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 Every Global Business Can Find The Right Voice/Data/Cloud Network Solution For Them...Anywhere In The World

If you're an international business, doing business around the globe, then International Carriers are something that has become more important to your business in this age of a global economy. Below we'll talk about some key differentiator and questions you need to be thinking about when deciding just how to design the right international voice/data/cloud network for YOU. 

Your best options for these carriers have been split up into two different groups for this discussion, United States based carriers and international carriers.

UNITED STATES BASED CARRIERS

When we say “United States based”, we are referring to companies with the nexus of the ownership structure in the United States. These carriers are important because these companies will bill you directly, so if you want your bill in the United States and in US dollars, these will be your best option. Typically one portion of the solution you’re going to buy through them is going to be tied to the United States...so whether it’s a network, or a few locations for broadband access, you are going to have some type of nexus in the US when dealing with these US carriers.

• AT&T - Serves thousands of customers on six continents, including all of the Fortune 1000.
• Verizon - Provides businesses and governments around the world with leading IT, security, communications, network, and mobility services.
• CenturyLink - Provides data, voice and managed services to business, government and wholesale customers in local, national and select international markets through its high-quality advanced fiber optic network and multiple data centers.
• Level 3 -  Strong international player especially in Canada, Europe, and Asia as a result of their acquisition of Global Crossing a few years back. Global Crossing was almost entirely focused on the international market space.
• Masergy -  Owns and operates the largest independent Software Defined Platform in the world, delivering hybrid networking, managed security and cloud communication solutions to global enterprises.
• Cogent - A multinational, Tier 1 facilities-based ISP, consistently ranked as one of the top five Internet backbone networks in the world.
• Zayo -   Provides lit and dark fiber bandwidth infrastructure solutions and carrier-neutral colocation. Currently providing their services in seven countries.
• Global Capacity - Multi-site, multi-state, multi-country network solutions – Global Capacity’s One Marketplace network takes the headache out of sourcing and managing multiple suppliers across divergent geographies - delivering services with one MSA, SLA, and invoice no matter the location or access solution.

INTERNATIONAL CARRIERS

The second group is made up of carriers who are truly international, meaning they are not US based. These companies have headquarters in foreign countries with maybe a field office in the United states. They can bill in foreign currency and directly,  they can also set up a network in those countries. These carriers usually don’t buy wholesale from other places. They operate around the world and also have domestic presence in their respected countries.

• China Telecom - They have a huge presence in South America, and China along with the best rates.  
• NTT Communications -  Known as the “gateway to Asia” with total ownership of submarine cable infrastructures and the lowest latency from APAC to the US. 80% of the Global Fortune 100 use NTT for their mission critical global infrastructure and IT needs.
• TATA - If you have Data Centers or Contact Centers in India, Tata is the one you’ll want to talk to. They also have a huge presence in the Philippines.
• Telia -   Also called Telia Company, Telia Carrier is a company that  provides network infrastructure and services to more than 1,200 customers in 80 different countries worldwide. Their IP network, AS1299, has grown from being the largest IP network in Europe to being the second largest IP network in North America and the second largest in the world.
• GTT -  A global network integrator providing a broad portfolio of Wide-Area Network (WAN), Dedicated internet access and mobility services. GTT combines multiple networks and technologies such as traditional OC-x, MPLS and ethernet, to deliver cost-effective solutions. Their focus is on voice and cloud-based services
• Expereo - Expereo manages over 2500+ providers across 200+ countries to provide fully managed internet services with standard Ethernet handoff, static IPs, feet on the street, SD-WAN, in a single partner to help support you in the US or globally. They are headquartered in the Netherlands.
• Telstra -  A leading telecommunications and technology company offering a wide range of services globally, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region. They have around 3,000 employees based in 22 countries outside of Australia providing services to hundreds of business and government customers. Telstra provides technology solutions for business and government customers, including data and IP networks, network application services such as managed networks, unified communications, cloud, industry solutions and integrated services.

These are the companies that can get you access, which means internet access, MPLS, SD-WAN, and field techs. The second group of carriers we discussed are the ones who will have the most field techs, while the first group of carriers are going to be the ones that rely on their foreign partnerships to get some of this work done. It’s important for you to know that because a lot of the times when work orders are handed off from one provider to another provider it creates some issues, but when you go right to the provider who is providing the service, everything happens a lot faster. 

MAIN CONSIDERATIONS 

Below we have listed some of things you should take into consideration when you’re deciding the design for your international network.

• Point to Point - Is one of those locations in the United States or not? For example if you’re going from Dubai to Japan then you have to look at the second group of carriers who are the true international carriers. If at least one of those points is inside the United States then the first group of carriers who are United States based will be your best bet.
• MPLS- If most of the locations are in the United States and just a few outside you will want to go with one of the United States based carriers. If majority of the locations are foreign and you only have one or two connections in the United States, the second group made up of truly international carriers will be your best choice. Of course than after the choice is made you will have to look into which carriers are available in the specific area you are in. The best way to start it out is just to narrow it down by country.
• Stand-alone Internet Access - If you’re looking for stand-alone internet access anywhere outside the United States you almost always have to go directly to the second group of international carriers. It is very rare to get stand-alone DIA because that's regulated under the local government regulations according to the particular country. Stand-alone internet access has to be done by a carrier who is native to that country or a carrier that has Nexus in that country.
• Last Mile - There are two different ways that carries can get last mile overseas... 1)  A type two connection, which means they have network to network interface agreements with that company. This is very expensive and technical. Companies like Level3 and Global Capacity have a lot of NNI’s.  2)  If you want to go from dozens to hundreds of options you actually have to just buy the last mile, in some cases retail which means the customer will have to go out and buy the last mile and route that back to their network. This opens them up to a lot more options.
• In-Country DID Numbers - There are many countries that will allow DID Numbers so your client can have an in-country number, but there are also many countries that do not. There are carriers in the portfolio above that don’t offer voice at all or local DID number. A good way to figure out which carriers offer DID numbers and which don’t....just ask us.  {see link below}
• Billing - If you’re a company that does not want to pay their bill in U.S. dollars you will have to find a carrier that has a nexus in your country. Nexus meaning an operating unit that has been registered with the local government that can actually bill in native currency.  Again, for help just ask us at the link below.
• SD-WAN - Some of the carriers don’t have their own native SD-WAN or even resell it yet. It’s important for you to understand what companies can do it and which can’t, specifically which carriers have equipment on standby so if something breaks you don’t have to FedEx a new unit out to the country.  Again, just ask us at the link below.
• Cloud and Colo Access - We talk a lot about Comcast, Level 3, CenturyLink and their ability to provide cloud connectivity directly into Azure or directly into AWS. What that is code for, is the ability to deliver connectivity directly into the data center in the United States where Amazon and Microsoft are co-locating their equipment. This applies overseas.

