It's just in the past year that the MSP concept has taken off. Ferengul counted as many as 84 MSPs as of November 2000, and is noticing the appearance of new MSPs almost every week. Web hosting companies are adding MSP capabilities. The MSP focuses on monitoring the systems and the network. With an MSP, the sophisticated management tools already are up and running, and the MSP has people on staff who know how to use those tools.
Users just have to plug into the management tools and expertise via the Internet.
One doesn't replace the other, and companies might use both an ASP and an MSP together. Looking ahead, ASPs and MSPs will likely partner to deliver a fully managed ASP offering. Copyright 2001 INT Media Group, Incorporated All Rights Reserved.