CenturyLink Private Cloud Goes Live in 57 Data Centers

CenturyLink took a step forward in its hybrid cloud strategy today with the launch of CenturyLink Private Cloud. The new cloud service was designed to provide the benefits of the public cloud but with the security, dedicated hardware and physical isolation benefits of a private.

How does it fit into CenturyLink’s hybrid cloud strategy? The new private cloud instances are federated into the CenturyLink Cloud network of public cloud nodes, meaning Private Cloud customers will have a single interface for managing both CenturyLink-based public and private cloud services. According to the company, the interface makes it easier to create and maintain a hybrid cloud environment, particularly for enterprises that want a mix of both public and private clouds.

“CenturyLink continues to realize our vision for business-friendly hybrid IT solutions, with public cloud, private cloud and network connectivity all available from one provider,” said Andrew Higginbotham, senior vice president of Cloud and Technology at CenturyLink, in a prepared statement. “CenturyLink Private Cloud delivers attributes the best of private cloud—from dedicated hardware and physical isolation to enterprise-level security and service-level agreements—along with our truly innovative public cloud experience, featuring advanced self-service automation and a fast pace of feature innovation.”

CenturyLink Private Cloud instances are now available in the cloud services provider’s 57 data centers around the world. It runs on the same platform as its public cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offerings while also leveraging other solutions from CenturyLink.

CenturyLink is betting on hybrid cloud for its enterprise customers—likely a safe bet for the foreseeable future. Few enterprises are ready to throw everything into the public cloud, but most want to enjoy the benefits of clouds. Sometimes it just makes more sense for some apps and data to reside in a more dedicated cloud instance.