The two companies will jointly offer one of the most reliable, stable and cost-efficient outsourcing solutions available today. Qwest expects the agreement to generate approximately $260 million of incremental services over the next five years.
Under the five-year agreement, Loudcloud and Qwest will co-market and sell each other’s services, leveraging the benefits of Qwest’s nationwide sales channel and Loudcloud’s leadership in the MSP sector. Loudcloud becomes Qwest’s preferred provider of hosting and complex Web application management services, and Qwest becomes Loudcloud’s preferred provider of data center and network services to both companies’ customers.
Qwest and Loudcloud will jointly deliver an end-to-end managed application hosting solution by leveraging Qwest’s North American and European CyberCenters(sm) and Loudcloud’s managed services offering. The companies will offer the solution to both existing and new customers that want to outsource the operational and technical tasks associated with complex Internet and Web-based application management. The two companies will jointly market and sell the solution, leveraging the benefits of Qwest’s worldwide sales channels and Loudcloud’s leadership in the MSP sector.
Customers are looking for reliable, cost-effective managed services solutions that have the ability to grow with their business, said Joel Arnold, executive vice-president, Qwest Global Business Markets. Loudcloud’s industry-leading management services complement Qwest’s existing portfolio, offering customers a one-stop shop for infrastructure management. We are pleased to be working with Loudcloud to deliver one of the industry’s only end-to-end packages of infrastructure and Web management services.
The ability to take advantage of both Qwest’s leading data center and network capabilities on an as-needed basis and its sales and marketing force will allow Loudcloud to better service customers, expand our reach to new customers and reduce the company’s cost base, said Ben Horowitz, chief executive officer and co-founder of Loudcloud. We are delighted to be entering such a committed partnership with Qwest based on its strategic vision, technical excellence and quality service.
As part of the agreement, Loudcloud will host the majority of its new clients in select Qwest CyberCenters. The companies will deploy Loudcloud’s Opsware automation technology in these data centers to provide managed services. Loudcloud will occupy space in these facilities on a just in time basis as new customers are added and as capacity needs grow. The agreement also is backed by revenue and volume commitments between the two companies.
SOURCE: COMPANY PRESS RELEASE
