Webroot Acquires Prevx

honestly, who even cares anymore. I have decided to use Prevx untill some testing bed shows me that Webroot turned it into crap. Until then I dont care if the name is Acme on it.

 

Just because you change your opinion every now and then and get easily bored - can't specify that in minutes, but you are a rarity - doesn't mean other people are doing it likewise.

Great plan. - But you know it is/was not so easy for people who have to think soon about prolonging their license or not.

Off coast - once you are in the boat you just have to sea what happens.

But first you must get convinced to buy the ticket, right?

Yeah, right .. the name on the thing isn't so very important if nothing else changes. But on the other hand I would suggest to not give up the 'good' name Prevx for pushing the other one which is sort of handicapped in the moment as this thread made very obvious.

So to let you know without any doubt: I DO CARE, honestly!

 

fine, I respect that. My problem is I just hate it happened, period. But I am not going to throw away a good license for a product that works. Now, before someone renews then yes, they must weigh out their options and by no means would I renew right now to some sort of signal is sent. Having Joe or Eraser say that everything will be peachy-keen for the future is well, crap to me.

 

I have to say i understand what the fuss is about. If for example Avast and Prevx were combined, i would be eager to see what comes out of it. Two established names and efficient products together sound much better to me than one with poor reputation consuming a smaller, more successful one. That's a recipe for disaster, as has been proven in the past.

But, at the same time, i think all this ranting, saying goodbyes and panicking is very premature. While i have zero confidence in Webroot and its products, i have all the confidence in Prevx staff and because they haven't let me down so far, i have yet to see a reason to "dig graves with their names".

I have ~250 days left on my 2PC license, which means i have ~250 days to see where Prevx is going with this.

~edited a typo

 

Hello,

I've been a user since the days of Prevx Pro. I have always 'feared' this day would come, when Prevx was bought out by a larger company.

It's not that one would expect different people working on Prevx, but that 'direction' and 'vision' are no longer Prevx's to say. Prevx as far as I am concerned, has been a visionary and innovative company, but no longer has full control (if any real control at all) over that vision - it has a new president from a parent company now - who may not agree with the way prevx do certain things, and prevx must also 'restrict' it's direction to be compatible with that companies products. It is this loss of vision (and innovation) that has always had me worried the most (mind you, if the CEO that brought Prevx to where it is today took over webroot, that wouldn't be a bad thing)

Also, as mentioned, you now have to code to integrate into webroot's security suite. This isn't a simple undertaking, and must include code for communication and compatability with webroot. This extra coding must surely degrade Prevx (in some way) as a stand alone product.

Two other thoughts arise from from the merger - Prevx surely can't now say they provide better protection than the suite (that would be just silly if it did occur - but it's also a sad thing to have Prevx run second to another product), and the suite is not to everyones liking.

And like Threatfire, which is apparently barely supported now, once Webroot has taken everything it can get out of Prevx, will it really be interested in the product? Will it just be discarded, a shell of the great product it is now?

I can't say I'm filled with confidence by this move. I am always prepared to wait and see, but it isn't the current product or the development team or the integration that I see as the biggest loss - it is Prevx's loss of control of Prevx's vision and direction that say to me this product is likely to go downhill.

 

Ok I have to say something here...fuss? who is fussing? Its only that we used to blindly trust Prevx..and I for one was shocked hearing about this..The way Prevx came up to the frontline and totally redefined the meaning of protection was not only impressive it was indeed a benchmark for others yet to reach IMO. Having the confidence in prevx is something and trying to believe in webroot and their vision is a complete different thing here. Well its not ranting or panicking its just frustration and saddening to some folks who used to turn on the pc and feel safer thinking the prevx cloud got it.. but I guess time will tell... I still believe Prevx by itself had the capability to provide best protection but I guess time is something nobody has anymore..

 

Why trust anyone blindly? That only brings disappointment, and it also means having less options at hand if/when the worst comes to pass.