PUBLIC CLOUD ZONES 

All previous cloud connectivity discussions have been focused just on the North America, but as you can see from the image below Amazon has cloud zones in Brazil, Europe, and now they’ve also brought in Indonesia, Australia, China, and Japan. It’s important to know what you are intending to do in the public cloud, be we can also help build private clouds {just ask at the link below}.

In the image below you can see the zoning for the public clouds in the Microsoft environment. You’ll see that they’ve got a pretty comparable footprint with Amazon.  Microsoft has locations in Silicon Valley, Central US, North Central US, South Central US, and East US. They also have Brazil, Ireland, Amsterdam, and a good footprint across Asia, China, Japan, Australia, Singapore.

It is very important for you to be aware that today there is more need for connectivity internationally than there ever was before because internet and cloud access is worldwide technology upon which everyone is standardizing. Knowing the different types of international carriers, and what they can and can’t offer, is a great way to differentiate your network and help your business grow.

To take advantage of FREE quotes and support for design of international voice/data/cloud networks anywhere in the world...simply ask at the following link...it's easy as 1, 2, 3.

Free Network Design Support

How Businesses Recover From COVID-19....Controlling Costs Part II - Using Managed Services To Optimize Expenses

In part one of this series, we explained how the COVID-19 pandemic is putting tremendous pressure on enterprise decision makers to reduce costs. Unfortunately, this could significantly impact workers, with 67 percent of CFOs considering making cuts to their workforce.

Just how serious is the threat on a global scale? According to the UN, COVID-19 is expected to eliminate 6.7 percent of working hours, or about 195 million jobs worldwide, during 2Q20. This is largely because more than four fifths of global workers live in countries affected by partial or full measures.

As we pointed out our previous post, there are ways that enterprises can reduce costs during this difficult time instead of parting ways with valuable workers. This is something that we will continue to explore over the next several weeks.

One way this can be accomplished is to leverage managed IT services.

Let’s explore.

Managed Services: A Brief Overview

Using managed services involves outsourcing tasks to third party providers. Managed services can provide cost-effective coverage for a range of needs, including daily operational support, computing infrastructure, maintenance, network monitoring, and trouble ticketing. Companies commonly leverage managed services to streamline cloud management, cybersecurity, disaster recovery, virtualization, data storage, and so on.

Using managed services is a great way to increase internal staff production, as it can free IT workers to focus on more impactful projects that can save money or generate revenue instead of spending all of their time — including night and weekends — on low level backend tasks.

At the same time, companies often bring in expert architects to design complex environments and hand off management once completed to thier internal teams. This is a great way to reduce project completion time, while eliminating costly learning curves.

The Benefits of Managed Services

According to one study, for every 100 users, about $400,000 can be saved annually — amounting to several worker salaries. However, savings can vary from company to company.

One easy way to calculate the benefits of managed services is to run a simple cost comparison, analyzing how much money the business typically spends on IT expenses each year, compared to the cost of investing in a managed IT services program.

Managed services can provide a variety of additional benefits for an organization, too:

Support during layoffs: As some companies will experience during the next few months, layoffs can be inevitable, even after large spending cuts. When this happens, managed services can be used to offset employee loss, allowing depleted departments to keep functioning.

SLA-backed agreements: Managed service providers are held in check by the information outlined in their service level agreements (SLAs). By signing an SLA, a company can transfer responsibility for certain processes that carry extra financial risk.

Scalability: IT workers can be very expensive to hire, especially when filling top tier positions. In fact, the average IT decision maker salary is now hovering around $141,024. Outsourcing responsibilities to a managed service provider can help a growing company scale its IT team without breaking the bank.

Security and Compliance: Cybercrime is advancing at a rapid pace, with a variety of sophisticated threats coming to market that are too difficult for the average enterprise to combat on their own. Working with a managed cybersecurity provider is a great way to stay ahead of the technology curve, as it can provide access to advanced systems and safeguards that would be too resource-intensive to bring in-house. Many managed IT suppliers specialize in ensuring their clients are compliant in one or multiple compliance requirements, making it much less of a burden to monitor internally.

Tax benefits: Investing in managed services can also be better for tax purposes. For example, a company may lease computing hardware from a vendor instead of buying it outright. In doing so, the cost of leasing can be classified daily OPEX instead of CAPEX — allowing the company to deduct expenses and reduce income tax.

FreedomFire Communications offers a robust portfolio of managed services from leading providers such as CenturyLink, AT&T, and Verizon, as well as smaller organizations with niche offerings.

For more information about FreedomFire Communications’ managed services portfolio....and to take advantage of all the options available to your company.... simply tell us what you need at the link below.

Managed Services