By Jean-Christophe Cimetiere of TechMetrix Research Remain a Technology Provider Companies will still need development tools and application servers to build specific, internal applications. Integrating new complementary applications with an ERP system is, for the most part, a job for the IS department. This will probably continue to be the trend for some time.
ASPs offer business solutions and applications that are available over the Internet.
But, ASPs need a reliable technical infrastructure to build their solutions. This presents a golden opportunity for technology-oriented vendors to continue focusing on their preferred field while increasing their revenues. Progress Software is one of the first vendors to have embraced this strategy. However, being a technology provider also means being a strong company, able to warrant long-term visibility and long life. Heavyweights like Sun, IBM, Oracle and even Microsoft try to emphasize this argument, but none has a particularly well-integrated application server solution.