full circle : asps the new big blue ? network world fusion focus : mike jude and nancy meachim
on application service providers
today ' s focus : full circle : asps the new big blue ?
03 / 15 / 00
dear wincenty kaminski ,
today ' s focus : full circle : asps the new
big blue ?
by mike jude and nancy meachim
the terms  & asp  8 and  & ibm  8 may have more in common than being three -
letter acronyms .
remember big blue of the early  + 60 s ? the vision , then , was centralized
computing . mainframe computers hosted complex , expensive applications
that end users accessed via dumb terminals . it infrastructure ,
especially memory , was expensive and needed to be controlled . with
computing resources centralized , ibm reasoned , they were easier to
maintain .
of course , ibm got it wrong , in that computers became a cheap commodity .
and users weren  , t happy simply using dumb terminals . they wanted a
bigger share in all that technology offered . so , as memory prices fell ,
so did the idea of central control . dumb terminals were transformed into
intelligent desktop machines that could store applications and data . the
glass house populated by white - smocked technicians went out of fashion .
looking back on those times , many of us would shake our heads and wonder
how ibm could have been so wrong . but maybe big blue wasn  , t so far off .
thanks to the advent of application service providers , centralized
computing is making a comeback . asps offer centralized application
management .
the market started as a way to offer the benefits of server
advertisement protocol and other complex enterprise resource planning
software to small companies or companies with less technical savvy . but
asps now host all kinds of applications , including small , multilicensed
programs whose images are downloaded to end users on demand . but , the
principle remains the same : central control makes support much more
efficient and usually cheaper . how about that , ibm ?
to be fair , the dynamics of an asp are very different from old
centralized mainframe operations . an asp doesn  , t just host and support
an application for general distribution over an in - house proprietary
network . unlike the ibm vision , an asp is very dependent on network
service . it is also very sensitive to service levels . in the  + 60 s , if
the mainframe let you down , you ended up twiddling your thumbs for an
hour or so , and your only recourse was that white - smocked fellow .
nowadays , users start to scream if service is interrupted for even a
minute . and woe to the asp who brings down a customer operation . the
world of the asp is much more complex than that of the old  + 60 s shop .
however , if one could magically transport a computer user from the  + 60 s
to the wonderful new 2000 s , would it seem all that different to him ? in
an ideal asp world , a la scott mcnealy  , s vision , users would sit down
at a semidumb terminal , download the application du jour , and start
working . what did the  + 60 s user do ? kind of the same thing !
so you are probably wondering , what is the point ? just this : ibm  , s
problem was leaving the customer out of the equation . and look what
happened . customers rebelled . they didn  , t buy ibm  , s spiel . it became
the  & in  8 thing to hate ibm . why ? because the guys in white smocks
couldn  , t spell service and didn  , t care about customers .
to be successful , asps need to learn from the past . they need to tattoo
service on the forehead of each of their employees . there are too many
choices , today , for customers to put up with inferior service . that  , s
one big difference from the  + 60 s . customers now can literally choose
any service provider in the world . just being big doesn  , t cut it these
days .
to contact mike jude and nancy meachim :
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
senior consultant michael jude and research director nancy meachim are
with enterprise management associates in boulder , colo . ,
( http : / / www . . com ) , a leading analyst and market
research firm focusing exclusively on all aspects of enterprise
management . jude has over 18 years of experience in the
telecommunications industry , most recently with us west , where he was a
manager of public policy . mike can be reached at
mailto : jude @ . com . meachim focuses on e - business
management . she is currently conducting a research study on asp
management that is due to be released in april . nancy ' s email address
is mailto : meachim @ . com .
for related links - - click here for network world ' s home page :
http : / / www . nwfusion . com
buzz : application otsourcing , network world fusion , 09 / 27 / 99
asp research page , network world
all about asps
information center for application service providers , their customers
and delivery partners . includes resources , events and news . the asp
industry consortium .
http : / / www . aspindustry . org /
subscription services
to subscribe or unsubscribe to any network world e - mail newsletters ,
go to :
to change your email address , go to :
subscription questions ? contact customer service by replying to this
message .
other questions / comments
have editorial comments ? write jeff caruso , newsletter editor , at :
mailto : jcaruso @ nww . com
for advertising information , write jamie kalbach , account executive ,
at : mailto : jkalbach @ nww . com
network world fusion is part of idg . net , the idg online network .
it all starts here :
http : / / www . idg . com
copyright network world , inc . , 2000
full circle : asps the new big blue ?
network world fusion focus : mike jude and nancy meachim
on application service providers
today ' s focus : full circle : asps the new big blue ?
