Application Service Provider Model Research Articles

A decision framework for SME Information Technology (IT) managers: Factors for evaluating whether to outsource internal applications to Application Service Providers

Businesses have been seeking new ways to improve their Information Technology that will better fit the company's needs with limited investment or even cost cutting. In order to achieve this many businesses have been turning toward Application Service Providers (ASPs). There are a number of factors supporting ASPs. ASP's can provide one service that connects multiple applications through one access point. The technology is very simple, straightforward, and easy to use for various businesses. There are also factors that do not favor ASPs, including service reliability, customization, integration, upgrades, and security issues. This study examines the paradigm shift from the traditional software model to the ASP model, and explores the favorable and unfavorable trends in ASPs. While the on-demand model seems to be a promising model for companies, there are certainly many decisions for a business to consider before making commitments to an ASP. Hence, this study aims to help IT managers evaluate each factor very carefully before outsourcing their internal applications to ASPs. It develops and provides a methodology for better IT decision-making with regard to ASPs which could be provided to other IT decisions as well. As “cloud” technologies, exemplified by ASPs, transform the world we live-in, better decision-making tools for small businesses will impact their success in the 21st century business world where SMEs can effectively compete with large businesses leveraging these services.

Research on the Constructs of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Dynamic Alliance Information Platform Based on the ASP and Information Sharing

The purpose of this paper was to solve the problem of constructing information platform for small and medium-sized enterprise dynamic alliance. According to the present situation of Chinese small and medium-sized enterprise informatization, the research on ASP(application service provider) model proposed to construct the small and medium-sized enterprise dynamic alliance information platform, expounded the advantages of ASP, proposed the small and medium-sized enterprise dynamic alliance information platform of information sharing mechanism. The formation of small and medium-sized enterprises of dynamic alliance effective operation had certain positive contribution. In this paper, the innovation of originality focuses on building small and medium-sized enterprise dynamic alliance information platform base on ASP model.

Research on the Constructs of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Dynamic Alliance Information Platform Based on the ASP and Information Sharing

The purpose of this paper was to solve the problem of constructing information platform for small and medium-sized enterprise dynamic alliance. According to the present situation of Chinese small and medium-sized enterprise informatization, the research on ASP(application service provider) model proposed to construct the small and medium-sized enterprise dynamic alliance information platform, expounded the advantages of ASP, proposed the small and medium-sized enterprise dynamic alliance information platform of information sharing mechanism. The formation of small and medium-sized enterprises of dynamic alliance effective operation had certain positive contribution. In this paper, the innovation of originality focuses on building small and medium-sized enterprise dynamic alliance information platform base on ASP model.

Taking a flexible approach to ASPs

Introduction In 2001, subscription-based application service providers (ASPs) represented the new paradigm for application deployment. It was anticipated that ASP spending would reach $7.8 billion by 2004, and a 2001 survey conducted by PMP Research revealed that 23% of respondents said they would likely use an ASP in the future. However, this turned out not to be the case. By 2004, spending on ASPs had increased only to $4.2 billion. Over the past few years, there has been a revival of the ASP model through the notion of cloud computing and "software as a service." The market for cloud-based services was $16 billion in 2008, and projections estimate the market for spending in this area will reach $42 billion by 2012. However, this still only would represent 9% of overall IT spending. These services have traditionally targeted larger companies instead of small or medium-sized businesses (or SMEs). Companies like Oracle, Siebel, and Ariba claim that nearly 60% of their business comes from companies that have annual revenues exceeding $1 billion. However, the ASP model provides the same or greater benefits to SMEs, including lower costs, greater choice, simpler installation (and no related fees), and the ability to access applications from any internet-connected computer. ASP subscribers also often receive "24 by 7" technical support. This access to IT expertise (without maintaining an in-house IT staff) results in further savings for businesses. Despite the benefits, small businesses have not readily adopted ASPs. The reasons for this lack of adoption include the reluctance of SMEs to replace their existing systems with untried ASPs and the inappropriateness of the "one-size-fits-all" approach that doesn't take in to consideration specific industry or firm requirements. This makes the SME a significant untapped market for companies operating in this space. The purpose of this article is to more fully understand the SME market for ASPs through an analysis of the factors that are most important to likely adopters. While previous work has broadly investigated adoption by SMEs and the general adoption of ASPs, this study combines both perspectives and proposes the new construct of "flexibility" as influential in the adoption decision. We surveyed 101 SMEs that had not yet adopted ASPs and asked them to rate the importance of several factors that would affect their decision. Correlating likelihood of adoption with the importance of those factors yields several important insights into how ASP vendors should position their product offerings.

