.
Neil Darling
[email protected]
Another former engineer
October 14, 2006 at 2:52 amMy rebuttal here>>
Products are probably great, potential sales are great too but the capital structure of the company was too much to handle.
I really mean the financial statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow statement did not appeal to investors. 2004 and 2005
were great years for VC and private equity funding.
We have to remember the CEO, Mr Milnes was in engineering managment. He was not in marketing and finance department. I think lack of right people, lack of right corporate background and not able to clean up the financial statement really killed the company.
Mr Milnes never able to focus on the growth curve of the equation.
The company was spending too much money on development, having too much inventory and not enough investors equity. In fact, there were no VC equity, but more debt than anything else.
If Mr Milnes had the foresight and hindsight, let seasonal managment team ran the company for the last 2 years. Keep his orginial founders equity and focused his job in the investment community. I’m sure the result will be totally different.
Anyway, Iain killed the company and everyone suffer including ex-wife, ex-employees, resellers, and customers.
Insider
October 15, 2006 at 9:30 amThe letter from “Another Former Engineer”, clearly Russian, says it all. These Russians are smart and, from the above, not just at engineering. Think hard about what he is saying before you join Mr.Darling’s little investment club (do we have to buy stamps?). Milnes epitomized the old Chinese saying “it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive”. He sleepwalked into oblivion. Rather than do a financial analysis of the coming year, he worked on the priciple of “oh, don’t worry, it will be all right”. Why do you think his Chief Financial Officer left months ago? She knew it was a foundation of sand that would finally collapse when his personal piggy bank ran dry. His arrogance to VCs is said to be his undoing. That was only part of it. He never had a business plan. Sounds unbelievable? Well, you’d better believe it. It isn’t that he didn’t have a CREDIBLE business plan. He didn’t have one at all. The result is wasted lives and effort.
Insider
October 15, 2006 at 9:32 amThe letter from “Another Former Engineer”, clearly Russian, says it all. These Russians are smart and, from the above, not just at engineering. Think hard about what he is saying before you join Mr.Darling’s little investment club (do we have to buy stamps?). Milnes epitomized the old Chinese saying “it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive”. He sleepwalked into oblivion. Rather than do a financial analysis of the coming year, he worked on the priciple of “oh, don’t worry, it will be all right”. Why do you think his Chief Financial Officer left months ago? She knew it was a foundation of sand that would finally collapse when his personal piggy bank ran dry. His arrogance to VCs is said to be his undoing. That was only part of it. He never had a business plan. Sounds unbelievable? Well, you’d better believe it. It isn’t that he didn’t have a CREDIBLE business plan. He didn’t have one at all. The result is wasted lives and effort.
Engineer
October 17, 2006 at 3:48 pmThis is quote from a post made by Ben Leznik, former Sofware Director at Zultys. Look at the key people list!
………………………………
After 2 months of Zultys collaps I ended up working with the company
named Pivot. It’s created and financed by the Telrad Connegy, the
company that initially tried to buy Zultys (remember those misterious
Israely people?).
Few other key s/w guys from Zultys joined Pivot as well: Vladimir
Movshovich, Vladimir Appel, Alex Petrov, Albert Umyarov, etc.
The intention of Pivot is to place the bid on Zultys and try to buy
the company when the auction takes place.
……………………………
Norman D. Landerman
October 18, 2006 at 1:55 pmTo: To Chris Romine:
At the same time you took a shot at Chris’ legitimacy as a representative VAR (as opposed to your own?), you validated the very point attempted. Apparently, your hostility towards whose who would “espouse the virtues of the (Zultys) products”, is even exceeded by your own respect for the product. I would imagine this self-contradiction correctly reveals you to be a self-hating Zultys loyalist.
May I quote you?
“Selling the systems was usually the easy part of being a Zultys VAR.”
I concur. Thank you for helping to make our point.
