What is an ASP?

Keeping track of the players and their roles in the ASP business is roughly equivalent to tracking an individual fish in a school of herring. Is the company a leader, a follower, a borrower, or a creator? The answer might be “yes” to all.

Microsoft has gone to some pains to come up with a “taxonomy” of ASP companies, which helps its own staff understand the complex nature of this new business environment. According to Microsoft, the key players in the business are as follows:

Facilities providers. Companies such as Exodus and Level 3 have huge data centers connected to the Internet and private networks with massive and multiple network connections. They provide hardware and related network management services for other companies.

ASP enablers. Companies such as DataReturn and Futurelink install and configure software platforms, including server software and server applications, such as Windows 2000 Advanced Server, Internet Information Server, SQL Server, BizTalk Server, Exchange, and Commerce Server, which provide the operating environment and software services for hosted applications written by other companies.