Very simply, computing is moving onto the Internet. Whether you call it application services, Internet portals or digital trading, the same dynamic applies. Computing is escaping the confines of individual enterprise data centres and migrating to the open spaces of the shared, global network. ASPs are at the forefront of the effort to build the standards and technologies that will underpin this new architecture. Because of the explosion of the Internet, companies are discovering that instead of spending millions of dollars and years installing complex software programs on their own computers to help automate their operations, they can pay companies to do it for them as a service.
Customers then use the software with nothing more than a secure Web browser and a password.
The trend is big, gaining momentum, and large companies are embracing it rapidly. ASPs also continue to shore up their data centers to ensure they have enough servers to support companies' scalability needs. We expected a recession in the operating system business, but not enough to set off a slowdown in Office. And Office has de-accelerated from 25 percent growth over the past two years to less than 10 percent. Web applications are uniquely suited to remote access and service since they run easily over ubiquitous Internet connections and require little, if any, client-side software installation.