CHANNEL PARTNERS
CenturyLink Inc. (Booth #533 at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo) said today the Savvis Alliances Master Agent program will merge into the CenturyLink Channel Alliance in second quarter 2012.

Blake Wetzel, vice president of CenturyLink Channel Alliance, will continue to lead the newly expanded program, but other specifics were not revealed.

During the past year, we have focused on how best to harmonize our business customer channel programs,” Wetzel said. We are now ready to build an organizational structure that will provide a seamless, partner-driven sales experience for the companys business.

Up to this point, CenturyLink and Savvis continued to run separate programs; CenturyLink bought Savvis in 2011. Jaywant Rao, vice president of global alliances at Savvis, said aligning the master-agent business under one team “will provide our partners with increased support and additional offerings.” Details about the transition, any changes to sales processes and any impacts to existing business customers were not disclosed on Monday; CenturyLink said it will be providing that information directly to channel partners.

We look forward to the many benefits of the expanded CenturyLink Channel Alliance. Our unified management and resources will dramatically strengthen the sales opportunities for our Alliance Members and allow us to accelerate our channels contributions to CenturyLinks growth,” said Wetzel. This is a very positive step for the CenturyLink Channel Alliance, our business partners and most important, our customers.”