Resellers look to FutureLink for service provision

Microsoft has invested $10m (£6.6m) in FutureLink, the US-based application service provider (ASP) that bought KNS Distribution last year.

Microsoft has invested $10m (£6.6m) in FutureLink, the US-based application service provider (ASP) that bought KNS Distribution last year.

At Networks Telecom in Birmingham last week, FutureLink UK announced a range of ASP products that will be sold exclusively through the channel, including Microsoft Office.

Yuri Pasea, managing director of FutureLink UK, said although the service has only a handful of customers, he has been pleasantly surprised by the level of interest from resellers.

FutureLink will host other server-based applications on request, and also rents customer relationship management applications from vendors such as Onyx, Great Plains and Sales Logix.

Pasea said FutureLink's strength in the US market has enabled it to attract high-profile software vendors as partners. "We are also close to announcing deals with some major European vendors," he said.

Customers sign service agreements with FutureLink, which provides leased-line connectivity into the site and guarantees application availability.

Customers sign up for three years and resellers receive a percentage of monthly charges.

Pasea said he needed resellers to support and manage customers. "We couldn't take this business direct even if we wanted to," he said.

FutureLink, which became part of Microsoft's hosted application initiative set up with Cisco last November, will spend the money on development labs for software developers that want to host their applications on Windows 2000.