CenturyLink launched savvisdirect, a self-service, pay-as-you-go cloud service, last week to compete against Amazon and extend its reach into the business community services market. "We mostly see this as a way to reach a broader market," said Andrew Higgebotham, CEO of savvisdirect. "CenturyLink has 1.7 million SMBs on its network, and we think we can reach many more of those."