Century Link's Managed Services And Solutions Overview

If your business is considering managed services as part of your overall IT strategy, particularly cloud based, then Century Link should definitely be on your short list.  Here’s why......

POSITIONED FOR GROWTH

Something everyone can understand is the tremendous growth within the cloud market. At one hundred forty-six billion dollars this year, the cloud market is growing at a rate we’ve never seen before. The growth will only continue; we expect the cloud market to grow to two hundred thirty-six billion dollars by 2020, that is a 22 percent compound annual growth rate. What this means is if we are not having a conversation with our customers about cloud, somebody else is. Thirty-two billion dollars is just infrastructure and platform cloud, and when we discuss that we typically have to also talk about public cloud, private cloud and all the different pieces of cloud. By 2020, we expect 85 percent of enterprises to commit a multi-cloud architecture model.

CLOUD APPLICATION MANAGER

Cloud Application Manager is a platform that can help you manage any infrastructure, cloud, and application. The platform’s features which include Application Lifecycle Management, Managed Services Everywhere, and the deployment of Azure Cloud will help you manage any infrastructure from a single interface.

With Application Lifecycle Management you can manage applications from start to finish, scale, schedule deployments, update, terminate workloads, and automate migration across environments to any cloud to best suit business needs. You can also utilize continuous auto-discovery of available resources seamlessly and in any infrastructure on a single platform. Let’s discuss what application lifecycle management offers:

SELF-SERVICE APPLICATION CATALOG

• Cloud Application Manager’s intuitive portal allows users to self-serve reusable infrastructure, applications and charts.
• Components can be deployed based on pre-set IT policies.

AUTHENTICATION

• Federated access control, user management and permission definition of an infrastructure provide visibility and auditing capabilities.

ORCHESTRATION

• Customers define applications with infrastructure provisioned at the time of deployment.
• A wide range of inherent automation protocols enables flexibility across heterogeneous environments.

ADMIN & REPORTING

• Extensive administration rules promote IT governance for the delivery of services as well as managing users, namespace, templates, and resources.
• Real-time dashboard for viewing containers, applications, resources, user activity and clusters in use.

AUTO DISCOVERY

• Discover cloud instances already running in other environments, such as other public cloud platforms.

As mentioned previously Managed Services Anywhere is another feature that is part of the Cloud Application Manager platform. Having CenturyLink manage mission-critical workloads and infrastructure enables customers to focus on their core business. Certified experts at CenturyLink can monitor and operate system patches and updates on any hybrid instance.

WHAT DOES THE MANAGED SERVICES ANYWHERE FEATURE HAVE TO OFFER?

MONITORING

• OS and Application level monitoring including proactive and reactive support.
• Reduce errors and enhance security
• Leverage experts to monitor the environment, freeing you to focus on your core business needs

CONFIGURATION & ACCESS MANAGEMENT

• CenturyLink takes full responsibility for user policies, administration and password management enforcement.
• CenturyLink confirms the initial install and basic functionality using an OS image built on vendor-recommended best-practices and years of industry experience.
• Managed instances initiate automation processes to update the OS to meet standards and requirements defined by the customer.

PATCHING & UPDATES

• Available support for all critical and vendor-recommended patches — only OS vendor-recommended patches are installed.
• Customers have full control to define scheduled patching cycles.
• Automated systems track change requests, perform patch management and provide detailed reports.

VENDOR & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

• CenturyLink maintains ownership and management responsibility for the customer’s underlying VM and OS.
• The customer is freed from managing daily OS-level functions, SPLAs and licenses for Linux and Windows OSs.
• CenturyLink takes full responsibility of the license, regardless of where the instance lives.
• Transparency and Compliance: CenturyLink performs changes for the customer on defined instances and tracks all the changes for auditing purposes.

The third main feature is Cloud Optimization, which reduces overhead cost via automation and gives customers a competitive advantage through single bill consolidation. Enables procurement and management of Azure cloud instances alongside CenturyLink Cloud services, all from a single platform.

CONSOLIDATED BILLING AND ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

• Auto-discover pre-existing instance of Microsoft Azure subscriptions.
• Report on CenturyLink Cloud services, Azure Classic, ARM and Azure Stack.
• Cloud Application Manager will also show costs for non-VM resources.
• With the Cloud Edition, pay for only what you need: per hour, per service.

