The ASP Industry Consortium has created a definition to answer the question; what is an ASP?

"Application Service Providers (ASPs) deliver and manage applications and computer services from remote data centers to multiple users via the Internet or a private network."

There are a lot of IT services that fall under this broad definition. Carroll-Net has a very clear simple to understand offering. Our Total Solution approach to ASP services means that we handle all of our clients IT, both internal (computers systems, cabling and user training), and external (E-Commerce, EDI and Internet services).

The list of services included is incredibly comprehensive. To give you an idea, here are some of the highlights:

Secure email for all your employees, accessible from their desk, home or on the road. High speed Internet access protected by strong firewall and encryption services Relocation of your Business System to our secure datacenter, where the system is optimized, monitored, backed up and upgraded on a continuous basis. Access to "Best-of-Breed" Office Suite over a network from anywhere. eBusiness system created by top designers and programmers with linkages to your customers, vendors, partners and employees.

These services are provisioned and maintained by Carroll-Net, offering our customers a single point of contact, all for a flat monthly fee. Customers only pay for what they need.

Like all sound business decisions, the option to outsource your IT to an ASP must provide strong benefits before being considered. The ASP model has quite a few. Here is a distilled list.

The first and probably most important benefit to the ASP service is the freedom it offers your company to focus on core competencies. Unless you are in the business of providing IT services to others, IT is an expensive non-revenue generating activity. Instead of your staff grappling with poorly integrated systems, or systems for which they have inadequate training, an ASP could free you from this burden. 

Carroll-Net starts with an analysis of your current business processes and IT systems. After a thorough analysis, a business process improvement and technology support system will be created. Once implemented and the staff is trained, your employees will be able to focus all their time on serving your customers more effectively.

A supporting benefit of focusing on core competencies is the better utilization of internal resources. If your firm has an internal IT staff, they will be optimized from "technicians" to business processes engineers. They know your business and systems, who better to help plan and implement those long talked about business improving ideas you've always had.

(If your interested in reading more about focusing on core competencies, read this excellent article written by Tal Briddell "Stick to the Knitting").

What did you spend on your IT last year?  What have you budgeted for IT next year?  If you're like most businesses, you don't know the answer to the first question, and your answer to the second question is "...if it's broke we fix it...".  Don't be embarrassed, you're not in business to buy IT, you're in business to serve your customers.  IT is a tool, like phone systems or office space.

The truth is the Total Cost of Owning IT systems is complicated to calculate. Besides dollars spent buying hardware, software, networking gear, repair bills, Internet services and employee training, there are just as many "soft" dollars spent. 

"Soft" dollars refers to the cost when an employee is unable to use their computer system while it's down for repair. It includes the wasted time staff spend trying to extract information from your business system because they're not trained on the system. Probably the most difficult "Soft" expense is that realized trying to keep the systems running. Often this responsibility falls to a senior staff member who's time away from revenue generation probably numbers in the hundreds of dollars an hour.

Carroll-Net can help you get an accurate count of this expense, and put a collar on it's growth. During our initial business analysis, we'll use our experience to uncover your true expense. We'll offer a fixed monthly fee, thereby creating predictability in your cash flow.

The third benefit to using ASP services is the ability to reduce the time to your market. You hardly need to be told the benefits of getting to your market faster. The question you have though is how can an ASP help?

The answer is existing infrastructure and expertise. At Carroll-Net, we view our job as anticipating our customer's needs and preparing for them in advance. We view our ASP offering as just such an anticipation. While the ASP market is embryonic, we have taken a leadership position by investing in our infrastructure and staff.

Customers don't have to wait for someone to recognize their need, and build capabilities. We have already done so. Customers can be up and running with a full ASP capability within 90 days.

The fourth benefit to using ASP services is the access it offers to "Best of Breed" applications and service without the risks, costs and complexity. Customers experience superior network application availability, security, backup, disaster recovery, and help-desk support uniformly across the entire enterprise.

Most businesses have experienced problems when attempting to implement new IT systems. The result is unanticipated expenses and significant delays. An ASP acts as an experienced guide in the process of planning and implementation of new systems. Once the new systems are installed, the ASP manages the daily operations, maintenance and disaster recovery planning.

Carroll-Net believes that systems are designed to support and maintain business processes, not vice versa. We offer customers our experience using the latest technology in support of business activities. The result is your business is optimized for productivity.

