ASP iFuel targets UK ISVs

An application service provider which claims to be "reseller friendly" has launched in the UK to target independent software vendors.

An application service provider (ASP) which claims to be "reseller friendly" has launched in the UK to target independent software vendors (ISVs).

The company, called iFuel, is part of the systems integrator and reseller Integration Group. It claims to offer ISVs a route to market in a fraction of the time it would take to "go it alone", and "without the major investment involved".

According to the company, the service will add value for ISVs and their reseller channels by allowing them to provide software as a service and to supplement turnover with an ASP offering. Companies which have joined the product certification process so far include Microsoft, Onyx, Systems Union and KMS.

Eamus Halpin, chief executive of iFuel, said: "We have the skills, the funding, the track record and the resources to add value to the ASP marketplace by taking the guesswork out of providing an ASP offering for an ISV."

The market needs leadership against the suffocating atmosphere of fear caused by ASP hype, Halpin claimed. He said that his model is one that can be trusted by channel partners and understood by ISVs.

"It's clear that the existing revenue model with the ISV is supplemented with long-term ASP revenue streams," he said. "The market for traditional resellers is instantly enlarged."

Resellers can concentrate on the provision of value-added services instead of the procurement and implementation of hardware and software because of faster sales cycles and deployment mechanisms, he claimed.

The company predicted that it will have more than 50 applications available through its ISV and reseller channel. The company aims to have 250,000 contracted users by the end of 2002.