Downtime means everyone loses
Rushing into using ASPs could be a rash move for several reasons, but the one that worries me the most is a dependence that's not dependable. Service providers' servers can do down, your Internet connection can be cut off by something as low-tech as a backhoe breaking cables, and rare though they might be, malicious attacks by viruses or hackers can interrupt service. Then where are you? Sitting on your butt with nothing to run on your computers, that's where.
Before making a commitment to an outsourcer, do your homework. Probe extensively into any prospective ASP's uptime record -- anything less than 99.9percent is unreasonable -- and delve deeply in the service agreement's language on downtime, planned or not. Ditto on data loss. Any hesitation on the part of the ASP to provide those numbers, and proof, I would read as suspicious, and enough to call off negotiations.
Let's figure that your ASP will be one of the survivors -- it played the game like Machiavelli and didn't get tossed off the island. Among the cautionary steps you can take is one I think especially effective in making sure your relationship with the provider is congenial, not confrontational.
