On the first Tuesday of the month, ASPnews unveils its updated list of the Top 20 ASPs and Infrastructure Providers — which represents the bellwethers of the evolving service provider industry. In our second installment, two new companies earn top ASPnews honors, which means, of course, that two fell off the list.
What is the ASPnews Top 20?
All entries in the Top 20 ASPs and the Top 20 ASP Infrastructure Providers lists are drawn from the ASP Industry Global 200 Directory, as published monthly by ASP News Review, the executive newsletter for the worldwide ASP and Web services industry.
The companies are selected based on several factors. Sheer size is just one parameter, which is weighted along with more qualitative assessments, such as respect among peers and talent to innovate within the ASP model as defined by ASPnews (see The ASP Value Chain for a detailed description).
Make Way for WebEx
WebEx displaces veteran provider Interliant in the
Top 20 ASPs list. Omitting Interliant was a sad but unavoidable decision in the light
of the company’s April’s announcements. In its 10-K annual report,
filed with the SEC on April 17th, Interliant defines its ERP and CRM
application hosting operations as “non-core” to its business.
Although it still has a substantial managed messaging business,
its core business is now managed Web server hosting, with associated
professional services, and therefore it no longer qualifies for inclusion in
the Top 20 as a pureplay ASP.
To be on the Top 20 ASP list, companies must demonstrate that they are unambiguously committed to ASP or Web services
as their core business; Interliant now fails this all-important litmus test.
Selecting the new entrant to replace Interliant meant evaluating almost
a dozen worthy contenders. But in the end the clear
choice was WebEx Communications, a provider of Web-based
conferencing. The company posted increased scores in all categories
after announcing strong Q1 results and the launch of new partner
programs in April.
WebEx now has recurring contracts with more than
3,000 corporate organizations and is building partnerships to bring its
Web-native conferencing service to an even broader customer base.
Great Plains Absorbed, Onyx On-board
Great Plains left the Infrastructure Top 20 following its acquisition by
Microsoft, which was completed on April 5th.
Its replacement is Onyx Software, which launched a
new version of its CRM platform during April significantly advancing
its Web services credentials. With 100,000 hosted seats representing 15 percent
of revenues all delivered through partners, there is probably no enterprise
vendor more dependent on its ASP channel, and it has a long track
record of supporting its ASP partners in developing their own internal
customer services infrastructure as well as innovative offerings for
smaller businesses.
Worth Watching
Compaq and SAP were considered among others, but missed out
largely because neither company —: though moving in the right — is currently scoring high enough
for innovation, recognition and leadership.
Top 20 ASPs
This is the list of companies that, in the view of ASPnews, are the world’s 20 leading ASPs. For inclusion, companies must meet the following criteria:
Have ASP and/or web services as their core business
Have a substantial and active customer base
Be able to demonstrate proven revenue streams
Be innovators within the ASP and/or web services models
Be recognized as a leader by others within the industry
These are the 20 companies that, in the view of ASPnews, are the most influential providers of software or infrastructure for the ASP and web services industry. For inclusion, companies must meet the following criteria:
Have a substantial and active customer base of ASPs and/or web service providers
Be active in their support and promotion of the ASP and/or web services model
Be innovators within the ASP and/or web services models
Be recognized as a leader by others within the industry
What do you think of our choices? What ASPs and infrastructure providers are missing that deserve to be here? And what companies do you think made that list that shouldn’t have? Critique our selections — or make your own list — in the ASP Discussion Forum.
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