Intermedia is to assume NEC‘s UCaaS and CCaaS business, UNIVERGE BLUE, in North America and NEC’s partner relationships in Europe.
Intermedia has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with NEC over its UCaaS and CCaaS operations, which it underlines marks a milestone in its global expansion, bolstering its brand presence and leadership position in the cloud comms market.
Intermedia says this assumption of businesses builds on its partnership with NEC, which began in 2020, around the UNIVERGE BLUE solutions.
“As NEC’s exclusive cloud communications partner, together, we have successfully grown the UNIVERGE BLUE UCaaS and CCaaS business at an accelerated pace around the globe,” commented Michael GoldCEO of Intermedia.
Intermedia is thrilled to announce this transaction and looks forward to welcoming NEC’s UNIVERGE BLUE customers and partners directly to the Intermedia family. This evolution in our relationship strengthens our position in the cloud communications market and opens significant new opportunities for growth and innovation.”
NEC will maintain its management of the UCaaS and CCaaS business in Japan and Australia, in collaboration with Intermedia.
More Details On Intermedia Assuming NEC’s UCaaS And CCaaS Operations
Upon the transaction’s closing, Intermedia will take over responsibility for NEC’s existing UCaaS and CCaaS partner and customer contracts. Intermedia outlines that this includes managing all aspects of NEC’s partner relationships, such as directly providing comprehensive technical, sales, marketing, and billing support to partners and customers.
Intermedia assures that the transition will be seamless for NEC customers and partners, as they already use NEC-branded versions of Intermedia’s unified communications, collaboration, and cloud contact centre solutions. Intermedia stresses that existing service agreements, contracts, and support arrangements will remain in place through integration to ensure continuity of service.
Intermedia promises the transition will offer customers and partners more direct access to its teams and solutions. This strategy, which includes sales, marketing, and technical support, is designed to ensure seamless integration and continued excellence in service delivery with no disruption to existing services or programs.
For NEC partners involved in the NEC UNIVERGE BLUE business who also have on-prem customers, Intermedia says it’s dedicated to assisting these partners in making a seamless transition to the cloud. By leveraging the strong relationship built over years of collaboration, Intermedia emphasises it will offer the necessary tools, resources, and dedicated support to ensure partners can confidently guide their customers through the migration process.
“Since we began working with Intermedia in 2020, they have been an outstanding partner,” added Chris Jackson, NEC Corporate SVP; President & CEO, NEC America and Europe. “This transaction will ensure that UNIVERGE BLUE customers continue to receive the high-quality service they expect. Intermedia’s commitment to quality and innovation aligns perfectly with our values, which means channel partners and customers are in capable hands.”
The transaction is expected to close in the US and Canada by the end of September 2024, with Europe anticipated to follow shortly after that.
NEC To Shutter On-Premises UC Operations Outside Japan
NEC’s shifting of its UNIVERGE BLUE business to Intermedia illustrates the latest chapter of a transition period for NEC as it seems to be effectively withdrawing from UCaaS and UC in Europe and North America.
In April, NEC announced it was shuttering its on-premises unified communications operations outside Japan over “the next few years”. The vendor justified its decision by highlighting the growing demand for cloud-based services. This trend is tied to organisations globally embracing digital transformation.
“NEC has announced the decision to exit our on-premise Unified Communications business outside of Japan over the next few years,” an NEC spokesperson told UC Today at the time. “This decision follows significant shift of market demands from on-premise to cloud based services in recent years. We are committed to supporting our customers with this phase out and meeting our existing contractual obligations.”
