Stratecast Partners Reports End Users Cautious in Outsourcing to ASP.

Business Editors & Telecommunications Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 19, 2000

More than 35% of companies will never use an Application Service Provider (ASP) according to a recent study by Stratecast Partners.

For those companies that do outsource applications, the biggest concern is security and application performance.

The two most widely outsourced applications are e-commerce and payroll. While there is a wide range of applications and solutions being offered by ASPs, there is still a lack of availability in the minds of 78% of companies who currently do not outsource applications. Not surprisingly, 41% of the population is extremely concerned about handing over control of applications to a third party.

These are some of the insights provided in Stratecast Partners' "ASP End-User Study: Understanding the Decision Criteria," from the company's ASP Competitive Strategies (ASPCS) Analysis Service. According to Diane Myers, Stratecast Partners' ASPCS program manager, "ASPs need to focus investments in the following three areas for long-term success: scaleable customer service and support, effective market segmentation strategies, and continual training of in-house personnel."

The "ASP End-User Study: Understanding the Decision Criteria" is the result of 100 surveys of a variety of company type and size. This report provides a strategic analysis of companies' decision criteria in choosing/not choosing to outsource and in selecting an ASP. User concerns regarding ASPs are analyzed to help define areas that ASPs need to address for future success.

Please contact Matt Kellogg at [e-mail] for more information regarding the "ASP End-User Study: Understanding the Decision Criteria." The report is available to clients of the full ASPCS Analysis Service or on a standalone basis. As a standalone report the price is $4995, but is being offered at $3995 through July 2000.

Stratecast Partners, a division of Frost & Sullivan, provides strategic analysis of the telecommunications industry with a focus on five key areas of research: emerging service providers, data/IP growth strategies of Tier 1 service providers and ISPs, application service providers, OSS, and infrastructure convergence. Analysis Programs have been developed addressing each of these subject areas, and strategic analysis is provided on a monthly basis. Additionally, in Stratecast Partners Insight for Executives (SPIE) Analysis Service, Stratecast Partners provides strategic analysis of industry events as they unfold on a weekly basis.