 

I have been relying on Prevx by itself for a year now (successfully I might add) and the possibility that I won`t have that luxury in the future is a concern.
This scenario could have happened at any time of course, in a week or 5 years time down the line - but it just happens to have happened now.

It`s taken 10 years to find something that I was willing and happy to pay for rather than rely on free offerings which have varied from annoying to downright useless,
not until now have I had any faith in any software of this type to consider buying into it.

It`s great that Prevx is still the same now as it was a week ago and hopefully will be for some time to come, but even the possibility of having to jump ship is enough to have me thinking about it often,
when I`d rather not have to worry about it at all.....

You can call it software OCD, hysteria or whatever, but the seeds have been sown and I for one can`t simply ignore it as though it hasn`t happened.

If the time comes when I have to bail out, it won`t be the end of the world but I surely would rather have a head start.

The waiting, not knowing and uncertainty is probably worse than if it did turn into crap !

 

Well folks, after reading every page of this thread, here's what I have to say. Started my selling career @ age 32, retired @ age 70 and now have reached age 73. In the years that I worked, there were MANY buyouts such as this one. First, most believed what the buying company said, "There won't be any changes, everything stays as is, blah, blah, blah," BUT, there were changes, some at the top, product line, some dropped, others added. Can't count the times I've heard, "But we've always done it this way." Not anymore. Changes won't be immediate, but please believe me, there will be changes for sure. Wait and see.

 

Naturally there will be changes. Question remains, for the better or worse? The name Webroot suggests worse, but personally i'm giving Prevx the benefit of the doubt and just sit back and see.

 

This thread is starting to sound like "we" (Prevx supporters)are jilted lovers. "We" all blindly believe in and trust Joe/Prevx (and others) and when "we" were not a part of a big decision, we are all up in arms because "we" weren't first consulted. Whether or not "we" like the new partner, the decision made sense for Webroot and Prevx. I think things have gotten pretty carried away. If you don't like it show your non-support with your $. I have a 5 pc, 3 year license and I am willing to wait and see until/if something bad happens. I don't think it will but I will figure that out when the time comes. For now, I feel safe behind the wall that is Prevx.

 

All that needs to happen is 50 per cent of Webroot employees install prevx on their machines, then the remaining 50 per cent install Webroot on their machines, see who surfs faster, and has more threats blocked.

I purchased a license a week or two ago, and Webroot doesn't instill the greatest of confidence, but with my silly example above, surely Webroot employees, and managers will all be installing the program and soon realise which is the lighter and more effective product, and with common sense, they'll be continuing the product.

Couple of possibilities:
a) Webroot adapts prevx into their own business, and keeps prevx stand-alone for those who don't want bloat
b) The prevx name disappears, but as it is an excellent product, it actually is just re-branded/re-named and offered as what we know, the prevx safeonline version (called a Webroot name), a version with a firewall (Webroot gets to add their technology), version with extras (some may call this bloat)

Overall, Webroot staff will be using prevx right now. Common sense should kick in, and with the added speed in their PCs right now, productivity will go up.

 

Saraceno the Optimist!

 

hehe

Forgot to note, with Webroot having more staff, Joe might actually now get more than 3 hours sleep a night!

 

Given that Webroot’s marketing is typically not ‘aggressive,’ perhaps one improvement will be the disappearance of Prevx's controversial “Threats missed by other security vendors” chart?

 

Joe

You and EraserHW have a lot of credit...a lot.

However basicly you an employee of a company bought up by a bigger US company with a history of poor customer support/poorly coded suite products bundling parts from other vendors (Yes, i have used Webroots products in the past) are asking us to believe that they will allow you guys to run the ship in such a way that we who bought Prevx because we liked it will not notice a difference in the product Prevx and that support will actually improve?