Former Employee
October 19, 2006 at 2:49 amNorman and Chris are really making me begin to feel that Milnes’ rack of respect for resellers is well founded. This argument has now descended into the realms of childishness. You seem to have missed the real important information on this blog that senior engineers have left and joined Pivot. Now we really see what Milnes is frightened of. There is a real possibility that the people who built this product could buy the company and consign Mines to history. You resellers should be rejoicing, not bickering. Send your spare food stamps to Pivot NOT to Sunnyvale!
another inside
October 19, 2006 at 10:32 amMr Milnes wrote a bounce check, and he knew there are no money to cover it. Is this legal? Why dont you guys try it? Mr Milnes preferred to take the risk. There is noting against the product. He defrauds everyone here, suppliers, employees, ex-wife, and resellers. He used the bankruptcy chapter 11 to get out.
Norman Landerman
October 19, 2006 at 10:43 amI would respond to your comments, however, that would require me to respond either positively or negatively to your thinly veiled excuse to bash “Milnes”. Oh, and also be trapped into responding to what you consider to be the only acceptable, just, and appropriate end-game. Sorry.
I thought I had simply made a point while trying to take the heat out of the bickering. Oh well.
We only have two more days of this. My understanding is “first offers” are due Friday and the auction is over on Monday.
I look forward to rejoicing with my fellow resellers with an announcement on Monday of the Zultys product line remaining as a viable and marketable opportunity for us all.
Providing resolution-agnostic support of that one goal has been my sole purpose throughout this conversation.
I continue to offer that support without stating my personal preferences or reactions about anything that has, might be, or is about to take place. I promise you I have information and strong opinions about all three of those time frames.
Give me a shout on Tuesday.
1-561-279-2627, Ext. 110
Rich Tehrani
October 19, 2006 at 4:56 pmExpect an excellent article on the Zultys situation from Bob Liu on TMCnet early in the morning. If you want to stay up to date on Zultys happenings, subscribe to a news alert on the company or any person you want to track.
http://www.tmcnet.com/scripts/newsalerts/
Norman Norman Norman
October 19, 2006 at 6:09 pmNorman,
I’m not a self-hating Zultys loyalist. I really like myself and I have no loyalty left to Zultys. I think the product has some interesting features but does not have mass market appeal. I wish you’d accept that there are people on this planet that know more about Zultys than you might. I am one of those people, and other than this forum, that knowledge does not one thing for me anymore.
You did not understand my post at all. The point was, selling the system was easy but that was the ONLY easy part. Supporting the system, working with the company, dodging licensing pitfalls, communicating the never ending policy changes, furiously RMAing products, navigating fact from fiction…those were the activities that occupy a busy resellers time. The product simply does not do everything it is advertised to do. It is not purely built on the SIP standard, thus the overwhelming interop issues. The hardware failure rate in 2006 was 18%. This indicates several things, but since you have all the answers…I leave you to figure out what those are.
Again, I don’t hate anyone. Its frustrating to watch people jump on bandwagons simply because they have nothing better to do (I’m not referring to you). Let me say is as plainly as I can: You don’t have a complete representation of the type of VARs that you should be talking to about how to revive Zultys. You have a few of them, but you also have a lot of people posting who sold 1 or no systems. Why on earth would you fight us on this? I wasted years of my life at Zultys. When the employees were finally cut free, the urge and requirement to keep quiet on all the dirty little secrets was lifted. People are telling you things you don’t want to hear, and it is not because they are bitter. Almost everyone I know is thrilled to be working elsewhere. Other than the money they lost, Zultys employees now generally work in companies where they are respected, paid well, treated like adults, not lied to and supporting products that lots and lots of people buy. Zultys had hundreds of installs globally. It was simply not accepted by the majority of people who saw it. I realize you have a view of what happened with your own business, but at some point man understand that you don’t have an omnipresent view of what happened overall with Zultys. The “self hating” posts are truly, honestly because people are trying to warn you guys from making an enormous mistake. I have no vested interst in any of this, but as someone who was deeply affected by what happened…I do not want to see the Zultys runoff hurt anyone eles or their families.
