Somehow, some way, I recently lost touch with Intermedia. My bad. It’s been very busy. For example, this hosting company recently acquired AccessLine, an SMB telecom, to round out its portfolio. As I spoke with Michael Gold (pictured), Intermedia’s President, recently, it was apparent that Intermedia is driving is success strategically. Returning to the telecom conversation, here is what I know to be true. A lot of the Office 365 or Office 365-like solutions in the market address one side of the aisle: information. But few hosting companies provide a capable voice solution. Intermedia has filled this with its AccessLine acquisition. When I last visited AccessLine a few years ago, it was bringing to market a capable business class phone system that filled the gap created by Microsoft Response Point’s withdrawal from the market. I liked the right-sized fit it offered the small business with its reliance on a traditional on-premises phone system to keep it simple.
Fast forward the movie and I’d offer that the AccessLine solution, which has evolved into “Hosted PBX,” is exactly what the SMB IT Pro community needs. Why? Because there exists a telecom need above Skype and below Lync in the SMB space. Intermedia is filling that need.
To be clear, Intermedia is a hosting company providing its own best of breed solutions. It differentiates itself by provide a higher level of support than its competitors and even Microsoft itself. Its innovation extends into single sign-on, comprehensive backup and archiving and its ability to offer Exchange, SharePoint and Lync directly via SPLA licensing. In sum, I’d liken Intermedia’s strategy, which I’ll monitor more closely moving forward, as “Go broad or go home!”
