You either turned them over to a third-party service provider or you did it all yourself.
Businesses can even hire service providers to monitor and manage other service providers.
Sensing a business opportunity, large software companies such as Microsoft, Oracle, and PeopleSoft are seeking to sell their applications as services. But while the plethora of service providers promises advantages in pricing, service, and expertise, these promises come with their own set of problems. There are now more than 500 application service providers, many less than a year or two old, competing for outsourcing contracts. It's also evident that many of those niche service providers won't make it. That's not because the outsourcing market isn't healthy.