July 31, 2000

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ASP Bar Raised For Internet And High-Tech Businesses

New templates give customers freedom to specify how their business processes will work

By Jennifer Maselli

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pplicast Inc. is putting a new twist on what it means to be an application service provider. This week the startup ASP is launching its FastPack services package for SAP and Siebel applications. The package is designed to address business process functionality within the applications.

Applicast has developed preconfigured, pre-integrated versions of Siebel and SAP E-business applications for high-tech manufacturing and distribution, as well as for Internet-based businesses. "It's a combination of processes and infrastructure consistent enough for us to use on a repeatable basis for each customer, as well as flexible enough for customers to specify how their business processes work," Applicast CEO John McGrory says.

Applicast will provide three or four templates from which a customer can choose to stipulate how information is exchanged. AppliCast has also customized Siebel's customer-relationship management software to reflect each customer-service and salesperson's role within a typical distribution, manufacturing, or dot-com business.

AppliCast says the service is much less expensive then hiring a systems integrator to create a customized solution. At the same time, McGrory says, the templates provide customization.

"AppliCast is raising the bar in terms of what an ASP looks like," says Joshua Greenbaum, principal analyst at Enterprise Applications Consulting. "ASPs started out touting applications hosting; AppliCast is making the case that it's more about business process and services, which is what customers have been asking for."

But Applicast's services aren't cheap. In addition to license fees that can range from $2,000 to $5,000 per seat, per application, the company typically charges $15,000 to $25,000 per month in service fees for 25 to 50 seats.

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