TOP 50

May 14, 2002

An anticipated acquisition and a de-merger left us expecting to make two changes to the Top 20 Providers list this month. As it turned out, only one of those events took place, but it has triggered a change to both the Providers and the Top 30 Enablers lists.

The acquisition that didn't take place involved McAfee.com, which would have disappeared from this month's list had Network Associates completed its repurchase of the spin-off as planned, ending its pureplay status.

Network Associates was thwarted a second time by news of an investigation into accounts filed under its previous management, and talk of a renewed attempt has faded for the moment.

ASPnews Top 20 Archive

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Spinning a New ASP
The de-merger that did go ahead as planned was the spinoff of the Apptix private-label ASP unit from industry veteran Telecomputing, which now reverts to its roots as a small business ASP specializing in the Scandinavian market.

We have a great deal of respect for Telecomputing's achievements in proving that an ASP can build a profitable and sustainable business serving the small business market. But its relatively low revenues prevent us from keeping the company in the Top 20 Providers list, while Apptix moves across to take its place in the Top 30 Enablers list.

Apptix earns its spot on the Enablers list in recognition of its considerable success in building a global customer base as a private-label provider, with a substantial number of end users already live on its clients' services.

What is the ASPnews Top 50?

All entries in the Top 20 Providers and the Top 30 Enablers lists are drawn from the ASP Industry Global 200 Directory. 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. Click here for a look at the criteria ASPnews uses to make its selections.

Unfortunately, adding Apptix to the Enablers list displaces another company. There are no obvious candidates for removal this month. and while it is DigitalWork that slips to 31st place, an early return for this company seems likely as it continues to evolve its own private-label infrastructure to help big brands deliver services to the small business market.

ISV-to-ASP Success Story

Concur Technologies becomes the newcomer to the Top 20 Providers list. Its latest financial results show that this one-time independent software vendor (ISV) is now on the cusp of gaining a majority of its revenues from its ASP offerings (taking setup fees into account as well as monthly subscription licensing revenues), which qualifies it for the listing. That makes it the first ISV to have made the shift from a wholly licensed model to relying on the ASP model for the majority of its revenues, setting a standard for other ISVs to follow.

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