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Insights
The ASP Model Grows Up

Supplier Voice
An Insider's View of the Future for ASPs

ASP + BPO = BSP

A Healthy Prognosis for Health Care Outsourcing

Just Another Acorn…

Analyst Voice
What Does an ASP Do? Let Me Count The Ways

ASPs Finally 'Get Some Respect' From the Big Boys

ASPs came of age last year, according to Gary Steele, chief executive officer of Portera, an ASP supplier located in Campbell, California. Buyers, tired of managing applications and large technology staffs internally, turned to the ASP model and "saw great benefits." Those companies tested the ASP waters with enterprise software that already existed, like PeopleSoft or Siebel, he observes.

This year Steele say the defining trend for ASPs will be the delivery of software that was specifically written for the Web. This software will carry the advantage of having lower cost because it was Web-based from the start. These applications will peek over the corporate firewall to include wireless options for mobile computing.

Steele predicts business process outsourcing (BPO) and ASPs will come together and create business service providers (BSP). The market is demanding an outsourcing solution that encompasses a business process "from top to bottom." The CEO says companies want the infrastructure as well as the process savvy when they outsource. He believes companies will adopt the BSP solution because they want to deal with a single supplier.

Portera, which describes itself as a vertical service provider (VSP) focusing on the professional services industry, will become a BSP through partnerships, Steele says. The ASP has no intention of building big service centers; instead it will form an alliance with a BPO vendor who already is operating on a top technology platform. Together, the two companies will deliver a single solution to their buyers.

Steele says an ASP shake out is in the offing because the marketplace is crowded with a number of vendors providing the same solution. Success in the ASP market will come to vendors who develop unique software, in his opinion.

Lessons from the Outsourcing Primer:

• ASPs and BPO vendors will form partnerships to become BSP. This will enable the companies to offer their buyer a single outsourcing solution.
• An ASP shake out is in the offing among vendors offering the same solution.
• This year ASPs will begin delivering software written specifically for the Web.
• ASPs will begin to offer wireless applications for the mobile market.

Publish Date: January 2001

Copyright © 2001 - Everest Partners, L.P.

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