"We wanted a company that could allow HSA to grow and expand its software capabilities as time went by," says Doug Adams, chairman and managing partner of HSA, an 18-month-old company. "The strategy of HSA is to quickly ramp up and develop a viable product and then to sell the company."

That's why it was important for Adams to quickly develop a technology infrastructure. He considered buying an enterprise resource planning package. But after learning of the high in-house costs, which can top $150,000 or more just for the software license, Adams decided to consider an ASP. HSA spent most of its money in research and development, so it didn't want to spend a lot on software, he said.

He considered several ASPs, but quickly realized that Surebridge provided him with the most flexibility. In addition, Surebridge's licensing model lets users choose between a rent-to-own model or a strict rental model. And because it offers both tier-one and tier-two applications, customers can easily migrate from one application package to another. "Right now, adopting a PeopleSoft application wouldn't do the company any good because it's too complex," Adams says. "But after we sell the company and it grows, that functionality might be needed. With Surebridge they will have the option to migrate." Adams is renting software from Great Plains and is not opting to buy the license for this reason.

Offering too many applications might be a challenge for ASPs if they don't have the right talent. Stephanie Khurana, Surebridge's CEO and president, says members of her team of 100 consultants and engineers have two to 20 years of applications experience and can implement client software deployments in two to 20 weeks--in line with other ASPs.

Surebridge supports 2,000 users at 25 companies. It charges $200 to $500 per month, per user, depending on the software package and the type of access.

Photo of Adams by Brian Smith