Just when you think you know all the varieties of hosted application providers and their abbreviations, another acronym rears its ugly head.
In some cases, these new acronyms, from WASP (wireless application service provider) to MSP (management service provider), legitimately describe variations on the hosted provider theme. (ASP was just plain incorrect for companies that never hosted applications in the first place.)
An ASP by any other name...
But what's really going on, I suspect, is that the term ASP, short for application service provider, has lost its pizzazz in recent months. Mergers, acquisitions, and failures continue to generate turmoil in the industry, so to make up for (or perhaps to obscure) the negative publicity, some erstwhile ASPs now call themselves something businesslike, if not technically correct.
Learn the lingo
Whatever the reasoning behind all these name changes, you need to know what these acronyms mean when you stumble across them in the dark woods of hosted apps and services. To help you navigate, I've put together this brief glossary.
AIP: application infrastructure provider. Not to be confused with Association of Internet Professionals, AIPs such as LoudCloud provide ASPs with infrastructure, such as data centre facilities. By managing data provided by the ASP's customers, the ASP can then focus on hosting applications and working with customers.
BSP: business service provider. BSPs such as Captura provide IT solutions for business needs, including work flow and B2B trading.
CSP: commerce service provider. CSPs such as Bigstep.com create transaction-ready, e-commerce Web sites for business clients.
eBIP: e-business infrastructure provider. eBIPs such as Rivio host applications that perform basic business functions such as human resources tracking, finance management, accounting, and information and document management.
HSP: hosting service provider. HSPs such as Exodus Communications are facilities designed to store databases for ASPs and keep them secure against severe weather, power problems, and other disasters. Clients access their data directly from the HSP though their ASP. HSPs are also called IDCs, which is short for Internet data centres--not to be confused with International Data Corporation.
MSP: management service provider. MSPs such as AppGenesys manage IT infrastructure (such as security systems and network performance) for multiple customers over a network. Usually, MSPs provide their services via subscription.
NSP: network service provider. NSPs such as Genuity offer Internet access to ASPs. Sometimes, NSPs call themselves backbone providers, because they provide access to the Internet backbone.
SSP: storage service provider. SSPs such as Quantum manage data for customers. They store computer files, perform regular data backup, and set up archives on servers so that customers can access files from a network.
VSP: vertical service provider. VSPs such as AristaSoft are ASPs that target a specific market segment, such as high-tech equipment makers, professional services, or educational institutions.
WASP: wireless application service provider. WASPs such as OracleMobile transform Web pages and applications into documents and programs accessible by wireless devices such as PDAs and Web-enabled cell phones.
If SSPs, HSPs, AIPs, and IDCs all still sound the same to you, join the club; some of these services offer strikingly similar products. What's important is that your business picks the provider that best meets its individual needs. Look past the basics (ABCs), research the company's method of operation (MO), sign a good service-level agreement (SLA), and everything will turn out A-OK.
