ASP spending still on the rise
The death of ASPs may dominate the news, but spending on services from application service providers is still expected to rise sharply in coming years. Two IT market research companies released ASP spending projections earlier this month that showed ASPs will increasingly get a boost over the next five years. International Data Corp., of Framingham, Mass., projected that spending on services offered by ASPs will grow to $13 billion by 2005 from $693.5 million last year. Aberdeen Group Inc., of Boston, was more bullish, forecasting that ASP spending will rise to $16.1 billion by 2005 from $3 billion this year.
Both reports also found that while the United States currently is the most dominant market, Western Europe is catching up. IDC projects that the U.S. share of the total ASP market will fall from 79 percent of worldwide spending last year to 48 percent by 2005. IDC found that overall ASP spending in Western Europe should grow to $5.1 billion by 2005, while Aberdeen forecast spending there to rise more slowly, to $4 billion in 2005.
Companies more aware of ASPs
The application service provider industry may be closer to overcoming one of its biggest hurdles to gaining customers: lack of awareness. A survey of almost 2,000 businesspeople in 17 countries found that 70 percent were aware of the ASP model. PMP Research, of London, conducted the survey on behalf of the ASP Industry Consortium, of Wakefield, Mass.