Calliflower Bundled with Samsung PCs - Why Not?

You have to mix things up every now and then, and always be open to trying new things. There was a great example of this in Canada yesterday when two previously unconnected companies announced a pretty neat promotion. Fresh off the feel-good buzz of the Olympics, we have Ottawa-based Iotum teaming up with Samsung Canada to offer a limited time bundle.

Between now and April 30, buyers of Samsung notebooks and netbooks get one year of free service with Iotum's conferencing solution, Calliflower. As the announcement explains, resellers get a commission for Calliflower sign ups, so there's something in this for everybody.

While it's not clear which models of PCs this applies to, or how much the commmission is, or who is actually paying the commissions, you have to like the idea. I've been close to Iotum from the beginning, and they've gone through several iterations, with Calliflower being the most high profile offering. I've used the service and posted about it, and it's pretty good. I'm not a regular user of conferencing solutions, but they definitely have all the 2.0 features you'd expect, and it's a great service for any SMB - not to mention being attractively priced.

I can't think of too many examples where an application or service is being used to induce sales of PCs, but conferencing is pretty universal and should have broad appeal. It's easy to see how peripherals like headsets or software pair up nicely with a PC, but somewhat less so for Calliflower. However, once people try it, they'll see how the desktop interface and overall experience is a big step up from conventional conferencing, especially if people need to collaborate instead of just talk.

Kudos to Iotum for trying something different - and something local. I can see why Samsung is in, as PC sales have been slowing down, and the market is even more crowded/confused with tablets in the mix now. Resellers now have a better reason to promote Samsung PCs, and if it works, Iotum will now have a new roadmap for getting to market, and no doubt they'll look to do the same in the U.S. soon after. Sometimes you don't win by having the best product - although Calliflower is quite good - sometimes you just play the game better - just like our hockey teams did in Vancouver!