CenturyLink

En Masse Entertainment, an online gaming company, was facing the challenge of delivering an uninterrupted online gaming experience that keeps players in the game and the excitement streaming. The company was looking at spending more than $1 million in capital expense just to upgrade its internal infrastructure to the latest technology. With the business expanding into other games and a mobile gaming initiative coming to fruition, a new IT strategy was necessary to avoid soaring costs and the erosion of the user experience so vital in the gaming world. The company was expanding into Brazil, Australia and elsewhere. So any solution had to have a global footprint, with multiple data centers to avoid latency issues that can kill game performance.

Youth Dynamics, a nonprofit mental and behavioral health services agency in Montana, was facing challenges with its patchwork approach to voice and internet services. The agency had multiple providers, which proved costly and introduced performance and reliability issues. The staff also faced difficulties in knowing which carrier to call for support during service outages, leading to frustration and productivity losses. The agency wanted to consolidate its voice and internet service with one statewide provider to improve efficiency, performance, and reliability. They also sought cost transparency, cost savings, round-the-clock customer support, and data security to maintain client confidentiality and comply with regulations. Additionally, they wanted a converged voice and data IP network to future-proof their IT strategy and enable advanced video collaboration and mobility services.

The Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN) was conceived as an analog system for interactive video conferencing, but it has evolved into a high-speed network connecting public and higher education from the smallest school to the largest university. The Network now includes applied technology colleges, libraries, and healthcare clinics. The challenge was to connect school districts, state-run colleges, and clinics with a resource-sharing network providing education and healthcare across the state. The state's smaller communities are spread among three different areas: the Rocky Mountains, the high brush and canyon area of the Colorado Plateau in the south and east, and the Basin and Ridge Region that contains both the Great Salt Lake and one of the driest deserts in the United States. About 12 percent of Utah citizens live in these rural areas. That's about 360,000 people among Utah's nearly 3 million residents.