by Gregory Allen

Application Server Providers enable businesses to keep up with rapid technology change.

For the past few years� innovation in the high-tech world has screamed along. There are thousands of applications that are critical to business�s pop-ping up every day. To remain competitive, a business has to keep up with the pace of technology. Add up the costs of acquiring and keeping an Information Technology (IT) staff and the budget to maintain and support software and hardware and you�ve spent a pretty penny. Application Server Providers enable businesses to keep up with technology while not losing their Deluxe Apartments in the Sky. 

According to Cherry Tree & Co, �An ASP is a third-party service firm, which deploys, manages and remotely hosts a pre-packaged software application through centrally located servers in a rental or lease arrangement.� In exchange for accessing the ASP, the client makes payments. 

These hosted applications are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any PC with an Internet connection and a Web browser. Because ASP providers offer cen-tralized hardware, networking technolo-gies, and technical expertise, they provide superior performance and increased secu-rity, reliability, and scalability over tradi-tional corporate-owned, in-house applica-tions. The end result is that there are no significant up front costs to own and oper-ate the technology infrastructure involved. 

For a business manager�s who�s �moving on up,� several benefits immediately come to mind. ASPs help overcome the shortage of skilled IT labor. The organization gets utilization of �best of breed� enterprise application. Enterprise applications are deployed quickly. The responsibility of keeping pace with technology and its cost are transferred to a vendor. 

The ASP industry is growing faster than George and Wheezy could open new drycleaners. Forrester Research estimates the application maintenance, outsourcing, and ASP business will grow to $21 billion by 2001. According to WebHarbor.com, an ASP industry site, more than 350 com-panies offer ASP solutions for your busi-ness. Applications serve many purposes for any size business. 

For full story please Subscribe to In the Black Magazine