Application service provision could be set for a
resurgence, according to Forrester Research.
The analyst firm highlighted IBM's £96m acquisition of ASP pioneer
Corio last month as a sign of growing interest from users in having
their applications hosted by a third party.
Forrester said IBM would use Corio's technology to develop and
install applications quickly for the SME market.
"With a growing emphasis on rapid implementation and minimal
customisation, the enterprise applications outsourcing segment is
coming more and more to resemble the ASP approach," Forrester said
in a report published last month. "Outsourcers lack rapid
implementation and deployment skills. ASPs such as Corio have
contributed substantial innovations to the automation of
applications delivery.
"These capabilities are increasingly compelling to large
outsourcers, not only for the sake of application outsourcing, but
for complementary services such as business process
outsourcing."
Corio offers hosted application services for Ariba, Epiphany,
Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP and Siebel Systems. IBM has already offered
hosted ERP solutions primarily for large corporates, along with a
suite of other hosted offerings with various suppliers.