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Taking A Flexible Approach to ASPs.

The article presents the results of a study which investigated the market for internet-based computer software applications among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Application service providers (ASPs) are said to have achieved considerable success with big business, but less in the SME market. A...

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Published in:Communications of the ACM Vol. 53; no. 2; pp. 139 - 144
Main Authors: ALTAF, FARHEEN, SCHUFF, DAVID
Format: Article
Published: Association for Computing Machinery Feb2010
Subjects:
Application service providers
Consumer preferences
Small business
Computer service industry
Application software
Contracting out
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:The article presents the results of a study which investigated the market for internet-based computer software applications among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Application service providers (ASPs) are said to have achieved considerable success with big business, but less in the SME market. A survey of over 100 SMEs indicated that lack of customization options was an issue. Concerns about the financial stability and service reliability of the ASPs were also major concerns. The implications of these findings for ASPs wishing to improve their SME sales are discussed, and the significance of flexibility in terms of functional capacity is addressed in this context.