By Edward Gately

CenturyLink has introduced an open-source cloud estimator tool that helps channel partners more easily provide customized estimates of cloud costs to their customers.

It’s available as a Web app. A partner can download the code, tweak it based on specifics of the business, and add the resource to its website.

The estimator offers deep visibility and monitoring, along with showback and chargeback capabilities, for a comprehensive cost report even after resources are up and running, said Nathan Young, CenturyLink’s creative director.

“As we’ve marketed cloud to our own end-user customers, this estimator has been an invaluable tool to help buyers understand the costs associated with building and managing apps in the cloud,” Young wrote in a blog. “Now, our channel partners can offer the same experience to their customers.”

The cloud and sales of other new tech services have become crucial parts of CenturyLink’s game plan as legacy services continue to decline. For example, the company reported a 13 percent rise in data services and a slight increase in managed-hosting revenue last quarter.

“The advent of cloud computing has brought about one of the largest business opportunities in decades for managed services providers, system integrators and VARs, many of whom have adapted their business models to offer the agility provided by elastic infrastructure,” Young added.