ASP Global gears up to profit from provision

Startup company ASP Global has claimed to be the only UK company actually making money from the ASP model, but not through providing services.

Startup company ASP Global has claimed to be the only UK company actually making money from the application service provider (ASP) model, but not through providing services.

Charlie Gibson, chief executive at ASP Global, said that it would be 18 to 24 months until the mainstream market is ready for ASPs. But until then, ASP Global's skills can be used to help other companies prepare their ASP operations.

ASP Global has announced a partnership with Nortel Networks to develop its ASP solutions. Gibson said: "We help Nortel by providing everything from software development through to systems integration."

Gibson said ASP Global did intend to become an end-user ASP itself, initially focusing on email and other office applications before moving into enterprise resource planning.

"I think the availability of ADSL will be a catalyst for change. At the moment businesses don't want to outsource applications," he said.

David Sidwell, business development director at fellow ASP pioneer Esoft Global, said ASP Global was not the only company to be doing this. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," he said.

Gibson said ASP Global, Nortel, DaimlerChrysler and a number of other backers are working on EinsteinNet, a $128m (£81m) project to deliver business applications to small businesses across Germany.

Gibson said he would soon announce a $500m ASP project with a vertical application vendor, and another with a major telecoms service provider.

ASP Global has already started working with four UK resellers, although Gibson suspected one of them was using the partnership to prepare its own ASP business.

"ASPs will need resellers to manage their customers, provide services and customise applications," he said.

ASP Global was formed six months ago by Charlie Gibson and John MacGoldrick.

The company recruited its staff from Paris Data, a company which went into receivership after trying to offer internet-based services before the market was ready, said Gibson.