PURCHASE MICROSOFT AZURE DIRECTLY

• Virtual Machines and Virtual Machine Scale Sets and Virtual Networking.
• Storage: blog, file, and disk.
• Alternatively, use Cloud Application Manager to manage pre-existing Azure instances.

AUTOMATED DEPLOYMENT

• Automate Azure deployments to reduce complexity and improve delivery time.
• Natively deploy Azure virtual machine, web and work roles from Cloud Application Manager via API.

WHAT ARE MANAGED SERVICES?

You might be wondering what managed services are and how this works in the data center. Below is a checklist of what is in CenturyLink’s wheelhouse from a managed services perspective.

Through CenturyLink’s managed services teams, they can do any of these and more.

WHY WOULD WE SELL MANAGED SERVICES?

CenturyLink Managed Services secure and optimize your network, applications, and infrastructure so you can compete at the speed of business.

Extensive Portfolio

• Single source, turnkey managed services provider offering end-to-end solutions
• Experienced and accountable teams who thrive in IT complexity
• 24×7 follow-the-sun customer support simplifies IT management

Flexible & Agile Delivery Models

• We build for scale, managing services across more than 60 global data centers
• Certified experts improve agility by securing networks, infrastructure, and application environments
• Better financial models and controls help track budgets and predict IT costs

Increased Business Performance

• Keep pace with global competition with scalable IT initiatives
• Collaborative partnership for bimodal IT and digital transformation initiatives
• With simplified management and costs, businesses can focus on market expansion, improved customer experience, and new business opportunities

CCA MANAGED SERVICES ENGAGEMENT MODEL

Take a look above at CenturyLink’s new engagement model which is built around Managed Services. If you envision yourself as the partner or partner owner, when you find an opportunity you will bring that to your T-CAs, at that point if it is a transactional opportunity your T-CAs point of contact will help you with an engineering quote and close that deal as fast as possible. The goal is to keep that moving along, so they can recognize the revenue. If the opportunity through a discussion with your T-CAs turns out to be more complex, a managed services specialist will be brought in. The managed services specialist will then begin to engage the resources that are listed on the right-hand side of the chart above.

What is important for you to realize is you have a single point of contact in your T-CAs, and you also have resources that potentially were not there in the past. The resources include a hybrid IT specialists whose job is to help sell the private or public cloud offerings, colocation specialists who present benefits of CTL colocation offerings. Solutions architects are also available who handle complex workloads involving multiple solutions and products, and finally, CenturyLink also has client engagement managers who can uncover additional partner and customer needs.

The model below also shows customers that CenturyLink’s platform can accommodate all of the customer’s application needs. The key point being that CenturyLink’s portfolio is capable of handling applications, and ultimately that they are agnostic about where that application goes. CenturyLink wants to have a consultative approach, so the application is placed in the appropriate platform and works efficiently.

CENTURYLINK ENGAGE IS DIFFERENT....A CLOUD SOLUTION AND SO MUCH MORE

CenturyLink Engage is a simple cloud solution that offers business calling, collaboration, and call center support, no matter where or when you do business.

• Stay Engaged Anywhere, At Any Time – Your workers and sales force remain effective while traveling, using their tablets and smartphones to serve customers.
• Complete Flexibility – Mix and match calling, collaboration, and call center features power your brand and business. Bring your own internet or use theirs.
• Inclusive, High-Value Plans – Three easy-to-understand packages deliver high value with simple billing.
• Low Risk to Use – We’re so sure you’ll love CenturyLink Engage that they back it with a no-cancellation fee satisfaction program regardless of your agreement type.
• Maximum Reliability – Built over-the-top but optimized for performance and call quality when bought with CenturyLink connectivity.
• Deliver Exceptional Customer Service – Add affordable call center capabilities to your business without the need for on-premises equipment.

Three primary offerings that are available with Engage:

Below you can take a look at what is available in each of the three packages:

To learn more about CenturyLink and take advantage of a comparison of 100s of other business calling, collaboration, and contact center solution vendors ... including FREE network design and sourcing support ... simply ask at FreedomFire Communications.

How Businesses Recover From COVID-19....Controlling Costs Part I - Reduce Spending And Maximize Productivity

We are now almost three months into the COVID-19 pandemic, with no clear end in sight. As talks of re-starting the economy take root, global executives will begin feeling the pressure to reduce costs to help keep their companies afloat.

According to PwC, managing the financial impacts of COVID-19 —including operations, future periods, liquidity, and capital resources— are the main concern for 75 percent of CFOs. Executives across the board are growing increasingly concerned about a global recession, reduced workforce productivity, reduced consumer confidence, and supply chain disruptions.

