KNS joins ASP bandwagon

KNS Distribution will announce its entrance into the ASP market this week. It will provide hosting and application service management, as well as running a call centre for first-level technical support.

KNS Distribution will announce its entrance into the ASP market this week. It will provide hosting and application service management, as well as running a call centre for first-level technical support.

Yuri Pasea, managing director of KNS, said the company will take a broader approach to the market than fellow ASP pioneer, Esoft. "I can't name any names yet, but we've got a number of software vendors on board," he claimed.

Pasea brushed aside concerns that the ASP model will inevitably lead to a direct relationship between the software vendor and the customer.

"As far as I'm concerned this is just another product to put into the channel," he said, adding that resellers would be given a percentage of monthly service charges and be involved with both implementation and support.

He predicted that channel concerns over ASP will mean demand will come from customers, rather than being pushed by resellers.

Pasea said his target market will be companies of between 20 and 500 users. Beside offering software from specialist vendors, KNS will offer a 'tick list' of common applications such as Microsoft Office.

KNS will use a Citrix architecture and Netear thin clients with a built-in security card scanner to control access. For day-to-day business applications, KNS will use leased lines to connect its server farm to the customer, but will offer a service with connection over the internet for mobile workers.