CenturyLink, Inc. has announced it expects to receive Uptime Institute’s coveted Management and Operations (M&O) Stamp of Approval by year end 2016 for the data centers being certified in its global portfolio. The assessment process started two years ago when CenturyLink became the first global company to pledge to certify its data center portfolio.

CenturyLink’s commitment to meet rigorous, industry-leading standards put forth by Uptime Institute helps set the agenda for operational excellence in the data center hosting industry.

“Keeping our customers’ businesses running 24/7 is our top priority and we are proud to be achieving such a significant milestone ahead of any other data center hosting provider,” said David Meredith, senior vice president, global data centers, CenturyLink. “Achieving M&O Stamp of Approval on a global level reinforces CenturyLink’s commitment to operational excellence, 100-percent uptime and transparency surrounding the management of these facilities.”

To obtain the M&O Stamp of Approval for a particular data center, the facility’s management and operations team must meet strict criteria in several key areas, including staffing and organization, maintenance, planning, coordination and management, and training. The certifications are being assigned to 52 data centers where CenturyLink has operations teams on-site; the company’s portfolio includes 57 data centers total.

“Based on our research over the past 20 years, we’ve found that 70 percent of all data center failures are caused by human error,” said Lee Kirby, CTO of Uptime Institute. “Uptime Institute’s M&O Stamp of Approval provides insights to help organizations minimize, if not eliminate, operator errors to improve performance and productivity. By being the first company to not only undertake, but complete this comprehensive certification process, CenturyLink is setting the bar high for others.”

CenturyLink announced on Nov. 4 that it had reached an agreement to sell its data centers and colocation business to a consortium led by BC Partners and Medina Capital. Under the agreement, CenturyLink will retain its hosting and cloud assets to continue supporting the company’s network-first and hybrid-IT strategy.