Large enterprises are traditionally the trailblazers for new technology.
Smaller companies, thanks to economies of scale, look like becoming the early adopters of remote hosting. An ASP strategy can go wrong very easily if not tightly managed, said Mark Armstrong, managing director of ASP System Care, speaking at a conference in Paris organised by database vendor Progress Software. System Care hosts applications for Si3, a small supply chain management company and the only UK customer at the conference. Real-life ASP users are still a rarity, and those that exist tend to be early adopters of technology. Through partnerships with IBM and Progress, System Care supplies Si3's entire IT set-up, including supply chain management applications, network support and hardware.