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CenturyLink Cloud Expands Public Platform to Asia-Pacific

CenturyLink Cloud Expands Public Platform to Asia-Pacific

CenturyLink Cloud Expands Public Platform to Asia-PacificCenturyLink announced big news in a press release today. The company’s public cloud solution, CenturyLink Cloud, is now available in the Asia Pacific region, through their newest data center in Singapore. CenturyLink Cloud was previously only available in the US, UK, Canada, and Germany.

CenturyLink has been active in the region since 1999, but this move marks the first introduction of their cloud services to the region, which, according to a CenturyLink blog post, is home to 46% of the world’s internet users. Analysis by industry analyst firm Frost & Sullivan shoes that Asia-Pacific region enterprises spent almost $6.6 Billion USD on public cloud services in 2014, a 38% increase from 2013.

“The launch of a CenturyLink Cloud node in Singapore further enhances our position as a leading managed hybrid IT provider for businesses with operations in the Asia-Pacific region,” said CenturyLink Managing Director, Gary Messer.

We spoke to Richard Seroter, CenturyLink’s Director of cloud product management, who told us that this is CenturyLink Cloud’s 13th dedicated data center worldwide.

APAC Expansion

“We’ve been excited to continue to expand to additional CenturyLink locations,” said Seroter. Because CenturyLink already has a global presence–over 58 data centers– they are able to take advantage of a large global infrastructure when expanding their cloud presence.”

“We’ve got a great infrastructure story, and now that we can marry cloud with that infrastructure story we can be a lot of places where our customers need us, without having to lease or build new data centers,” said Seroter.

CenturyLink has additional plans in the region and will be expanding worldwide, according to Seroter. “We plan to add at least six more locations this calendar year.”

Local Concerns

In general, enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region have lagged behind their US and European counterparts when it comes to cloud adoption. There are always hurdle’s in adopting new technology, and many in the region have specific concerns when it comes to the cloud. “Moving to a cloud paradigm can be disruptive if you’re not used to that architecture,” said Seroter. He explained that, for companies used to on-premise or managed services, a self-service cloud can feel like “the wild west,” but that the ability to quickly scale, reach new markets, and take products to market, make the cloud “extremely empowering.”

Businesses in the Asia-Pacific have been particularly concerned about data sovereignty. “Sovereignty is a big concern, as it should be,” says Seroter. “It’s about making sure that my data and my performance is solid, and that my data isn’t moving around to other geographies that I’m uncomfortable with.”

Waiting for the Cloud

Perhaps it’s that apprehension about sending their data abroad that has kept a large number of APAC enterprises out of the cloud thus far. “Our pipeline is full of businesses that are waiting for a local option,” says Seroter. He explained that there’s a large market for providers who can serve a local population that is “interested in the cloud, but also interested in knowing that their partner is committed to the region.”

For more information on CenturyLink Cloud, check out our company profile here or download our free Cloud Solutions Buyer’s Guide.

In related news, read about Alibaba’s Expansion to the US Cloud Computing Market.


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