Deal Size: $95 million

Why it's relevant? This year at TDS Telecom was all about taking the pieces of other managed service providers and creating its own identity in the space.

Similar to other traditional wireline providers, TDS built its cloud and related managed services and data center vision through a mix of its own internal efforts and through acquisition, a trend that continued well into 2011 when it purchased OneNeck.

With OneNeck, TDS got a set of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications, including management and monitoring of client IT infrastructure, both client-owned and those that OneNeck provides. OneNeck also provides network management, disaster recovery, security administration, and end-user support on a 24/7 basis for its business customers.

Complementing the service breadth, the acquisition gives TDS greater presence in the Northeast via OneNeck's relationship with Datapipe, which gives it instant access data to center space in Somerset, N.J.

TDS has been actively building up its cloud and data center capabilities through the acquisition of not only OneNeck, but also the former VISI and TEAM, which are now both subsidiaries of TDS' newly created Hosted & Managed Services (HMS) division.

To head up it's the group handling cloud and managed service, the telco appointed its former TDS CFO William Megan as the president of TDS HMS.

Its bet on managed services continues via acquisitions hasn't been all for naught. During Q3 2011, TDS reported that HMS (ILEC and CLEC) grew its managedIP station customer base 12 percent to 39,400 customers. Interestingly, HMS growth drove up ILEC revenue growth by 6.9 percent.