InformationWeek

December 4, 2000

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ASP's Expertise In Oracle Apps Gives It An Edge

Appshop offers specialized knowledge and low prices for application hosting

By Jennifer Maselli

More on ASPs:

ASP Aggregators: Beyond Unifying Apps (11/20/00)

VARBusiness: Sempra Plugs Into New Strategy (11/27/00)

Computer Reseller News: AMBUSH? -- ORACLE CEO LARRY ELLISON'S CHANNEL-UNFRIENDLY PAST HAS ASPs ON GUARD (10/9/00)

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hen application service provider Appshop Inc. publicly launches this week, the company will have already signed on and implemented hosting services for 50 customers. The vendor, which began hosting operations in January, is hoping to gain an edge over more established providers by specializing in Oracle applications. It has a good start: Appshop began four years ago as a consulting and systems integration firm focused on Oracle software, and most of its 150 support people are experts in the product line.

Appshop's familiarity with Oracle software was attractive to Sam Changizi, VP of E-commerce for @comm Corp. In pilot tests, he says, Appshop has hit the mark for hosting Oracle enterprise resource planning, E-business, and customer-relationship management applications for the Burlingame, Calif., telemanagement system manufacturer and service provider.

Changizi had evaluated Corio Inc. and USinternetworking Inc., which offer enterprise applications that could be pieced together to meet @comm's needs. "But I felt integration would be quite involved since they have so many packages from different tier-one providers," he says. He also considered using Oracle Business Online, but the fact that the division hadn't yet hosted Oracle's full suite of apps for any customers scared him off.

Oracle Business Online ultimately recommended Appshop, which had clients that could be contacted and much lower prices than Corio or USinternetworking. A typical Appshop deal is about $3.5 million for implementation and $10,000 to $50,000 a month for hosting the full suite of Oracle apps.

Appshop has a clear advantage, says Lou Hollerbach, a senior analyst for the Aberdeen Group, because "it isn't trying to be all things to all people, and it's able to keep costs down because it's just focusing on Oracle."