Outside Looking in
October 19, 2006 at 10:08 pmResellers (of which I am one) do not care about the dirty little secrets, We don’t care if Iain wrote bad checks, we dont care that he is getting divorced, we dont care that you lost money, we dont care care if you were ever lied to…
In the big picture what we see is a product that is far ahead of anything offered by cisco, avaya, 3com, or the other big players. The only thing that comes close is shoretel and they ain’t SIP.
The MX250 has build in Voice mail, many others require a secondary server, It has built in auto attendants, call center features, T1 , FXO, FXS conenctions (via add on slots) and lots of other features that place it far and above the rest of the field,SIP TRUNKING, Presence, Fax to the desktop, and a bunch of other stuff
Monday the technology will belong to Telrad, Toshiba, 3Com or some other group that will invest and market it so it will be MAINSTREAM.
The biggest problem before was the battle of “who is Zultys”. That will be gone and I would sell Zultys against any manufacturer out there. AND if the decision is made based on Technology (and not the name) ZULTYS will win.
SO let me say this JUNIOR, Sorry you are feeling blue, sorry that you did not have the guts to leave a company you hated, sorry you stuck around. If you had any self respect you would have left long ago instead of sticking around and being treated like dirt, lied to, etc. Where you are at today is your own fault if you saw all the things you say you saw and you (on you own free will) hung around!!!!
SHAME SHAME SHAME ON YOU
and sorry you can not see what a loyal group the Zultys product has.
Did you think for one minute that we would say “guess we better not look forward to working with this technology because some ex-employee got hurt”
Resellers try to find products that ADD VALUE for their customers and offer a good features and a good margin. If we all wanted to just sell the typical product we would all be selling CISCO’s AVVID and making 3.2% margin.
and as far as the bandwagon goes, We have been on it for awhile, it seems you sprained your ankle when you got TOSSED off and now are trying to get the rest of us to jump off with you..
Well sorry dear,,,BUT WE AINT JUMPING
oh ya I AM SORRY YOU LANDED IN HORSE POOP when they tossed you off the wagon kicking and screaming like the little girl you are
Norman Landerman
October 19, 2006 at 10:46 pmHow come “Norman Norman Norman” now sounds similar to “Beezlebub Beezlebub Beezlebub”?
I never intended to “fight” anyone on this blog. I respect your knowledge of Zultys, am saddened by what you and many others have gone through and am pleased that many of you have come to have your talents and worth better appreciated and better rewarded albeit elsewhere and at great personal loss in the interim.
I am indeed limited in my experience. Perhaps, as a reseller I am just lucky to have not experienced the hardware difficulties you have mentioned, although some of the reseller difficulties you describe certainly do hit a chord.
Perhaps your insights are more valuable in a total understanding of what has transpired at Zultys. Perhaps your insights are more valuable in outlining what should happen with Zultys (although you may find me to ultimately be more in line with you on this than you think).
Your experience in all of this is based upon where you stood throughout this process as mine is based from where I stood. I don’t honestly know how many people stood on similar ground as I, but I do know there were a number of them. Some of them have shown up here. Perhaps all of them, perhaps not.
I believe Rich mis-quoted me when he claimed I said “the entire channel” remained dedicated. (He actually did pretty well over all, as he received that call between flights in an airport.) I did say I was aware of an unusual (to me) number of us.
Our allegiance to the PRODUCT may be as misguided as many ex-employees have insisted. Not so many resellers have accused us of the same. In any case, we have all been able to hear it from the other perspective and having our perspective allowed to surface in addition to yours was where it started and where it really should end.
Another Insider
October 20, 2006 at 1:32 amWell, it looks like our little soap opera is getting to it’s season finale and I wanted to respond to our fellow Zultys/Milnes hater:
Everything you wrote in the last post is true, and you named all (or almost all) the main reasons why Zultys went bankrupt after spending 65 million dollars. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to understand that there was something deeply wrong with the company and to keep it as it is would be just a waste of money, and I assume Mr. Darling and his colleagues do understand that, too.
