About the Client

Intermedia Communications, Inc. of Tampa, Florida is a leading Internet infrastructure provider. Founded in 1987, Intermedia is a $1 billion business serving the complex communications needs of business and government. The company offers high-speed Internet access, managed hosting, building premises networking, broadband DSL and Frame Relay networking, and advanced data and voice services.

Client Challenge

Accelerated growth left Intermedia with redundant systems that couldn’t integrate or scale and a financial system that couldn’t provide the advanced accounting capabilities required.

CherryRoad Solution

CherryRoad Technologies implemented an ERP system to give Intermedia an integrated, scalable and advanced HR and financial platform.

The result of change

• Industry analysts have identified Intermedia Communications as a technology growth star. Deloitte & Touche named Intermedia the 57th fastest growing tech company in its “Technology’s Fast 500” report. Forbes ASAP magazine named Intermedia the number eight telecommunications company in its “Dynamic 100” list of America’s top technology companies. Data Communications magazine identified the company as one of the nation’s “Top 25 Internet Service Providers.” And Boardwatch magazine named Intermedia as the nation’s “number one Internet backbone provider” in its Keynote Backbone Web Hosting Ratings.
• These accolades follow stellar growth. In three years, from 1996 through 1999, Intermedia expanded from 250 employees to 5,000. The problem was, the company’s rapid growth and acquisitions produced a nonintegrated, non-scalable IT environment. Its financial system, a SQL Server application designed for a small to mid-sized company, lacked flexibility for growth and didn’t provide crucial allocations, multi-company and multi-currency accounting, or integrated project accounting functionality. HR and payroll were separate systems with inconsistent data. And Intermedia had no efficient way to track capital costs associated with the build-out of its network and customer equipment.
• To solve these problems, the CIO and CFO decided they needed a powerful and integrated ERP solution. They chose a robust ERP system based on its functionality, reliability, ease of use and Project Costing integration. But they were wary of ERP horror stories projects endlessly delayed, never completed, with no return on investment. That’s why they instituted a search for a highly qualified team of ERP implementation experts who could partner with them to navigate the challenges and streamline the process.
  These criteria led Intermedia to CherryRoad. Compared to Big 5 systems integrators, Intermedia felt CherryRoad offered compelling advantages in terms of flexibility and responsiveness, the ability to act as a partner, access to senior management and the ability to provide thorough knowledge transfer.

The schedule: 10 modules, 10 months

In January, 1999, CherryRoad experts started off with a comprehensive month-long fit/gap analysis of Intermedia’s systems environment and business processes. Based on this knowledge, they developed an ambitious implementation schedule calling for 10 modules to go live in just 10 months. During the course of the implementation, 20 CherryRoad experts worked with 10 Intermedia staff members to perform all the tasks associated with bringing a major ERP system online. CherryRoad also contributed exceptional project management skills to oversee and coordinate all phases of the implementation. The initial concerns about ERP implementations expressed by the CIO and CFO were put to rest. Intermedia’s applications were able to go live on time and on budget.

The results: increased efficiency, integration, user satisfaction

• By all accounts, Intermedia’s move to the new system has been a distinct success. Using a Projects module, for example, company engineers have automated the entire work order process, spanning the creation of work orders, checking inventory, ordering online and then handling payment and shipping. It’s improved data access and helped to streamline the entire process.
• Intermedia has gained many notable benefits in HR. Employees can access their own benefits data. It’s self-service on the web. Enrollment in benefits programs is also web-based, eliminating the delay and complexity of multiple paper forms. All records are now maintained on one integrated system, so there’s no longer a potential for data integrity problems.
• New applications have enabled Intermedia to bring payroll processing in-house, instead of outsourcing it. This cuts costs. They’ve also been able to significantly reduce the payroll cycle from 11 to three days. And employees can view their paycheck data via a secure online connection. In all, implementing the new system has enabled Intermedia to centralize data, expand employee services, enhance financial management and analysis capability, and increase information control. By teaming with CherryRoad, they’ve achieved all this on budget, within a tight timetable.