Digex is being launched in the UK in conjunction with Compaq and Microsoft. Davidsson said that firms are now looking to rent many applications and resellers have the choice to change their offering. Resellers can share in the benefits of ASPs in two ways, he said, either as ASPs themselves or by partnering with an established web application hosting company. Davidsson explained that the continuous relationship between reseller and customer will replace one-off deals and will enhance a reseller's relationship with its customers.
Monthly procedures can carve out more business than a one-off solution.
But Duncan Crook, managing director of Equinox, warned the channel of the possibility of customers migrating once their contracts run out. The channel needs to make sure that the relationship contract is properly drawn up.