Yes, Zultys was completely mismanaged on all levels including engineering and manufacturing. That is why the system did not work like it was supposed to, RMAs were not handled properly and hardware was so faulty. A group of engineers suddenly decided that they are great businessmen, but we all agree that is not the way it really works. What Zultys needs is a strong professional management team. It has a great potential and product has even more features then it needs to be sold. Put the right management with clear goals and a good business plan and I am sure Zultys will have a bright future.
Analyst
October 20, 2006 at 8:06 am18% failure rate. That wouldn’t a self repscting reseller time to read blogs!
Analyst
October 20, 2006 at 8:08 amO.K In English this time!
18% failure rate wouldn’t give a self respecting reseller time to read blogs!
VoIP Blog - Tehrani.com
October 20, 2006 at 9:54 amZultys Bankruptcy
This morning Bob Liu wrote an article with details on the Zultys bankruptcy proceedings. the hearing will be held on October 23, 2006 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California, in San Jose, before Judge Arthur S. Weissbrodt, who…
Rich Tehrani
October 20, 2006 at 9:57 amPlease read Zultsys Bankruptcy, written today by me. Comments are appreciated and probably better off left here.
George Richardson
October 20, 2006 at 10:04 amZultys Failure Rate
I do not know Zultys overall failure rate, but I do know the failure rate for the MX250’s sold by CTD. The rate of 18% is about 6 times the rate CTD expereienced.
George Richardson
Norman Landerman
October 20, 2006 at 10:49 amFor those of you who are not aware of it. CTD in not a Zultys reseller, but rather an established and long term Zultys DISTRIBUTOR.
Although our experience as a reseller is limited to our own sales. I can state we have not seen anything close to an 18% MX250 failure rate.
George’s experience covers a much greater exposure including many resellers.
Midwest reseller
October 20, 2006 at 10:56 amOK, I finally figured out the major issue here, The resellers are looking forward and believe in the product
The Ex-Employees are looking back and want to point to every thing Iain did wrong
Lets be honest, The resellers care about the product and believe that it is solution that we can sell against Cisco, Avaya, 3COM, and others. AND MAKE GOOD MARGIN doing it.
We are sorry that you were forced to stay against your will, working at a job that you hated, and were finally tossed off the wagon and landed on your head in a big pile of horse poop.
Bad Mouthing Iain, talking about his divorce, or any other dirty little secrets, has no effect on our future business plans. If these items stopped us from selling a product we would have to drop –
HP – They tapped their employees phones
Cisco – Allowing their code to be stolen
and the list goes on
We all hope you future job is better then the one you had a Zultys and we also wish you the moral and intestinal fortitude needed to leave a job when you feel you are not being treated fairly, instead of sticking around and allow yourself to be abused, lied to, mistreated, under paid, etc etc etc
another former employee
October 20, 2006 at 12:26 pmi’m former employee. I dont think we should let the products die. We should let the market determine the end of the life of the products. Someday, the products will go away. Just like Sun microsystems and SGI were once high flyers. I believe the free market capitalist business model. Who will knows the google click generates so much money? We never know, zultys (re-brand) products may beat Avaya, 3COM, but probably not CISCO. I vote for you!!!
another former employee
October 20, 2006 at 1:10 pmI think some former employee gets mixed feelings due to Iain. After the auction, Iain probably will not be at the helm of the Zultys no matter who buys the company except MBO. If resellers successful buy the company, it will be under new management. I dont know.
happy ex-employee
October 20, 2006 at 4:13 pmBeating 3Com, Avaya and Cisco all at once is quite strong statement. What kept Zultys from beating them in the first place? All 4 years we were trumpeting about revolutionary “ahead of competition” product that could not compete against that competetion at all. It seems to me that it was far away from competetion on the side road. Yes, MX250 was a solid product and could stand against others if it was called Cisco MX250. But it was not good enough for a little known startup. Let’s be honest to ourselves. We did not deliver a revolutionary product. It was not an open source, was not truely fault tolerant, was not flexible as competetitors. It was somewhat easier to configure but not much easier.
