ASP Industry Consortium Sponsors Largest-Ever ASP Tracking Study; To Measure ASP Market in 17 Countries from Vendor and End User Perspectives.

Business/Technology Editors

WAKEFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 2001

The ASP Industry Consortium (ASPIC) has commissioned the largest-ever study of the multi-billion dollar application service provider market, with the aim of measuring worldwide supply and demand for ASP services. The study, to be conducted by PMP Research at the direction of the ASP Industry Consortium's Research Committee, will include more than 3,000 interviews in 17 countries to address both the end-user and vendor sides of the industry.

The global study, to be conducted in phases throughout 2001, will create a greater understanding of the evolution of the business model, as well as give ASPIC the ability to track and assess both successful and unsuccessful ASP business scenarios, according to Sheila Lugenbuehl, chair of the ASPIC Research Committee.

"During 2000, the ASP Industry Consortium conducted a trend tracking survey of ASP customers in the United States," explained Lugenbuehl, Business Development Manager for Internet Services and Support for Hewlett-Packard, based in Roseville, Calif. "The information gleaned from these surveys was extremely useful, but was limited to the U.S. We recognized that since ASP is a borderless application delivery model, then we really needed to expand our research on a global scale."

The survey is the largest and most comprehensive ever undertaken in the ASP industry, Lugenbuehl added. End users will be first surveyed to determine ASP awareness, after which more in-depth interviews will be conducted where awareness is higher. Respondents will be asked to indicate, among other things, the reasons for using or not using ASPs, the types of applications being accessed, and some of the technical and business issues involved in their decision-making, she explained. The end-users surveyed will come from a broad range of industries and business sizes.

The ASP vendor portion of the study will concentrate on companies which hold service level agreements (SLAs) with end-users and will include quantitative surveys designed to indicate, among other things, which types of companies are offering hosted application services, the types of applications most commonly being offered and company statistics such as number of employees and time in business, Lugenbuehl explained. The initial phase will be followed by in-depth interviews in the more mature markets that will glean, among other information, the types of partners most frequently used in the ASP value chain. The full set of reports will be offered to non-members of the ASP Industry Consortium at a cost of $35,000.

Work has already begun, with initial results available in June and continuing throughout the year. Countries included in the PMP tracking study are UK, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Hong Kong, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and USA.

About the ASP Industry

An application service provider manages and delivers application capabilities to multiple entities from data centers across a wide area network. ASPs give customers a viable alternative to procuring and implementing complex systems themselves. ASP customers also are able to control more precisely the total cost of technology ownership through scheduled payment schemes. Though the ASP market is relatively new, computer industry analysts foresee rapid growth and multi-billion-dollar annual sales within the next few years. End users cross industry lines and include anyone from the small office/home office (SOHO) client to large corporations and from complex businesses to specific verticals.

About the ASP Industry Consortium

The ASP Industry Consortium is the global advocacy group formed to promote the application service provider industry. Its goals include educating the marketplace, promoting best practices, developing common definitions for the industry, as well as serving as a forum for discussion and sponsoring research. Among the technology sectors represented among its membership are Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), Network Service Providers (NSPs), telecommunications companies, infrastructure providers, Application Service Providers (ASPs) and other sectors supporting the industry. Since its founding by 25 leading technology companies in May 1999, more than 600 member companies in 30 countries have joined the ASP Industry Consortium. Information on the ASP Industry Consortium - including a full list of member companies - is available at www.allaboutasp.org or by contacting the Consortium's headquarters at: ASP Industry Consortium, Inc., 401 Edgewater Place, Suite 500, Wakefield, Mass., USA 01880; Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]; e-mail [e-mail].