“There is little doubt that the US economy has downshifted into recession after a month of a partial shutdown,” explained PwC in their recent COVID-19 CFO Pulse Survey. “Economists are revising forecasts for second-quarter US GDP, with projections from the Conference Board for a contraction in the US economy in 2020 between 3.6% and 7.4%.”

Seventy-four percent of respondents in PwC’s study said they are prepared for a potentially “significant” impact on productivity. And 39 percent claimed that if COVID-19 were to end immediately, it would take one to three months for their company to get back to business as usual.

How are CFOs Responding to COVID-19? 

Sixty-seven percent of CFOs said they are considering canceling planned investments due to COVID-19. Executives anticipate having to make cuts to facilities and general capital expenditures (82 percent), their workforce (67 percent), and operations (55 percent).

What’s more, 53 percent of CFOs claimed that IT investments are in the crosshairs, while 25 percent are looking to reduce or eliminate digital transformation. And 15 percent are considering reducing customer experience spend. Just 2 percent are looking to reduce cybersecurity spend.

Much of this is alarming, especially when considering the overall impact that COVID-19 could have on the global workforce in the coming months. Altogether, roughly 20 million American workers could be laid off or furloughed by July. And in Europe, at least 60 million jobs are at risk —presenting an unprecedented employment crisis.

To put things in perspective, about 13 million Americans were unemployed at the height of the Great Depression in 1933.

Tips for Reducing Technology Costs

The unfortunate reality is that many hard-working people will become laid off or furloughed in the coming months due to COVID-19. In some cases, this will be unavoidable.

CFOs need to understand, though, that it is possible to reduce technology expenses significantly, while maintaining — and even improving —operational stability. Doing so could free more capital to spend on workers, protecting jobs, and to prevent the need to part ways with top talent.

This is where it pays for companies to have access to an independent technology consultant. With the help of a Master Agent like FreedomFire Communications, consultants can identify possible areas of waste and strategically re-allocate funding. FreedomFire Communications can provide access to a variety of key suppliers and technologies to help with this process. Protecting these budgets will determine how companies spend these resources and ensure the best outcome for all involved.

Here are some recommendations that companies should consider during this tough time, and how FreedomFire Communications can help:

Leverage Telecom Expense Management (TEM)

Businesses have a rat’s nest of bills ranging from network, phone, mobile, and everything in between. With complex, cryptic, and hard-to-understand bills, businesses often spend far too much money each month on unnecessary telecom expenses that can be reduced or, in some cases, eliminated. It can be challenging for CFOs to adjust plans and eliminate certain technologies, though, due to limited visibility or insight.

FreedomFire Communications has several suppliers that can help. We have access to TEM experts that can help a company get its digital infrastructure ‘house’ in order by assisting them in identifying waste and prioritizing what they need to be using — making it easier to slash costs.

Throttle Employee Mobile Data for Non-Business Applications

Company-provided mobile phone and data plans are easy targets for finding savings. Data overages make up, on average, over 35 percent of a business’ mobile bill. You can fix this by either modifying the plan to accommodate the higher data utilization, or you can try asking employees to minimize their data consumption. Add to the problem a complete lack of billing transparency (you can’t tell if an employee is using their data on work-related activities or giving their phone to a child who is watching hours of Netflix and YouTube on the company’s tab).

One of the best ways to prevent employees from blowing through their data limits is to deploy CyberReef solutions, a back-end firewall and traffic-shaping service that deploys directly into the mobile provider’s network, giving insight to application use and allowing the company the ability to limit application use to avoid expensive overage penalties without any physical changes to phones or SIM cards. Another FreedomFire Communications provider, VMOX, can provide incredible savings through the management of mobility plan selection, in-depth tracking, and analysis of the overall corporate mobility environment.

Migrate to SD-WAN Where Possible

Far too many companies are still using old, slow, and expensive MPLS connections that limit speed to guarantee quality. SD-WAN can help companies leverage inexpensive and FAST broadband connections to emulate MPLS quality, with massive increases in speed. It accomplishes this by controlling and strategically allocating network resources, for peak performance and maximum cost savings, across an entire global network. In many instances, it could make sense to replace expiring MPLS contracts that companies have with the large telcos with cutting-edge SD-WAN deployments. AT&T, CenturyLink, Verizon, and Comcast all have strong SD-WAN offerings that existing and new customers can switch legacy environments to.