It’s actually easier to tell what MX250 was missing in its feature list than to say where it was beating competetitors. This discussion thread is just another proof of my opinion. What a reseller can sell if he think s that main advantage of Zultys product is that it’s not based on MS products. Are you kidding me?
Anyway, good luck to what left from Zultys. With all my heart wish you a bright future and see you above top dogs you’re going to beat in the battle.
another insider
October 21, 2006 at 12:58 amAt this junction, I do have my sympathy to our old boss. To lost all hope with despair is not easy. Business world is brutal. I do wish a good outcome to everyone including our colleageus, resellers, customers, suppliers and our old boss. He did lose $65 million, and it’s sad to end this way. Knowing one small mistake can lead to big disaster. Wish everyone well!!!
Faramarz Mahdavi
October 23, 2006 at 10:23 pmMy company has been a Zultys reseller for a few years now and like the product very much. It is interesting to read the comments above from the resellers and the ex employees. I am not sure if my opinion is shared amongst other resellers, but regardless of how much we like the product, we place a lot of weight on who will ultimately own the company. Customers ultimately make their purchasing decisions based on feeling safe and protected. Any successful reseller will tell you that if you are trying sell any product based on the feature list, you are not getting it. So, who cares really about how the MX compares against Cisco or Avaya in terms of features ..given that most IT executives are inherently insecure, they will opt for Avaya or Cisco if they can afford it. We had success selling Zultys because we formulated ways to provide that sense of security to our customers. And, we built great customer references which further instilled that feeling. That brings me to another point which our friend, disgruntled Norman, doesn’t seem to consider, which is having a long list of features is one thing, engineering it in a way so that most are actually used by the customer is another and what Zultys did (does) extremely well. The Avaya IP Office has many more features than the MX, but do customers actually use them? No, because the product is not at all intuitive.
Our position, for anyone who might care, is that unless Zultys is picked up by a reputable, financially sound, company, we may not continue to support it regardless of how much we like the product. That will certainly be the case if it ends up as a MBO. Telrad too is just another mediocre company. When the sales meeting is largely spent justifying or defending the failures of the manufacturer, it’s time to reconsider your partnership.
Mark Dutton
October 24, 2006 at 4:49 amThis has been an interesting blog, though I must admit I had to skip the middle as it just goes on and on. As a reseller in Australia with quite a few sales over the past year and quite a lot in the pipepline, I have a vested interest in the outcome. It is sad to hear how it all came undone and while difficult to separate fact from emotional rants, it seems clear that the management is responsible for everyone’s pain.
I too hope that Zultys is purchased by a reputable company. If the MBO succeeds, then we will support our existing clients an move on. The biggest problem is going to be finding something as good as Zultys. To all you ex Zultys employees bagging the product. Don’t sell yourselves short. You made a great product. Don’t let your dislike for your boss lessen the impact you made as a collective on the world of IP Telephony.
The auction continues on Wednesday and so far we only see three players in the mix, none whom I believe are going to be able to easily overcome the past few months without much work, but if a white knight comes in at the 11th hour, we could all be very happy, including the ex-employess who will be valuable to any new owners.
OncePotentialCustomer
October 24, 2006 at 8:06 amI’m surprised nobody has posted information about what happened at the auction on Monday. Mark Dutton, you seem to have some info – can you provide a summary?
Thanks!
Norman Landerman
October 24, 2006 at 10:12 amI’m not being too picky at this point. The Zultys product has a five year history, a good present product, industry recognized technology and features, and we have an existing satisfied customer base. Give me an entity with financial depth, stability, experience, and a commitment to support and grow the product and we are good to go. That’s all my current and currently pending customers are looking for.
WHAT HAPPENED ON MONDAY?
Note to Faramarz:
1. Please don’t confuse me with “Norman Norman Norman”, who wrote to disagree with my more optimistic outlook.
an insider
October 24, 2006 at 11:56 amI’m an ex-employee. I love reseller buyout. I dont like the other potential suitor. You know what I mean. Resellers revive the “new” company and the products. The other potential suitor (not our old boss) kills everything.
