Respondents will be asked to indicate, among other things, the reasons for using or not using ASPs, the types of applications being accessed, and some of the technical and business issues involved in their decision-making, she explained. The end-users surveyed will come from a broad range of industries and business sizes. The initial phase will be followed by in-depth interviews in the more mature markets that will glean, among other information, the types of partners most frequently used in the ASP value chain. Work has already begun, with initial results available in June and continuing throughout the year. An application service provider manages and delivers application capabilities to multiple entities from data centers across a wide area network.
ASPs give customers a viable alternative to procuring and implementing complex systems themselves.
ASP customers also are able to control more precisely the total cost of technology ownership through scheduled payment schemes. The ASP Industry Consortium is a global advocacy group formed to promote the application service provider industry. Its goals include educating the marketplace, promoting best practices, developing common definitions for the industry and serving as a forum for discussion and sponsoring research. Since its founding by 25 leading technology companies in May 1999, more than 600 member companies in 30 countries have joined the consortium. Copyright 2001 INT Media Group, Incorporated All Rights Reserved.