CenturyLink today announced it has introduced CenturyLink Network Storage, a managed solution that enables businesses to store and manage data anywhere the CenturyLink network can reach.
The solution is designed to provide businesses with a better way to access, store and process data closer to where it is being created and consumed, whether that is in a data center, branch location, cloud environment or at the edge where devices connect to the network.
In August, Telecompetitor reported that CenturyLink planned to invest “several hundred million dollars” in edge computing, following in the footsteps of AT&T and Verizon, both of whom had already been investing in that area. CenturyLink’s entry into edge computing suggests that the edge compute market may be like the fiber backhaul market— a mobile-driven opportunity even for non-mobile carriers.
An ongoing decentralization of compute resources is requiring improved proximity to data. IDC predicts that by the end of this year, one-quarter of enterprises will have shifted away from large consolidated data centers to optimally located smaller data centers to support new compute and data-intensive applications.
Additionally, IDC forecasts that 70% of enterprises are likely to adopt dynamic software-defined branch and network solutions that deliver security and flexibility across cloud, data center and edge interactions over the next three years.
“As workloads move closer to the edge, businesses are challenged with efficiently managing the data produced by expanding digital interactions,” said David Shacochis, vice president of product management for IT solutions, CenturyLink, in a prepared statement.
“CenturyLink Network Storage is a flexible data management solution that delivers storage and transport capabilities closer to where businesses require them, helping improve processing times while also reducing data storage and processing complexity across cloud, data center and edge environments.”
