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What Application Services Does an ASP Provide?
An Application Service Provider (ASP) delivers transparent software services, including the deployment, integration, access, training, management and support of applications, with no up-front investments in application licenses, servers, people and resources, and at guaranteed service levels. From a customer perspective, you are purchasing a single service from a single point of contact, the ASP. Behind the scenes, however, a complex ASP supply chain exists to deliver a variety of competencies in the areas of services, networking and applications, to name just a few. ASP offerings encompass the following application services: 

Access: Analogous to “pay-per-view” television, ASP delivers application access to users on demand for a fee, allowing the customer to use the application without having to license, maintain or support it. 

Infrastructure operations: ASPs operate the data centers where applications are hosted, providing software management, security and disaster recovery, and business functions such as billing and usage monitoring. 

Network connectivity: These services, often delivered in partnership through local telecommunications firms or Internet Service Providers, may include connections to the Internet, operation of a Virtual Private Network, with reliability, performance and security management. 

Support services: The ASP provides end-user helpdesk support and training services surrounding the application’s use. Management service Applications are hosted and managed at a central site, rather than each customer’s site, and delivered to users in remote locations. This includes daily administrative tasks associated with running applications as well as managing upgrades and updates. 

Understanding the Business Need for ASPs
The growing importance of software applications is the main competitive differentiator for companies in the Information Economy. Using the latest, most powerful application and having a means to quickly deploy it can vault a company ahead of its competition. 
Independence Application service providers can reduce the amount of time, money and attention spent on information technology, allowing organizations to focus on more strategic business 
initiatives. 

Reach - To conduct business faster, with greater convenience and cost-effectiveness, organizations must provide customers, partners and vendors with reliable, high-performance, secure access to business-critical applications. Application service providers help to level the competitive playing field by delivering access to leading technology. In addition, an ASP makes the best Information Technology (IT) practices affordable for organizations of all sizes, especially those with limited IT staff, budget or infrastructure access.

Speed - Application service providers enable IT to move at the speed of business, unencumbered by hardware, software, network and human constraints. As a result, organizations can focus on the speed and competitiveness of their operations for faster time-to-impact. 

Predictability - Application service providers offer freedom from technology churn, while supplying more predictable and reliable IT operations than many organizations can achieve internally. Today, ASPs are delivering service-level agreements guaranteeing application and system uptime, helping organizations avoid the costs of system downtime and providing improved IT total cost/performance measurements.

Cost - Application service providers can deliver the lowest total cost of application ownership possible. According to The Gartner Group, application outsourcing can reduce TCO by 50% or more. ASPs act as technology aggregators, allowing organizations to capitalize on economies-of-scale of a shared data center, network and management services. ASPs also provide cost-avoidance, freeing organizations from capital investments, upgrade and ongoing management costs while providing lower cost of entry for application access. 

The Top 10 Reasons for Using ASP Services

Top-Line Benefits 

Primary business focus - Free internal resources to focus on core business issues to keep business moving at Internet speed  Shorten implementation cycles - Implement new applications and upgrades more quickly for faster time to market Affordable access to technology - Access world-class applications and IT’s best practices to level competitive playing field Improved total IT cost/performance - Guaranteed performance and reliability levels for greater user productivity  IT staff recruitment and retention - A solution to IT skills shortage  Scalability to meet business growth - Expand operations without waiting for IT infrastructure to catch up; organizations can simply “turn on” new applications as needed

Bottom-Line Benefits 

Addressing the Concerns of ASP
Data security Your data is actually more secure at our 24/7 keycard facility than on your own server, and here’s why:

Loss of control Turning applications, service and support over to an outside provider can make companies anxious about losing control of vital business solutions and IT quality. Here are some safeguards customers and ASPs can implement to ensure confidence in the solution:

Guaranteed response times spelled out in service level agreements.  Escalation procedures for problem resolution  Written transfer plan to provide continuous service in the case of ASP business failure  Termination penalties to pay for bringing applications back in-house, if necessary

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