The Year In Review

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5 — Who wants to be an ASP?
ASPs were disappearing all year, but not because they were going out of business. The bad karma that surrounded the fall from grace of last year's overhyped industry leaders had so severely discredited the term that many companies were ashamed to be associated with it. Instead, they were repositioning themselves as xSPs, web service providers, application outsourcers or business service providers. Yet despite their avoidance of the name in public, ASP remained the universally recognised term among end users, industry players and newcomers alike to describe the online hosted software model.
May 14th: Microsoft Makes Move to Monthly Fees (rise of the xSP)
Nov, 26th: Where Have All The ASPs Gone?

4 — Consolidation of an industry
It's become evident in the closing months of the year that there's plenty of continuing confidence in the ASP model, and that many companies still have enough strength in their balance sheets to continue investing in it through acquisitions. Much of that consolidation comes in the form of new entrants from other sectors — such as software vendors, outsourcing companies or telecoms providers — buying expertise and market footprint. If ASPs disappear because they get consolidated into the mainstream, that shouldn't be a cause for disappointment.
April 2nd: Don't Pin Failures on ASP Market
Oct. 16th: New Life for USi
Dec. 3rd: Consolidation at the Top

3 — From free to fee
It's hard to imagine that, just one year ago, it was possible to host and operate an e-commerce Web site, email marketing, company intranet, almost limitless online storage and many other capabilities, all of it for free. Paid services swept back into fashion with a vengeance this year, whittling the user bases of companies such as intranets.com, FreeDrive, BigStep and Microsoft's own bCentral service from millions down to mere tens of thousands.
Feb 26th: Nobody Stores for Free
June 11th: Free Doesn't Pay Off
June 25th: Microsoft Can't Give It Away

2 — Web services
Successfully bringing software online was always going to depend on the evolution of new, network-centric software architecture. This year, it became evident that the name for that new architecture is Web services, and several important foundation standards were laid down. What we don't yet know is whether the architecture will be dominated by Microsoft or by the efforts of heavyweight rivals including IBM, Sun, Oracle, HP and BEA will succeed in derailing its early advantage in the sector.
Feb. 12th: Sun ONE — a fresh coat of paint
June 4th: Microsoft Works in Web Services
Oct. 29th: What A Week For Web Services

1 — Finally, it all makes sense
For a long time, many people believed the ASP model was simply a matter of outsourcing existing packaged applications and delivering them from an Internet data center. This year at last, the message has got through. The true breakthrough ASPs are those who deliver Internet-native applications and services that simply and effectively automate key business processes.
July 30th: Some Survive, Others Thrive
Oct. 1st: eBay And Yahoo! Not Just Consumer Sites
Nov. 5th: Citrix Embraces Future; Denies Its Past

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