In addition, FreedomFire Communications offers global SD-WAN through leading providers such as Aryaka, Cato Networks Claro Enterprise Solutions, China Mobile, Expereo, Mosiac NetworX, Open Systems, and IX Reach. High-quality domestic SD-WAN is available from Versa, Bigleaf, Ecessa, SimpleWAN, and CloudGenix (who was recently acquired by Palo Alto). CloudGenix, it should be noted, also offers a revolutionary product called AppFabric, which allows companies to implement any WAN into a branch office, including broadband, MPLS, cellular, or internet. With the help of CloudGenix, companies can redesign their digital edge and ditch their expensive point-to-point connections.

Consider Upgrading Low Throughput 4G/LTE Internet Plans

We’re also noticing that enterprises are relying on low throughput metered internet connections which also have prohibitively low data limits. If these circuits are ever used outside of a data backup scenario, the overages quickly add up. This problem can be easily eliminated with FreedomFire Communications’ portfolio of wireless 4G internet providers who now offer more gigs of data than ever before. One new FreedomFire Communications provider, For2Fi, recently announced a 300 GB usage plan for $199.

Revisit SIP

For enterprise customers that still insist on running on-premise PBX systems, it’s time to pull out that last bill. Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunk pricing has substantially decreased in recent years, providing another easy target for cost-savings.

Explore Mid-Term Renewal

Another way to save money is to lock in today’s rates and by committing to a longer-term with a telecom provider. This is called mid-term renewal, and it’s a strategy that companies tend to overlook because they aren’t aware that it’s possible.

FreedomFire Communications can help negotiate telecom rates, positioning customers for long term financial savings on essential services.

Managed Services

Across the board, IT departments are overworked and exhausted right now — working nights and weekends to keep employees up and running on remote networks. COVID-19 has been a nightmare for IT workers. Yet, most companies can’t afford to hire more full-time IT workers due to the current economic climate.

One approach is to keep a small core of IT workers and augment the IT department with help from third-party managed service providers. Managed services can be used for everything from helpdesk support to network security to WAN management. This is a flexible, affordable, and scalable approach to IT support. FreedomFire Communications offers a wide range of managed services from a robust portfolio of providers such as Synoptek, Magna5, Quest Technology Management, Netrio and Splice.

Save valuable resource time and effectiveness by outsourcing your circuit monitoring. This service allows you to keep IT resources focused on their projects that move your business rather than making sure circuits perform.

Re-think Maintenance Agreements

Telecom maintenance agreements typically arise once every few years. And while they’re necessary for system stability and performance, they’re also costly —and companies tend to pay far too much.

It’s possible to reduce maintenance costs by working with third-party providers like CentricsIT , a FreedomFire Communications supplier that offers physical maintenance at a reduced price.

Deploy Automated Assistants

As we mentioned, CFOs are looking to reduce CX spend to save money. However, this can be risky. Customers still expect reliable service, even during challenging times. The demand for seamless service hasn’t gone away —and certain technologies can boost CX while allowing companies to re-allocate staff members to tackle more pressing needs.

Tasks like answering phones, for instance, can now be automated using virtual receptionists. This is something that FreedomFire Communications supplier Ruby offers. Automated assistants don’t come with any salary or benefits and are available to provide 24/7 customer support.

Explore the IoT

It may seem hard to justify spending money on new connected technologies right now. However, certain IoT solutions can prove to make a big difference in reducing operational costs, especially when deployed on a large scale. For example, a restaurant chain may use connected sensors to monitor and control refrigerator temperatures across all its locations — reducing the need for costly manual inspections.

IoT costs have also fallen in recent years, and connected technologies are now very accessible to businesses of all sizes and budgets. Making a small technology investment now could produce financial savings over time.

Be Innovative

It’s normal during times like these to be conservative. To protect spend and budgets and that is absolutely the right emotion; however professionals that take this catalyst to find new and creative ways to accomplish critical tasks, saving money doing so, and enable their companies to take advantage of new technologies to make them more competitive will have powerful advantages over their competitors that attempt to survive the status quo.

Let’s Get Started

As you can see, there are countless ways for the average to reduce expenses across the enterprise—and we’re here to help.

By re-thinking where your technology dollars are going, you can improve your operations and potentially prevent having to lay off valuable workers. To learn more about all the options discussed in this article....and MUCH more....simply ask at the link below and tell us what you need.

FreedomFire Communications