Twenty-five software developers, networking hardwarevendors, and service providers formed an alliance yesterdayintended to develop and deploy a broad range of hostedapplication services.

The Application Service Provider Industry Consortium,introduced in Las Vegas at NetWorld+Interop, intends todefine a set of open standards and guidelines--as well aspromote a set of best practices--that service providers canuse to deploy hosted application services reliable enough toallow companies to outsource key applications, such asmessaging, E-commerce, and ERP to third parties. Consortiummembers include hardware vendors such as Cisco and Compaq,software vendors such as Marimba and Great Plains Software,ISPs such as UUnet and Verio, and a new class ofapplications service providers (ASPs) such as CyLex Systemsand Telecomputing ASA.

"ASPs bring together telecom and IT in ways never donebefore," says ASP Industry Consortium chairman Traver Gruen-Kennedy. ASPs provide a broad range of applicationdevelopment, hosted server, and outsourced managementservices to business customers. Sprint, for example, offersa hosted workgroup collaboration service called SprintInternet Conference Center and plans to deploy hostedInternet-based video and audio streaming applications laterthis year. Europe-based Telecomputing plans to launch apackage of hosted E-mail, commerce, and office-productivityapplications in the United States in June. And next week,ASP startup Interpath Communications Inc. plans to unveilhosted ERP applications.