Prevx is already miles ahead of webroot in the support dept as well as making a better security product. I fail to see how this sellout by Mel will improve things for us users of Prevx since quite a bit of your time will now go pleasing your new owner. Almost all other security vendors which we here in the forums have used which were bought up by another vendor have vanished as an entity and i assume/fear this will slowly happen to Prevx as well.

All is rosy and dandy now with the usual marketing smokescreen sent out, but what happen in 1-2 years when the present "technology focused CEO" because of poor earnings is run out of town and a new bottomline focussed CEO is brought in to fix it? Will he let everything run as it is or will he look at "better synergies" with everything merged at the US headquarters......

I think the crux of this rather long thread is that most here think Prevx users who use Prevx because it is light/simple will be the loosers. Whether this will happen or not the future will tell us and i have 520 days left on the license to see if my rather dark view on US bottomline focussed companies will be brought to shame. I will also definitely not be trialling Prevx enterprise in our company which were the plan to do in the next few weeks, way too much uncertainty about Prevx products until 1-2 years have passed and we see what Webroot is up to.

I personally would like to thank you, Joe for all your help and hope this isn't the end or the start of it as i fear.




P.s. If you buy back Prevx i promise to buy stocks and never say negative ever again about the Prevx activation system (Error CHK007/L055)....deal?

 

Just wondering if any one knows if WebRoot is on the stock market?
If Yes, then we can see if the price goes up/down after some time

 

What will tomorrow bring? Did Prevx earn any money or was it valued on the hope of its product being able to earn money in the future? Someone invested in Prevx and needs or wants some money/profit back. OK with me - business is business. I am not in love with my software. But I was pretty close with Defensewall But now I am flirting with Preevx - lets see what happens. What will tomorrow bring?

 

Webroot is a privately held company.

Although the financial terms of the transaction are unknown, acquiring a company as small as Prevx probably would be immaterial to the health of the balance sheet of Webroot.

P.S.: If the Webroot integration of Prevx works well, then (who knows?) Symantec may acquire Webroot.

 

And then Microsoft may acquire Symantec ..

 

@ Sir Percy: instead of quoting your post #191, you have said it better than I ever could! Thank you!

 

Originally Posted by Sir Percy
JoeP.s. If you buy back Prevx i promise to buy stocks

Now we are talking. How much are we prepared to invest? More than 35 bucks a year I suppose. Would we like to see a balance and result report before buying in? Is anybody here ready/able to go public with all the economical facts for Prevxs owners decision to sell? Did anybody get stinking rich or just saved what could be saved - I dont know - do you guys know? Probably not. Those who know cant go public - that could ruin things and is likely prohibited by the agreement. Why cant we just accept that a business deal was made and we will not get all the facts on the table and therefor we are in no position to evaluate why and what happened and even less - sorry to differ - what will happen in the future.

Best Regards

 

It's easy to forget that Webroot was once a small highly innovative company too. I used to use Webroot products but I noticed a gradual change in company culture after the huge injection of Venture Capital in February 2005: increasingly bloated products, poor customer service, new versions that were full of bugs - released too early without adequate testing, refusal to admit to problems with the products, etc, etc.

Here's a personal view by a Webroot techie bemoaning the culture change within Weboot that took place around that time, with a corresponding shift in emphasis away from technical excellence.

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Webroot-Software-RVW13868.htm

From our own experiences in the UK, the business model of the typical Venture Capitalist involves a short-term mentality that is only interested in a quick return on investment. What this tends to translate into is an obsession with the bottom line and a lack of concern with quality and customer service, or in investing for the long term. They also tend not to value the commitment shown by employees who work so hard to make the business a success; looking on them instead simply as a resource to be cynically exploited for short term gain with the consequent lowering of staff morale that this entails.

I too hope that this isn't the fate of Prevx but the history of Webroot's involvement with Venture Capital does serve as a warning.

 

I have changed my mind. I think this may be my surprise software for 2011.

 

no need to tell us that trjam