CenturyLink Expands Industry-Leading Cloud Portfolio to New Market Segments with Launch of savvisdirect

MONROE, La., Oct. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL), the third largest telecommunications company in the United States and a leader in global cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions for enterprises, today announced the forthcoming launch of savvisdirect, which meets increasing demand for a simplified approach to cloud computing and expands CenturyLink's industry-leading portfolio of Savvis cloud services to businesses of all sizes.

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Now in public beta test, savvisdirect offers highly scalable, affordable and easy-to-use cloud services. Business users, IT administrators and developers can enter savvisdirect's intuitive Web portal for immediate access to:

• On-demand virtual servers;
• A Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) marketplace;
• Click-to-buy storage services;
• Scalable application development platforms; and
• Services configuration and management.

Companies interested in participating in the beta trial of savvisdirect can visit beta.savvisdirect.com to sign up. The cloud solutions are expected to be commercially available throughout North America later this year, with expansion into Europe and Asia in 2013.

"Practicality and reliability are central to the always-on and consumption-based experience of savvisdirect," said Andrew Higginbotham, president, savvisdirect. "By offering a unique, frictionless approach to cloud, our goal is to make cloud adoption – from learning to purchasing to onboarding – simple and affordable. This is a cloud every business can use."

Through its 2011 acquisition of Savvis, CenturyLink has bolstered its business solutions capabilities to develop offerings unmatched by others in the industry. Savvisdirect combines the networking and cloud technology leadership of CenturyLink and Savvis to deliver unsurpassed enterprise and SMB offerings.

"With our broad range of cloud solutions expanding to include savvisdirect, CenturyLink will give our customers the flexibility to choose the service that is right for them," Higginbotham said.

Savvisdirect is a service designed for all business users -- from the business owner to the developer, and from the large enterprise to the small business. Users can quickly get started with a credit card and gain instant access to the savvisdirect intuitive interface for simplified control of their cloud services. Developers will have access to a broad range of server options, scalable storage and diverse availability zones. IT administrators will have one place to procure, configure and deploy cloud services. Business users will simply have a cloud that works, with service-level agreements and 24/7 support.

For users who need guidance, savvisdirect offers support from IT professionals to help their business get started. This guided activation helps bridge gaps and answer questions common in making the transition to cloud.

For more information about savvisdirect, visit beta.savvisdirect.com.

About Savvis
Savvis, a CenturyLink company, is a global leader in cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions for enterprises. Nearly 2,500 unique clients, including more than 30 of the top 100 companies in the Fortune 500, use Savvis to reduce capital expense, improve service levels and harness the latest advances in cloud computing.

About CenturyLink
CenturyLink is the third largest telecommunications company in the United States and is recognized as a leader in the network services market by technology industry analyst firms. The company is a global leader in cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions for enterprise customers. CenturyLink provides data, voice and managed services in local, national and select international markets through its high-quality advanced fiber optic network and multiple data centers for businesses and consumers. The company also offers advanced entertainment services under the CenturyLink™ Prism™ TV and DIRECTV brands. Headquartered in Monroe, La., CenturyLink is an S&P 500 company and is included among the Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations.

For more information, visit www.savvis.com or www.centurylink.com.

SOURCE CenturyLink, Inc.