An innovative model of supply chain management: a single case study in the electronic sector

This paper will report and analyse a case study on the utilisation of information systems by one of the largest global manufacturers of high-technology/electronic products. It will focus on their adoption of the services of an electronic marketplace called E2open and is based on 12 semistructured interviews undertaken with both organisations. The paper will make three contributions. It will firstly show how a new type of organisational entity is emerging, which challenges the validity of current ontologies for the organisational actors within the supply chain. Secondly, it will consider how the connectivity between buyer and supplier may be following a similar pattern to the transportation of material goods between these entities, in that it is emerging as an activity that will increasingly be managed by a third party. Finally, it will show how the use of the application service provider model of software provision is being used to enable the development of information systems which manage the supply chain and not just the operations of individual organisations. The extant theory will then be used to interpret the findings, as well as eliciting from the findings what the implications of this case are for further research in this field and for supply chain managers.

Application Service Providers (ASP) Adoption in Core and Non-Core Functions

With the further improvement in internet bandwidth, connection stability and data transmission security, a new wave of Application Service Providers (ASP) is on his way. The recent booming on some models such as Software Application as Service (SaaS) and On-Demand in 2008, has led to emergence of ASP model in core business functions. The traditional IS outsourcing covers the non-core business functions that are not critical to business performance and competitive advantages. Comparing with traditional IS outsourcing, ASP is a new phenomenon that can be considered as an emerging innovation as it covers both core and non-core business functions. Most of the executives do not comprehend the difference and similarity between traditional IS outsourcing and ASP mode. Hence, we propose to conduct a research so as to identify the determinants (cost benefit, gap in IS capability complementing the company's strategic goal, and trust to ASP's service and security level) and moderating factors (management's attitude in ownership & control, and company aggressiveness) of ASP adoption decision in both core and non-core business functions.

ASP effects in the small-sized enterprise: the case of the Bizmeka service from Korea Telecom

An application service provider (ASP) is a business model providing information technology (IT)-enabled solutions to customers over the Internet. Utilizing an ASP model, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can acquire affordable IT solutions. Korea Telecom (KT), a leading IT company in Korea, provides an ASP service called Bizmeka to SMEs. In this study, we identify factors influencing the perceived benefits of Bizmeka usage. We also examine the relationship between the perceived benefits of Bizmeka usage and customer satisfaction. Based on the results of our survey, we found the following factors to be important in determining customer satisfaction with ASPs: cost and time impact, maintenance impact, and security risks.

Offering Integrated Medical Equipment Management in an Application Service Provider Model

With the advancement of medical technology and thus the complexity of the equipment under their care, clinical engineering departments (CEDs) must continue to make use of computerized tools in the management of departmental activities. Authors of this paper designed, installed, and implemented an application service provider (ASP) model at the laboratory level to offer value added management tools in an online format to CEDs. The project, designed to investigate how to help meet demands across multiple healthcare organizations and provide a means of access for organizations that otherwise might not be able to take advantage of the benefits of those tools, has been well received. Ten hospitals have requested the service, and five of those are ready to proceed with the implementation of the ASP. With the proposed centralized system architecture, the model has shown promise in reducing network infrastructure labor and equipment costs, benchmarking of equipment performance indicators, and developing avenues for proper and timely problem reporting. The following is a detailed description of the design process from conception to implementation of the five main software modules and supporting system architecture.

A tool for minimizing update errors for workflow applications: The CARD model

Product Data Management, the ASP (application service provider) model of e-business, and other information enterprises involve complex database-driven processes that change frequently. Workflow management for these enterprises requires analysis of the causality of updates on the control logic of the processes and the semantics of the databases involved. Previous workflow analysis tends to focus on the former and leave the details of the database control to application developers. This practice could lead to inconsistent applications when the processes evolve and/or the underlying data and rules change. The field still needs an integrated causality analysis tool to facilitate the update problem. In this research, we develop a Control-Activity-Rule-Data (CARD) model of a decision support tool that helps workflow administrators analyze the effects of update in processes and/or databases on both control flow and data/rules flow. The CARD model contributes a new Workflow Information Resources Dictionary which represents data, rules, activities and control in a mutually independent but collectively integrated way to achieve the goal. An extended Workflow Causality Graph capable of representing workflow integrity rules enables the CARD model for implementation. An empirical validation of the model using three representative Product Data Management workflow cases at Samsung Electronics Corporation shows its correctness and relevance for practical applications.

