Richard Westlund, For Progress & Innovation 8:00 a.m. ET June 19, 2017

Jeff Leslie is CEO of ITS Telecom and ITS Fiber, LLC.(Photo: HOBIE HILER/FOR PROGRESS & INNOVATION)Buy Photo

If you were listing Floridas technology hubs, Indiantown is probably not the first name that comes to mind. But ITS Fiber, LLC, has brought national recognition to this small Martin County community for its state-of-the-art data center, high-speed fiber network and array of managed services.

Businesses today need powerful, secure IT solutions, along with the ability to easily send and share large data files, such as videos and presentations, said Jeff Leslie, president and CEO. We support their operations by offering enterprise-level network, broadband, voice, data center and cloud services.

In 2013, ITSopened its co-location facility and network operations center in Indiantown, following its deployment of a high-speed fiber network for the region.

That year, the company was honored with the Smart Rural Community Award from NTCA the Rural Broadband Association, and received an innovation awardfrom Calix, a national telecom supplier and an expansion award from the Business Development Board of Martin County.

ITS Telecom and ITS Fiber's Customer Service & Sales Center is in Indiantown. The sister companies offer services in Martin, St. Lucie and northern Palm Beach County.(Photo: HOBIE HILER/FOR PROGRESS & INNOVATION)

ITS is an early adopter and industry leader in the growing movement toward edge computing, and should be an example for other rural telephone companies to follow, said Mark Hurley, data center solution architect withSchneider Electric, which partnered with ITS Fiber in deploying the data center.

Leslie says ITS was the first company in South Florida to offer symmetric bandwidth with speeds up to 1 gigabit (1000 mbps) to both residents and businesses, rivaling large national competitors.

Thathigh speed is important for uploading large digital files, as well as streaming videos at home or at work, he said.

Rudy Hernandez, voice engineer, works at his desk at ITS Telecom and ITS Fiber.(Photo: HOBIE HILER/FOR PROGRESS & INNOVATION)

ITS Fiber, along with its sister company, ITS Telecom, offers a full suite of communications services in Martin, St. Lucie and northern Palm Beach County.

Using the Indiantown network operations center, the company also offers hosted voice services in seven states.

We can put voice service on any device desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet so its available wherever you travel, Leslie said. Its like putting everyone in the same office, even if the business has locations outside Florida.

Thats one of the many ways ITS Fiber is growing in the cloud services market.

Many small to mid-size businesses dont have the capital to constantly invest in their on-premise infrastructure, Leslie said. We can take care of their network needs and offer software as a service . With our fiber connections, its like having our data center right there on site.

Currently, ITS has about 30 employees, a number that Leslie expects to grow in the next few years as the company expands its fiber network on the Treasure Coast and adds more business and residential customers.

We think the Treasure Coast is an excellent place for technology companies in todays digital era, he said. Fiber is the key to connectivity and collaboration, and we bring that to a region with a warm climate and a great lifestyle.

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RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY/INNOVATION: ITS Fiber brings fast connections, data center services to local business - TCPalm