By Joey Gardiner, 27 October 1999 12:56
NEWS Lotus is teaming up with IBM to deliver software and hardware for application service providers (ASPs). The companies claim the move will enable ASPs to offer collaborative software services such as messaging and shared applications on a Domino/IBM Websphere-powered platform. Lotus claims the offering will come as a "ready to rent solution set", and will enable ASPs to target the SME market. An integral hosting management system will enable ASPs to track use of applications, providing a "pay-as-you-go" service for its customers, the company added. The company denied it is considering becoming an ASP itself, claiming it wants to stimulate the market by selling ASP software and hardware products 'off-the-shelf'. However, Simon Hayward, research director at Gartner Group, said the announcement is more about marketing than technology. "People have been renting out Lotus software for a while. There has been some optimisation for ASP use here but nothing fundamentally new. The real question is how they are going to price it," he said.
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