Intermedia Cloud Communications has again been recognized by CRN with a five-star rating in the CRN 2022 Partner Program Guide.

CRN's annual Partner Program Guide provides a definitive list of the most notable partner programs from technology vendors that offer innovative products and flexible services through the IT channel. The five-star rating is achieved only by select vendors that deliver the best of the best, going above and beyond in their partner programs to help push growth and positive change.

Recognized for its innovative approach to helping partners maximize their opportunity in the unified communications as a service (UCaaS) and contact center as a service (CCaaS) space, Intermedia's CORE model puts the power where it belongs — with the partner. Unlike commission-based agent models that most providers offer, Intermedia UCaaS/CCaaS resellers retain ownership of the customer relationship because they are the ones providing the solutions to the business as well as the ongoing support. Partners purchase the solutions wholesale from Intermedia and then resell them under their own brand, or cobranded with Intermedia at a price point they set. As a result, partners are in position to enjoy higher margins, earn five times more recurring revenue than a traditional agent commission model, and build significant long-term value in their business.

Under the CORE program, partners provide customers with the hybrid work-ready communications, collaboration and customer-care solutions they are looking for — including voice, chat, video conferencing, file collaboration and backup, contact center and more — all delivered from Intermedia's integrated, proprietary, highly reliable and secure platform. CORE partners handle billing and first-line support for their customers, while Intermedia supports them with comprehensive sales, marketing, training, and onboarding tools and resources — before, during and after the sale. In addition, partners receive financially backed 99.999% uptime service level agreements (SLAs) and J.D. Power-certified 24/7 technical support (six years running), with Intermedia even calculating and remitting complicated telecom taxes for them.

"CRN's Partner Program Guide delves into the strengths of each organization's partner program in order to honor those that consistently support and promote good change within the IT channel," said Blaine Raddon, CEO, The Channel Company. "As innovation fuels the speed and complexity of technology today, solution providers want partners that can keep up with and assist their growing business."

"Businesses continue to pivot to hybrid-work models, so the opportunity for channel partners to provide the UCaaS and CCaaS solutions that enable hybrid work has never been greater," said Jonathan McCormick, COO and head of sales, Intermedia. "For partners who are seeking to maximize this opportunity, realize higher revenue potential, and maintain ownership of their most valuable asset — the customer relationship — we believe Intermedia and our CORE partner program can be the perfect fit for them.

"We work tirelessly to be the partner-first cloud communications company, and we are honored to once again be recognized by the trusted channel authority CRN for our continued efforts," McCormick said.