A screenshot from a Microsoft video, illustrating the functions of Office 365
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Web hosting provider Intermedia (www.intermedia.net), a company known for specializing in the direct and wholesale delivery of hosted Microsoft Exchange services, announced on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with Microsoft to deliver solutions that include Microsoft Office 365, the SaaS version of Microsoft’s popular desktop productivity software.
Intermedia has a pretty well established pedigree as a distributor of hosted Microsoftware – it claims to host more premium Exchange mailboxes than any other provider, at 350,000. The company is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, which undoubtedly factors into the company being one of “a handful” of organizations bringing Office 365 to market.
Intermedia says it has more than 41,000 small and medium-sized business customers that use the company’s hosted communications, collaboration and content management services.
In May, 2011, Intermedia was acquired by private equity firm Oak Hill Capital, in one of quite a few big-name acquisitions in the hosting space this year.
Office 365 provides access to Microsoft productivity tools, including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync Online, as well as the traditional Microsoft Office tools, hosted in and delivered from Microsoft’s data centers.
Intermedia says its means of separating itself from competitors’ products (a strategy that, in this case, would apply to Microsoft itself) include “white-glove” 24-hour support, services around migration to the cloud, in-house control panels and other proprietary cloud services.
The relationship with Intermedia, and others, around Office 365, should be an important proving ground for Microsoft of the viability of a partner-hosted version of a cloud service also being provided direct by the software giant.
“We are in the middle of a historic shift from on-premise computing to the cloud,” says Phil Koen, CEO of Intermedia, quoted in the press release. “Microsoft Office 365 is raising awareness of this shift’s benefits to an unprecedented level, and Intermedia is thrilled to have been selected as a partner in the effort. By combining Office 365′s popular Microsoft-delivered services with Intermedia’s white-glove support experience and enhanced options for security and mobility, as well as other Intermedia cloud services, we can offer small and mid-size businesses additional, highly practical alternatives to tap into the cloud’s full power.”
Intermedia says it will launch its Office 365 services in the fourth quarter of 2011. Customers will set up and manage Office 365 from Intermedia’s HostPilot Control Panel, through which all of Intermedia’s services are deployed and managed, and which enables administration to be delegated to non-technical staff.
About Liam Eagle
Liam Eagle has worked as a contributor to the Web Host Industry Review since its inception in 2000, and as editor since 2003. He has been editor of the WHIR's print magazine since its launch. His daily involvement in the gathering and reporting of Web hosting news and his regular interaction with Web hosting leaders gives him an uncommonly broad appreciation of the issues and tends facing the business. Through his WHIR blog, Liam spots Web hosting trends and offers opinions on the industry-wide impacts of major developments and the motivation behind big announcements. Follow him on Twitter @liameagle
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