Developing application service providers

Promoting application service provider

Context

Application service providers (ASP's) are commercial service firms that provide a contractual service offering to deploy, host, manage and rent access to one or more software applications.

ASP subscriptions can include fees for software licenses, support and maintenance, the hosting of the application itself, consulting, implementation, integration, as well as other services. ASPs can bill these services individually or as a package, using a variety of billing models, including per event, named/concurrent user, length of connection time, functional use, and via revenue sharing.

Claim

1. If a traditional retailer can effectively outsource their e-commerce initiative to an ASP it allows them to stay more focused on their core business.

Counter-claim

1. ASP space is in danger of losing its integrity altogether as more and more borderline companies assert that their hosted offerings make them an ASP.