Paying Too Much For Your CenturyLink Cloud Bundles?

Are You Paying Too Much For Your CenturyLink Cloud Bundles?

Over the past few months, we have found multiple companies in Eastern NC that leverage CenturyLink for their cloud and security solutions. While the bundled package appears comprehensive and simple, some sad realities appear when one digs beyond the marketing fluff. Most notably, the price of this all-inclusive package is extremely high compared to the sum of the individual solutions.

Let’s take a deeper look…

What’s Included?

CenturyLink’s primary line of business is as a telecom provider. However, as the cloud and managed services have exploded in popularity, CenturyLink has tried to expand into these areas. They have used their large telecom client-base as a launching pad to market various bundles for cloud services and managed services. Below are some of the solutions included in these bundles:

• Microsoft 365
• Endpoint Antivirus
• Hosted Voice
• Email Security
• PC Backup
• DNS Protection

Don’t get us wrong, this is a comprehensive bundle of important and protective solutions!

So, What’s the Problem?

The problem isn’t with the bundle itself, but rather, with the pricing. First, we have found CenturyLink’s invoicing to be vague at best, and confusing at worst. It can be challenging to identify how much one is paying. However, through some comprehensive analysis, it appears they are charging roughly $70-$90 per user. This is much more than market value for these solutions.

How Can CSP Help?

Fortunately, CSP has offered these solutions (leveraging best-of-breed vendors) for years, at a much more competitive rate. Our partnerships are as follows:

• Microsoft 365 — Same as CenturyLink, simply reselling Microsoft.
• Endpoint Antivirus — SentinelOne EDR – Much superior solution to traditional antivirus.
• Hosted Voice — 8×8 — Largest, longest, award-winning provider of hosted voice.
• Email Security — Proofpoint — Gartner leader for email security. Market share of Fortune 500.
• PC Backup — Datto Backup — Best-in-class PC backup solution.
• DNS Protection — Cisco Umbrella — DNS solution viewing web traffic from around the world.

There are some small variations in the plans, but in general, we can typically offer these solutions for around $50. Thus, you could see savings of anywhere from 25 – 50% by switching to CSP.

We would love to help! Reach out with any questions about your specific environment.