November 15, 1999

Solution Series:
ASP Market Rapidly Unfolds
Vendors jockey for position as they try to build a user base for their applications

Download the PDF file: Selected Application Service Providers (To view a PDF file, you must first have the Adobe Acrobat Reader.)

f you think the application service provider arena is confusing, it's not your imagination. It seems as if every independent software vendor and service provider is joining the ASP market. Announcements of companies entering the market are coming almost daily.

For now, companies are jockeying for position as ASPs merge and build a new user base for their applications in the lucrative small and midsize business market. However, some say a new "computing utility" model will evolve from a successful ASP market. In this scenario, the success of ASPs would usher in the demise of the software market as we know it. To compensate, independent software vendors would have to provide the application of choice for these new computing powerhouses. The best way to do that is to grab a large, installed base as early as you can, and offering application services could be that early opportunity.

Of course, similar visions have been predicted time and again in the course of computing history. Whether it comes to pass this time around remains to be seen.

For those looking for the perfect ASP, know that companies are entering the market at a furious rate. At press time, nearly 50 companies supplied information about the applications they provide or plan to provide. By contrast, in a July guide published by InformationWeek's sister Web site, Planet IT, there were 15 providers.

Dayna Delmonico, services editor for Planet IT, is president of Advanced Information Concepts Inc. She can be reached at ddelmoni@cmp.com.

---

Return to the Solution Series homepage.

Back to This Week's Issue
Send Us Your Feedback
Top of the Page

---