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Our bulletin board allows readers to comment
on trends and issues throughout the month. Please stop by to add your comments
and see all the responses at http://ecmgt.com/bulletinboard.htm
Question of the Month The
topic for July is ASP Proliferation Selected
Answers of the Month ***
The
concept of the ASP has gone full circle. From the 60's and 70's Service Bureau's
to today's ASP, this concept is back and is definitely is expanding. Our State
legislature just approved State sponsored funding for the construction of a super
data center designed to offer ASP services for application hosting. Our company
now offers our product via our server and the Internet, to small dealers who are
not able to invest in hardware networks, but need the functionality of our software
product. I see this trend expanding to the point where the majority of our software
users will eventually want to take advantage of the ASP concept. The ASP concept
can reduce overhead, provides a solid disaster recover plan, insures adequate
bandwidth utilization, and focuses the user on the application, not his network,
thereby saving time. I think that many software products will be operated from
the ASPs hardware, using available Internet bandwidth. I also think that software
applications will be rented rather than purchased using the ASP connection. Other
software products will be distributed from an ASP directly to the end user, and
self-install.
(D.O., New Orleans, Louisiana, USA) ***
I am using an ASP (Atomz.com) to provide intra-website search capability for over
10 of my clients' websites. If you have ever installed (or tried to install) a
search engine on a site, then you will understand why I will never do it again.
I plan to use an ASP to provide the forum (or bulletin board) function. (Just
as ECMgt.com does for this forum.) Tech support is another area that I am looking
at. ASPs have again reduced the cost for small/medium companies to have the same
features as the big boys on the web.
(D., Denver, Colorado, USA) ***
Many companies, large and small, are beginning to consider and use ASPs. The value
is particularly high for companies with distributed workforces and those who want
to track and manage their software and IT services more efficiently. I
see the distribution of software shifting from traditional channels to ASPs. Not
entirely, but partially. That trend will increase over time. I have stated in
speeches over the past few years that product margins will shift from distributors
in part back to the ISV.
(Veronia Williams, Founder, DiscoverIT) ***
I think so! I haven't dealt with ASPs myself, but reading the press it does appear
that it's becoming an increasingly popular trend. Software is going to be produced
in a much more flexible manner. This is necessary to cater for the different needs
of companies. The Internet already has changed the way software is distributed.
You download it! With ASPs, there won't be any distribution since it's centrally
hosted. In a way, it's a throw back to the days when 'bureaus' would rent time
and space on mainframes. The software is a LOT different, but the concept is not
new.
(K.G., Silicon Valley, California, USA) ***
Yes, there is enough interest in ASPs as a viable business partner for businesses
that either lack talent, technology or money to offer critical functions to their
consuming public. Just as we have seen KMart offering ISP access with Yahoo and
WAL-Mart going with AOL in partnering we are seeing the next wave of ASPs who
will be using their customer base to leverage more business and in the process
partner with more ASPs. The key seems to be right in the thick of applications
that are "hot" or "cool" or rightly "in" at the
moment. In 1998, Internet ads went a
little over USD $1B. In 1999, that figure is over USD $3B and in 2004 it is being
forecast that it will be over USD $20B. Why do you think this is so? Because of
the swelling user base and the march towards "online everything and everywhere"
syndrome.
(A.B., Calcutta, INDIA) ***
Companies I have worked with are those transitioning from middleware to mainframe
and vice-versa and those migrating from VSAM to DB2. ASPs will potentially change
how software is produced for the company I work for. The company I work for will
need the capability to support the varied clients system environments and software
releases. Partnering will be required.
(I.R., San Francisco, California, USA) ***
I am based in Taiwan and work the Asia Pacific region. I do not see much of an
increase towards ASP's for Foreign companies. The older senior management just
do not "get it". However, Western-influenced companies are driving in
that direction. I am personally working towards a B2B play and B2C play both of
which will be posted via an ASP. I think
that the days of the home computer are limited. ASP's are going to be able to
provide all resources and applications. We will all have a permanently connected
large flat screen hooked to an ASP. Enterprises will hang out a lot longer and
Finance institutions will hang on the longest. Why buy, maintain and support what
you can lease. The forecast costs are fixed and you do not have to support a software
team.
(David Hemmings, President, Global Stallion Ltd., TAIWAN) ***
ASP usage is definitely expanding. The companies using them include SMEs (small,
medium enterprises) which will start with non-mission critical tools. With
the ASP as a model, hosting software will be more and more standardized. Shifting
from one ASP to another will be not a problem. The rent and subscription model
is low entry giving you the flexibility to try something new.
(S.W., San Francisco,
California, USA) ***
I recently read
somewhere that the ASP market is going to hit the $20B mark by 2001! I agree that
the first targeted customers will be medium companies who cannot afford the infrastructure
and IT costs. But I think we'll also find larger corporations turning to ASPs
more and more as the squeeze for qualified IT resources forces them to think of
"outsourcing". I believe it's also a huge opportunity for larger infrastructure
companies to address ASPs needs. How
many SAP implementations have we seen miss their target dates in spite of the
fact that the company implementing SAP has a staff of IT professionals. An ASP
may be able to provide better turnaround because of its vast HW/SW/ and IT staff
resources in specific niches. As for
the software industry, I think there is a natural trend for more and more packaged
SW applications. This standardization and centralization will hopefully lead to
easier and faster implementations.
(D.H., Palo Alto, California, USA)
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