DATA CENTER INITIATIVE
FAQ
Contents
General ... 3 Pricing Structure ... 3 Availability ... 3Product /Technical / Network Architecture ... 4
Quoting ... 5
DATA CENTER INITIATIVE
General
What is the Data Center Initiative?
The Data Center Initiative is a part of the 5% BMG growth initiative to deliver sustainable revenue growth by end of 2012. The intent is to sell services into prequalified On-Net locations across the continental US.
Carrier neutral data centers thrive on the amount of choices they can offer their customers for voice and data.
How can I use the Data Center Initiative to grow my TBR base?
The Data Center Initiative presents a wealth of opportunities for your customer base located in existing Centurylink-determined On-Net locations (in data centers across the country.) The initiative provides your customer with market competitive On-Net pricing to make it simple for you to sell. We’ve seen significant traction in the market trial locations.
How do we get a data center onto the prequalified data center list?
If you have a data center facility you believe should be considered for adding to the pre-qualified data center list, please contact your SOG rep.
Customer Driven Opportunity: If you have a customer opportunity in a 3rd party data center not listed on the prequalified Data Center Initiative list, your SOG rep will work with you to determine the business opportunity in the facility.
Your SE will submit the CNDC request.
The CNDC will return to your SE an appropriate design based on your request.
You will work with your SOG rep and POM analyst to move through the approval process to get standard pricing at this location.
Pro-Active Opportunity: In situations where you are not actively negotiating with a customer but have identified that a specific 3rd party data center not on the prequalified Data Center Initiative list has vast business opportunity, contact your SOG rep who will work with the appropriate internal Centurylink teams to evaluate the opportunity for investing capital to bring the location On-Net and offer standardized pricing.
Pricing Structure
What is the minimum bandwidth for IQ® Networking Private and IQ ® Networking Public Ports?
A minimum of 100mb bandwidth is required on a 1G(1000BT) iQ® Networking Port.
What is the minimum bandwidth for QCC Optical Wavelength® service?
A minimum of 1G bandwidth is required on a 2.5G QCC Optical Wavelength® service.
Is the IQ® Networking Port pricing flat rated, burstable or tiered?
The iQ® Networking Port pricing is burstable.
What does the *No Transport, LAN-PHY, Unprotected statement mean under QCC QWave® on the pricing matrix?
The On-Net Wavelength loop in the Carrier Hotel & the QCC Optical Wavelength (longhaul or IXC) service are both LAN-PHY & unprotected.
Availability
Existing Centurylink-determined On-Net Wavelength capable locations in select markets have been evaluated and pre-qualified for this offer. These existing On-Net Wavelength capable locations allow Centurylink to offer a zero dollar On-Net local loop.
How do I determine if my customer’s data center collocation provider qualifies for this special pricing?
Click on the “Pricing Matrix” link on the BMGC Data Center Campaign home page under Programs and Events to review qualifying locations.
I have a data center that is not on the prequalified list, but shows as On-Net in Centurylink IT systems. Why isn’t
it on the prequalified list?
The prequalified list contains facilities determined to be On-Net Wavelength capable that are built into a specific suite, floor, or room (not the general street address) where Centurylink has established carrier-specific collocation agreements and reside in predefined target markets.
Your data center could have one or more of the following characteristics that prevented it from inclusion in the Centurylink-determined prequalified list:
Currently no carrier agreement with the provider
Not in one of the target markets
Located in a multi-tenant facility where Centurylink has On-Net capabilities but are not yet built into the specific data center providers’ suite, floor, or room
Older data center facility with non-scalable DWDM (Wavelength) equipment.
Centurylink intends to add more data centers to the prequalified list by the first of every month – review the most current list of locations on the BMGI Data Center Campaign home page!
If you are interested in having the customer’s data center location qualified for this special pricing, please refer to the “How do we get a data center onto the prequalified data center list” on the General questions section.
Product /Technical / Network Architecture
What does the network architecture look like?
Centurylink-determined Data Center locations provide an On-Net Wavelength extension to either iQ® Networking or QCC Optical Wavelength® services.
iQ® Networking edge routers may be within a suite, in the meet me room or at the CenturyLink POP (backhauled via DWDM to the nearest IP POP)
All Access is Wave only with Single Mode Fiber Handoffs.
It is the customer’s responsibility to contract with the local data center for cross connects or access to the address/floor/suite provided in the prequalified location list.
What Products qualify for the Data Center Initiative?
For Centurylink-determined pre-qualified locations, the below products are available for the Data Center Initiative: IQ® Networking Internet Port
IQ® Networking Private Port QCC® Optical Wavelength Service
Does this special QCC QWave® pricing apply if only one end customer location is on the prequalified list?
To apply for the Data Center Initiative, both QCC Optical Wavelength service® end customer locations must be located within the Data Center Initiative-defined metros – see the current list of defined metros on the BMGI Data Center Campaign home page.
Quoting
How do I quote the services
Us the Data Center Initiative Job Aid located on the Business Markets Intranet under Programs and Events or on the Access Alliance page for partners.
Is a CNDC request through the ASPEN portal required?
CNDC requests are required for the following scenarios:
IQ Networking ®Internet & Private Port:
iQ Networking® Loop Speed = or > 10Gb (Used for capacity checks) Diversity required (May result in additional costs depending on design)
QCC Optical Wavelength Service
Diversity required In Region
Loop speed = or > 10G
Capacity checks are required to ensure ordering and provisioning proceeds correctly. Orders without capacity checks are as required will result in an invalid order and cause delays to provisioning.
Do you have any plans to add additional Products?
Yes, we anticipate adding QCC QMOE® and iQ Networking ®E-Line in the near future.
Ordering
Do we need to submit our deal to POM?
Not typically. There are exceptions. Please see the following links for further instructions:
DCI Job Aid
Quote and Order Process Flow Chart
A Pricing and Offer Management request will be required when:
Diversity is requested (A CNDC will be run and will involve costs that need to be run through POM).
Non Standard Terms and Conditions are being requested
A CNDC is associated and results in additional cost to the business.
The customer is an existing client requiring an amendment (Currently CGT for the DCI only supports contracts for new customers. This is an enhancement we hope to offer in the near future.)
How do I order the service?
Please refer to the Data Center Initiative Job Aid and Quote to Order Process Documents on the Business Markets Intranet and Access Alliance for partners.
What are the install intervals?
The install intervals are business as usual. Our program does not modify install intervals. We are looking at ways we can influence the cycle times for test and turn up and will alert you once we’ve accomplished this task.
