In these instances, today's customers often feel more comfortable using frame relay or dedicated networks rather than the Internet. The ASP then faces the challenge of managing these multiple, private connections. Service providers and industry analysts project that ASP customers, over time, will feel more comfortable using the Internet as the preferred method of connectivity. While network connectivity and management issues grow in stature, scalability provides a partial answer. Leading ASPs use server and network management tools to build, scale and manage their systems.
Some software can manage all servers from a single terminal, thereby enhancing efficiency.
Network management tools are also vital to maintaining application availability. Application Resource Management ASPs use two techniques for hosting applications. The first is a virtual environment in which the ASP hosts multiple customers on the same server. At the same time, however, application availability and response time are major management challenges in this environment. To ensure appropriate response times and service levels, leading ASPs use application resource management tools, which can ensure that adequate resources are allocated to individual application environments.