A continuous available (CA) server for medical imaging applications 1

Rationale and objectives The trend of medical imaging research and application is toward large database management and manipulation, which requires a robust image server to receive image data from sources and to deliver them to users reliably and in a timely fashion. This article describes the design, implementation, and clinical applications of a continuous available (CA) image server for these purposes. Materials and methods The design of the CA image server is based on the concept of a triple modular redundancy server with three redundant server modules. Coupled with a majority voting mechanism in the three modules and failover software, the triple modular redundancy server takes care of all single points of failure hardware components in the CA image server automatically to achieve fault tolerance. Methods and procedures of evaluating the fault tolerance system reliability caused by network connectivity, motherboard, and disk storage failures are described. Results Thorough experimental results in laboratory and clinical environments verify that the image server achieves 99.999% hardware up time (or 5 minutes/year down time), satisfying the industrial terminology of hardware continuous availability. Performance of failover of the CA image server is automatically tabulated during these procedures. Conclusion Applications of CA image server are extensive. Two examples are given including Picture Archiving and Communication System, and off-site back-up archive using the Application Service Provider model. As designed, the CA image server is portable, scalable, affordable, easy to install, and requires no human intervention during failover and system recovery.

Customer Evaluation of Application Services Provisioning in Five Vertical Sectors

How value is created for the customer from e-business is a topic of much concern in academic and practitioner circles. In the light of the dot.com downturn, numerous e-business firms ceased to exist. This paper reports the findings from an ongoing research study on the development and decline of the application service provider (ASP) industry. Having witnessed the decline of the first wave of ASPs, with many failing to convince small and medium businesses (SMBs) of the value of adopting an ASP solution, the second wave calls for a more rigorous approach that clearly identifies the key performance areas and indicators of the ASP business model. Applying the constructs of strategic positioning, product/service portfolio, and value proposition, this paper represents the findings from 215 responses to a questionnaire survey on how potential and existing ASP customers evaluate the benefits and risks of ASP. The findings suggest that, if the ASP model is to succeed, vendors will need to carefully identify customer requirements and avoid the pitfalls that beset the first wave of the ASP model, which was largely based upon a technology push strategy.

SMEs and web-based business processes: barriers and solutions

At present most SMEs make only relatively basic use of the internet. It is recognised that SMEs can gain greater business benefit by undertaking web-based business processes, however there is little use of such applications amongst SMEs. This preliminary investigation explores the factors which help to explain the reticence of SMEs to consider web-based processes delivered by the application service provider model. The paper identifies the key barriers, the greatest of which is seen as fear. A mechanism is proposed for SMEs to readily assess and overcome the main fear factor barrier and thereby commence a more reasoned evaluation of the real business case. The conclusions also provide some guidance to development agencies and the application providers.

Impact of the service model for delivering enterprise applications over the internet

Many organisations are re-evaluating their approach to delivering enterprise applications, and are looking for ways to control IT costs. There is growing evidence of reluctance to fund large-scale implementation projects, and of tighter budgets forcing more careful cost-benefit analysis to justify IT investments. These efforts to control IT costs lead to consideration of alternative models for delivery of enterprise applications, such as the ASP (Application Service Provider) model. In this paper, we discuss the business drivers for application servicing and describe the benefits of this approach in the context of enterprise applications. We describe the enabling technological infrastructure for application servicing and associated business models for outsourced applications.

Analyzing the application ASP concept

The application service provider model can realize economies of scale in managing hardware, software, and personnel resources, but this new concept also introduces uncertainty as it redistributes responsibilities among organizations.

Application service providers: an application of the transaction cost model

Application service providers (ASPs) are expected to become a $25 billion industry by 2004. A firm’s decision to build or buy its IT infrastructure is dependent upon an application of transaction cost theory. These theories substantively explain a firm’s decision to outsource IT services to an ASP. This paper examines the ASP model through the lens of Williamson’s transaction cost model. The applications of this model explain many of the current market trends and provide insight into the continued success of the ASP model. The conclusion provides additional decision criteria for those practitioners who are in the decision process of outsourcing the IT function to an ASP.

