Microsoft Office 365 delivers popular Microsoft tools for email, document management, IM and more to your employees – straight from the cloud. The savings versus traditional on-premise solutions can be significant. But Microsoft Office 365 isn’t your only option for accessing these capabilities, particularly if you need premium support or your employees want to use the full range of mobile devices – from BlackBerry to Android-based phones, iPhones and more.

"...Google Apps for Business and E-for-Enterprise Office 365 plans offer more robust support options [than Google's and Microsoft's lower-end plans], but they can't hold a candle to Intermedia's support, which it legitimately touts as industry leading."

– Ed Bott, ZDNet  Read full article

Support

Intermedia hosted Exchange

Office 365

Google Apps

Tech Support

Included

Partially supported

      • Built in support ticketing system in control panel
      • Microsoft certified support specialists
      • Online knowledge base and public community forum
      • 24x7 email and phone support (available on higher-end plans only) Average hold time is not reported

          Not supported

          • 24/7 phone support not available except for escalated issues; email support Mon-Fri, 24 hours a day
          • Built in support ticketing system in control panel
          • Online forum

          Migration Support

          Included

          • Free certified Cloud Concierge® migrates every new customer
          • 24/7 phone support
          • Online migration toolkit available for self migrations

          Partially supported

          • Online migration toolkit available for self migrations
          • Online Support knowledgebase, discussion forum and Community Forum
          • Assistance for hybrid deployments and 24/7 phone support (available on higher-end plans only)

          Partially supported

          • Online migration toolkit and discussion forum support

          Control

          Intermedia hosted Exchange

          Office 365

          Google Apps

          Management Control Panel

          Included

          • Customers able to provision users and manage settings for Intermedia's proprietary services as well as Microsoft-based and third-party services
          • Supports all browsers

          Partially supported

          • Customers able to provision users and manage settings for Microsoft-based services
          • Limited Exchange and Active Sync management capabilities (detailed controls available on higher-end plans)

          *does not support Google Chrome Browser

          Partially supported

          • Supports all browsers

          End-user Controls

          Included

          • My Services available in Outlook® and Outlook Web App to change common settings for users' services and update passwords, reducing administration load
          • Granular set of permissions controlled by the administrator; ability to manage all services enabled and request additional ones

          Partially supported

          • Granular set of permissions controlled by the administrator; ability to manage all services enabled and request additional ones
          • End user controls and policy management available through Outlook Web App interface.

          Partially supported

          • Limited permissions and functionality

          Reliability and Security

          Intermedia hosted Exchange

          Office 365

          Google Apps

          Security

          Included

          • Policy-based Encryption add-on available; includes templates for HIPAA compliance
          • Wipe ActiveSync and BlackBerry mobile devices in case of lost or theft; Supports multiple BlackBerry policies
          • Ability to set custom password policies, aligning cloud environment to internal security controls

          Partially supported

            • Policy-based Encryption add-on available; requires additional configuration
            • Wipe ActiveSync devices only

              Partially supported

              • Google Message Encryption service available
              • Wipe ActiveSync devices; BlackBerry device wipe requires BES

              Operations: SLA and Location of Data

              Included

              • Eight secure enterprise-grade datacenters (Seven US-based; and one UK-based for EU customers)
              • Premium, enterprise-grade hardware for high availability and redundancy (EMC and Hitachi SAS 10k storage, Dell PowerEdge Series servers, and VMWare)
              • Quadrant design with Nx2 capacity to assure high availability; option for automatic failover available, as well as support for archiving to third-party datacenter
              • SAS 70 Type II audited organization-wide, assuring strict controls, data privacy and protection
              • 99.999% financially backed SLA

              Partially supported

                  • Multiple datacenters located worldwide, with globally-redundant, enterprise grade reliability utilizing automatic failover and a strict privacy policy.
                  • 99.9% financially backed SLA

                      Partially supported

                      • Does not reveal which of its global datacenters are used
                      • 99.9% SLA
                      • SAS 70 Type II audited

                      Backup

                      Included

                      • Account level backups
                      • Data replication in real time from one set of premium hardware to another, assuring rapid service restoration recovery and data integrity in the event of a hardware issue or database corruption
                      • Outlook Backup, enabling easy backup and management of each users’ email, contacts, calendars and other items within Outlook
                      • PC Backup to protect the data on users’ desktops and laptops (supports PC and Mac)

                      Partially supported

                      • Account level backups
                      • Multiple layers of redundancy at datacenter level, so lost or corrupted account data can be restored

                      Partially supported

                      • Account level backups
                      • Datacenters designed with resiliency and redundancy in mind, minimizing the impact of common equipment failures and environmental risks

                      Services offered

                      Intermedia hosted Exchange

                      Office 365

                      Google Apps

                      Mobility

                      Included

                      • Support for full range of smartphones and tablets, including ActiveSync (iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows 7) and BlackBerry BIS and BES

                      Partially supported

                      • Support for full range of smartphones and tablets, including ActiveSync (iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows 7) and BlackBerry (BIS)

                        * BES not yet available

                      Partially supported

                      • Support for ActiveSync devices; BlackBerry support requires BES or downloadable apps from Google

                      Supported Mail Platforms

                      Included

                      • 25 GB or unlimited storage options; message size limit 50 MB
                      • Enterprise version of Exchange 2010 (latest version); Outlook 2010 available

                      Partially supported

                        • Storage max 25 GB; message size limit 25 MB
                        • Hosted version of Exchange 2010 (latest version); Outlook 2010 available as add on (higher-end plans only)

                          Partially supported

                          • Storage max 25 GB; message size limit 25 MB
                          • Gmail connects with basic Pop or IMAP connection for mobile and Outlook; Gmail Business Plans are based off the same free Gmail service

                          Public Folders

                          Included

                          • Public Folders available

                          Not supported

                          • Public Folders not available

                          Partially supported

                          • Public Folders suported via Google Groups

                          Microsoft Outlook

                          Included

                          • Exchange 2010 enables full support of Microsoft Outlook 2010 features such as improved calendaring and conversation view
                          • Outlook Web App (enhanced web access available with Exchange 2010)
                          • Microsoft Outlook 2011 for Mac available

                          Included

                            • Exchange 2010 enables full support of Microsoft Outlook 2010 features such as improved calendaring and conversation view
                            • Outlook Web App (enhanced web access available with Exchange 2010)
                            • Microsoft Outlook 2011 for Mac available

                              Partially supported

                              • Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook is a plug-in for Outlook 2003, 2007, or 2010; however, there are limitations and synchronization issues between the two
                              Microsoft Office Software

                              Partially supported

                              • Outlook 2010 available; customer can provide own copies of other Office software

                              check-green

                              • Web Apps offered as a subscription (expires on termination of subscription)
                              • Office 2010 Professional Plus suite available as add-on (higher-end plans only)

                              cross-red

                              • Google Docs or customer can provide own copies of Microsoft Office software

                              Collaboration and File Management

                              Included

                              Included

                              • Lync
                              • SharePoint 2010 (document sharing, online backup, shared contacts, calendars, folders)

                              Included

                              • Google IM, Docs and Cloud Connect services

                              Archiving

                              Included

                              Included

                              • Archiving available

                              Included

                              • Archiving available

                              Voice/Unified Communications Offering

                              Included

                              Not supported

                              • No voice offering

                                *third-party services available through Office 365 Marketplace

                              Partially supported

                              • Google Voice, a consumer-oriented service

                              		Learn More about Intermedia's Suite of Services

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