Bob
October 24, 2006 at 2:30 pmHi all,
Here is your Zultys update. Thanks for your patience.
http://news.tmcnet.com/news/-voip-zultys-bankruptcy-/2006/10/24/2008885.htm
an interested customer
October 24, 2006 at 2:46 pmIt sounds like the final decision on the auction has been pushed back until Wednesday:
http://www.computing.co.uk/crn/news/2167169/former-zultys-head-appeals
Bob
October 24, 2006 at 2:50 pmhttp://news.tmcnet.com/news/-voip-zultys-bankruptcy-/2006/10/24/2008885.htm
No coincidence
October 24, 2006 at 3:10 pmAs a current Zultys dealer waiting patiently to put this behind us and to continue rolling out this world class technology that works beautifully and that customers love, here is what I feel is the perfect scenario:
*Management buyout with a 3rd party buy in*
Iain and a new team take back Zultys sans the millions in debt. They then quickly bring in an 3rd party with deep pockets and name recognition to buy in a major stake and perhaps rebrand the product. By this time next year, we will be hitting critical mass for the Web 2.0 boom that will make the boom of late 90’s look like a joke. This time around, technologies like SIP, AJAX and others that are revolutioning the Internet will make this boom real. By that time, Zultys will be perfectly suited for a major IPO.
Kid yourself not, Iain is genius. I have worked with him and this man has it. It is no accident that this brilliant technology was a result of his genius and the hardwork of his team. Yes, he has made some mistakes and at times can be rough-around-the-edges and had his hands in everything, however I have noticed most genius that operate at his level are very much like this. I feel I also know him well enough to know he learns from his mistakes. Also keep in mind that he put millions of his own keeping the company afloat towards the end.
For those of you that have doubts about Iain capabilities, just look at what he did with his former company Zarak, the developers of the Abacus tester; a company he started and sold to Spirent for nearly US$500M. Today, if you go into Cisco, Mitel or any other lab where telcom products are made and tested, you will find the Abacus Tester which to this day is still the industry leader in its market space. The MX250 is on the same level of that technological genius. It is no coincident that both companies were brain children of Iain’s.
Genius?
October 24, 2006 at 10:51 pmIain,
Stop writing posts about yourself!
This story is already sad, don’t make it pathetic. The truth came out about Zarak and Zultys and you need to move on.
Regards,
A. Friend
Former Employee
October 25, 2006 at 3:42 amDon’t be silly. It couldn’t be Iain. It has errors of grammar that look Russian in nature. Remember, that when Zultys was going down the toilet, Iain was correcting grammatical errors in memos. It is clear neither you nor the Russian understands him at all. However Iain clearly has pictures of “no coincidence” with a goat to make him write such arrant nonsense.
unknown
October 25, 2006 at 6:47 pmThis is sad to say there is no place for Iain and no companies will let him operate again.
Mr. I
October 26, 2006 at 2:12 amIf Telrad outbids everyone, then it will be
the end of Zultys, as everything is moving offshore.
Telrad Connegy, Ltd. has moved to its new headquarters in Petach Tikvah, Israel. The new address is 25, Basel Street, Kyriat Arieh, Petach Tikvah 49001, Israel.
The Israel-based operation of Telrad Connegy includes the global headquarters, the Research and Development Division and the manufacturing operations, and handles the marketing of the Company’s products for EMEA (Europe and the Middle East).
TW
October 26, 2006 at 6:41 amAny news from wednesday?
Come On
October 26, 2006 at 9:33 amTelrad is not going to kill Zultys, and as far as it moving off shore… they have already leased space and said in court they were not going to be laying everybody off. Telrad has been in business for almost 50 years and if they buy Zultys they are buying it for the product. as far as Manaufacturing being in israel (if it is) WHO CARES, the MX250 was being made in China before. SO it moves from a communist country to a democratic country, I dont think that is a bad thing. Do you?