Tech Data Adds Intermedia's Hosted Exchange to Cloud Store

Distribution giant Tech Data Corp. this week added hosted Microsoft Exchange provider Intermedia to its StreamOne Solutions Store.

The move makes several Intermedia messaging packages for SMBs immediately available to Tech Data's 60,000 reseller channel in the United States.

Stacy Nethercoat, vice president of software product marketing for Tech Data, played up the security and private-label aspects of Intermedia's offering. "Intermedia's private-label model provides a fast, reliable and profitable way to enter the cloud, allowing our resellers to offer their end-user customers an entire suite of cloud services entirely under their own brands at their own price points," Nethercoat said in a statement. "Resellers are also able to own the billing and bundle additional products and professional services."

As a company, Intermedia has pushed the billing angle aggressively in contrast to Microsoft's approach with the Business Productivity Online Suite and subsequent Office 365, which both involved Microsoft billing end customers. Microsoft last month announced plans to allow partners to begin to control end user billing in the next few months.

Tech Data will offer three Intermedia packages. Standard will include an Exchange plan with backup and storage included. Advanced will come with an unlimited Exchange mailbox and also include mobility, backup and collaboration. Elite will tack on Lync and SharePoint.

Intermedia has also had its hosted Exchange products featured in rival distributor Ingram Micro's Seismic program since late 2009.

Meanwhile, Intermedia, with more than 480,000 mailboxes under management, has been logging fast growth of late. In an e-mail interview last month, CEO Michael Gold said, "Intermedia's partners saw a 70 percent increase in mailboxes under management, [and we had] a 30 percent increase in active partners and 50 percent increase in total partner revenue."

Posted by Scott Bekker on August 02, 2012 at 11:58 AM