Web-enabling applications for outsourced computing

The business of information has exploded since the birth of the Internet in the early 1960s. Advances in software and hardware engineering have transformed the role of the Internet from merely data and information delivery to the largest computing service delivery infrastructure in history. This transformation has created a gradual shift toward distributed computing and the application service provider (ASP) model for computing service delivery. The ASP market is largely driven by the increasing popularity of browser-based computing and the growing tendency for companies to outsource mission-critical functions. Advantages of the ASP model include reduced installation and support requirements, instant updates and synchronization, mass customization, and universal accessibility. Despite the obvious benefits, the ASP model has not yet gained momentum in power engineering, where most applications still conform to the traditional, standalone, three-tier architecture. The methodology featured in this article takes a traditional engineering application and Web-enables it for the ASP market. The article describes the architecture of traditional and enterprise applications and presents the technologies and issues involved in deploying a traditional engineering application over the Internet.

Application service providers (ASPs): new impetus for transformational change

AbstractApplication service providers (ASPs) are a business phenomenon of the Internet age. The ASP concept offers companies the rewards of best‐in‐class application functionality for a fixed monthly cost and easy usage scalability, thus liberating organizations from technological complexities. In exploring the effectiveness of the ASP model, this paper examines the development of ASPs and also reports the results of a UK study, 178 ASP service purchasers and providers, highlighting the nature and offerings of service providers and the levels of satisfaction with ASP services. It is argued that the ASPs' potential to induce transformational change in terms of business processes and thus on the total enterprise is extensive. Also, by highlighting concerns with current ASP services, the paper concludes on an optimistic note emphasizing a favourable outlook for ASPs in the future. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Delivering enterprise resource planning systems through application service providers

This paper presents research findings from an in‐depth study on the global application service provider (ASP) industry. It explores the potential for Web‐enabling enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for small and medium‐sized companies on a per‐seat, per‐month basis. Findings from field research suggest that, while the ASP business model offers many advantages for customers, few companies are prepared to outsource their mission‐critical ERP systems to ASPs. This situation has led to many large and small ASP vendors to re‐think their strategic business plans, with some high profile failures. Evaluating the situation from a market, organizational and technical analysis of the ASP industry, this paper argues that, while the ASP model is currently immature, the next three years will see the emergence of more clearly defined enterprise ASP offerings from key players in the software and computing services industry.

Managing IT outsourcing: a value‐driven approach to outsourcing using application service providers

Organizations, both large and small, are increasingly outsourcing their applications to application service providers (ASPs) for a variety of reasons such as cost reduction, shortened time‐to‐market, lack of internal expertise, and risk reduction. However, the adoption of the ASP model has not been smooth sailing for many organizations, and only a few organizations have a formal approach to making ASP outsourcing decisions. Partially to fill this void, develops a value‐driven approach to outsourcing using ASP based on outsourcing theories and the industry’s best practices. The value‐driven approach is an adaptation and extension of Simon’s decision‐making process. It is designed to guide IS managers systematically through the complex process of identifying outsourcing opportunities, evaluating the viability of using the ASP model, making outsourcing decisions, managing contractual and implementation issues, and assessing the service quality of ASP vendors. Provides important implications for research and practice. For researchers, identifies ample research opportunities in this new field. For practitioners, the value‐driven approach gives them an invaluable tool to manage today’s complex information technology outsourcing.

Exploring ASP as sourcing strategy: theoretical perspectives, propositions for practice

Application service providers (ASPs) offer multiple users a subscription-based access model via the Internet to centrally managed applications. The appeals of ASPs are the per-user-pricing models, one-to-many access possibilities to applications, IT expertise and capabilities, and value added management services. This paper argues that although the ASP model offers an electronic outsourcing solution, there are in fact many similarities with more traditional IT outsourcing. Using four case studies from exploratory research into ASPs, we illustrate the applicability of a little used contingency model from the research literature that combines resource dependency theory, resource-based theory, transaction cost theory and agency theory. From this, we develop six major propositions that customers should bear in mind when considering an ASP option. Similar to outsourcing services, ASP sourcing offers some interesting benefits, but equally entails a set of risks that practitioners should carefully evaluate when considering the ‘netsourced’ ASP option.