03 / 15 / 00
dear wincenty kaminski ,
today ' s focus : full circle : asps the new
big blue ?
by mike jude and nancy meachim
the terms  & asp  8 and  & ibm  8 may have more in common than being three -
letter acronyms .
remember big blue of the early  + 60 s ? the vision , then , was centralized
computing . mainframe computers hosted complex , expensive applications
that end users accessed via dumb terminals . it infrastructure ,
especially memory , was expensive and needed to be controlled . with
computing resources centralized , ibm reasoned , they were easier to
maintain .
of course , ibm got it wrong , in that computers became a cheap commodity .
and users weren  , t happy simply using dumb terminals . they wanted a
bigger share in all that technology offered . so , as memory prices fell ,
so did the idea of central control . dumb terminals were transformed into
intelligent desktop machines that could store applications and data . the
glass house populated by white - smocked technicians went out of fashion .
looking back on those times , many of us would shake our heads and wonder
how ibm could have been so wrong . but maybe big blue wasn  , t so far off .
thanks to the advent of application service providers , centralized
computing is making a comeback . asps offer centralized application
management .
the market started as a way to offer the benefits of server
advertisement protocol and other complex enterprise resource planning
software to small companies or companies with less technical savvy . but
asps now host all kinds of applications , including small , multilicensed
programs whose images are downloaded to end users on demand . but , the
principle remains the same : central control makes support much more
efficient and usually cheaper . how about that , ibm ?
to be fair , the dynamics of an asp are very different from old
centralized mainframe operations . an asp doesn  , t just host and support
an application for general distribution over an in - house proprietary
network . unlike the ibm vision , an asp is very dependent on network
service . it is also very sensitive to service levels . in the  + 60 s , if
the mainframe let you down , you ended up twiddling your thumbs for an
hour or so , and your only recourse was that white - smocked fellow .
nowadays , users start to scream if service is interrupted for even a
minute . and woe to the asp who brings down a customer operation . the
world of the asp is much more complex than that of the old  + 60 s shop .
however , if one could magically transport a computer user from the  + 60 s
to the wonderful new 2000 s , would it seem all that different to him ? in
an ideal asp world , a la scott mcnealy  , s vision , users would sit down
at a semidumb terminal , download the application du jour , and start
working . what did the  + 60 s user do ? kind of the same thing !
so you are probably wondering , what is the point ? just this : ibm  , s
problem was leaving the customer out of the equation . and look what
happened . customers rebelled . they didn  , t buy ibm  , s spiel . it became
the  & in  8 thing to hate ibm . why ? because the guys in white smocks
couldn  , t spell service and didn  , t care about customers .
to be successful , asps need to learn from the past . they need to tattoo
service on the forehead of each of their employees . there are too many
choices , today , for customers to put up with inferior service . that  , s
one big difference from the  + 60 s . customers now can literally choose
any service provider in the world . just being big doesn  , t cut it these
days .
to contact mike jude and nancy meachim :
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
senior consultant michael jude and research director nancy meachim are
with enterprise management associates in boulder , colo . ,
( http : / / www . . com ) , a leading analyst and market
research firm focusing exclusively on all aspects of enterprise
management . jude has over 18 years of experience in the
telecommunications industry , most recently with us west , where he was a
manager of public policy . mike can be reached at
mailto : jude @ . com . meachim focuses on e - business
management . she is currently conducting a research study on asp
management that is due to be released in april . nancy ' s email address
is mailto : meachim @ . com .
for related links - - click here for network world ' s home page :
http : / / www . nwfusion . com
buzz : application otsourcing , network world fusion , 09 / 27 / 99
asp research page , network world
all about asps
information center for application service providers , their customers
and delivery partners . includes resources , events and news . the asp
industry consortium .
http : / / www . aspindustry . org /
subscription services
to subscribe or unsubscribe to any network world e - mail newsletters ,
go to :
to change your email address , go to :
subscription questions ? contact customer service by replying to this
message .
other questions / comments
have editorial comments ? write jeff caruso , newsletter editor , at :
mailto : jcaruso @ nww . com
for advertising information , write jamie kalbach , account executive ,
at : mailto : jkalbach @ nww . com
network world fusion is part of idg . net , the idg online network .
it all starts here :
http : / / www . idg . com
copyright network world , inc . , 2000