Logical attempts to tidy up ASP market

Logical has launched the latest variety of service provision, called e-Business Operations Centre, which it claims will rationalise the application service provider market.

Logical has launched the latest variety of service provision, called e-Business Operations Centre, which it claims will rationalise the application service provider (ASP) market.

The company believes there are too many different ASPs, and that users will become confused.

Instead, Logical said it will build an infrastructure and manage the applications across it, providing performance reports for the applications.

This move echoes the argument made by distributor-cum-service provider Equinox when it launched its converged service provision last week.

"The ASP market is very confused at the moment. Customers are not clear about the offerings and how they are going to be managed. Even some ASPs themselves aren't sure what they're offering," said Steve Moxey, Logical's infrastructure solutions director.

"We're aiming to be the glue that binds ASP solutions and hosting facilities, and gives the customer a single point of contact."

The managed service provision (MSP) will sit between the customer and ASP and control or supervise the network and application performance, he said.

Moxey refuted the criticism that a service provider compiles its own reports on its performance. He said: "Just managing the network is low-level stuff."

But the company's boast of making sense of the ASP market has raised eyebrows among other channel players.

A spokesman for Dimension Data, which concentrates on network management, said: "That's a cosy arrangement, reporting on themselves. I'm sure they'll report excellent service levels every time."

Logical's claim to be the UK's first MSP has been hotly disputed by Equinox, a rival in the services business. Duncan Crook, managing director of Equinox, claimed his company invented the MSP last November. "They're jumping on our bandwagon, which is one thing, but what's worse is that they're slowing it down."