If you think the description of ASP sounds familiar you're right. ASP is the improvement of the forerunner Service Bureau offering. Like an ASP, the Service Bureau would provide access to applications installed in a datacenter over a network. Service Bureau's never received wide scale deployment for a variety of reasons; expensive hardware, inefficient communications systems and limited capabilities.

The ASP business model has solved the problems Service Bureaus faced. Thin-client computing has decreased the cost and complexity of hardware, the ubiquity of the Internet offers robust feature rich communications and new "Net-Centric" software offers limitless solutions, customizable to meet any company's unique needs.

The solution set has ignited the entire IT industry. New companies & veteran technology vendors seem to be making ASP related announcements daily. Industry Analysts are busy reviewing each offering in an attempt measure and forecast the market.

According to IDC, the application outsourcing market will grow to $16.2 billion in 2003 from $7.0 billion in 1998. Forrester Research estimates more aggressive growth with the market reaching $21 billion by 2001. You can take from these estimates that the ASP market represents a permanent, and sustainable business service.

As other ASP's wrestle with who to offer their services to, for Carroll-Net, the choice was simple. Our strength has always been in serving the small to medium sized businesses. Companies with 10 to 100 employees. Our customers are companies who want to grow their business but need a trusted partner to help them overcome IT obstacles.

So you think the ASP model is interesting, but you have concerns about using it in your businesses. Let's look at the key obstacles to enterprise adoption.

This is probably the most important issue we hear raised from prospective customer's. They are concerned about the confidentiality of proprietary information. A company's IT systems hold the "secret ingredient" to their success; customer lists, buying history, record of receivables, internal communications, marketing plans, etc...

Besides security, prospective customers also raise the question of control. While the information is loaded on machines in their office, it's under their control. How can an ASP customer know that their information is only being access and used by them?

Carroll-Net has several answers to these issues. First, our customer relationship always begins with a signed confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement. This is executed prior to conversations relating to proprietary customer information. In the event a prospective customer declines our offer, this agreement remains in effect indefinitely.

Next, Carroll-Net requires all staff members to execute a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement as a condition of employment. This ensures that the client confidentiality is extended to each employee personally.

Next, Carroll-Net installs firewall technology at three points in our network (entry to our network, entry to the client's network and entry to the application server network). This triple layer security ensures that only authorized customer employees, our customers clients and partners can have access to their systems, and then only to the extent permitted by our customer's management.

Finally to provide for data integrity (and disaster recovery), every week, each customer receives via postal mail a copy of their data files backed up on tape. Each client therefore always has in their possession a copy of their files that is no more than 7 days old.

It would be natural when evaluating the decision to the use ASP services to raise the issue of Quality of Service and Support. Your information systems are the company jewels. You need to know the partner you select is aware of their responsibilities and that they are vigilant in their commitment to continous service improvements.

No one surpasses Carroll-Net in the quest for the best quality service and support. While we pride ourselves on our execution, you will never catch us resting on our service laurels. We are driven to be the best, to exceed customer expectations in new and pleasant ways every day. We're ever mindful of the fact that we are in the business of customer service, not technology.

To show our commitment to these ideals, Carroll-Net has crafted the most comprehensive Service Level Agreement in the ASP Industry. Our agreement includes over 20 metrics with commitments to service, performance, response time and up times customizable to meet each customer's unique business needs.

Finally, during the time we make our proposal, we encourage prospective clients to take a tour of another Carroll-Net ASP client to see first hand the extent of our commitment to quality. We're sure a day onsite will help to satisfy any questions you have regarding quality of service.

As you begin to consider ASP services, you will realize the depth and potential permanence of the relationship with your prospective ASP partner. Whomever you select will likely be around for a long time.

It's therefore logical to consider your partner's depth and flexibility. You'll realize that integrating an ASP into your operation will be step one. As your business grows over the years, you need to know your ASP will continue to grow the depth of their product offering to enhance the benefits they can offer you.

Carroll-Net has always been an innovator. As an Internet company, we have had to deal with triple digit grow per year for an extended number of years. Everything about our organization is designed to be scalable.

We only hire the best and brightest. We believe firmly in the principle that great companies are made of great people. Great people are loyal, responsible, intelligent and hardworking. We reward creativity and hard work with profit sharing in our firm.

Only through getting to know us will these principles become apparent. We invite all prospective customers to visit us at one of offices or datacenters. Meet our staff and look over our facility. We're sure you'll be impressed.

Carroll-Net, Inc.
905 Main Street
Hackensack, New Jersey 07601
(201) 488-1332, (201) 488-1093
Email our staff info@carroll.com