The Essential Guide to Application Service Providers

Preface and Acknowledgments: The Emerging ASP. Foreword by Christopher R. McCleary. I. ASP FUNDAMENTALS. 1. Setting The Stage. Information Technology As A Service. Service Provisioning. The Storage Layer. The Server Layer. The Network Layer. The Application Layer. The Management Layer. Conclusion. 2. What is an Application Service Provider? Asp: Definition Or Description. A Survey Approach. Business Value Proposition Of An ASP: Cost Reduction, Risk Reduction, And New Capabilities For Business. The Bottom Line. 3. How Does an ASP Differ from Traditional Computing Models? Evolution In Business Information Systems. Toward PostA A Client-Server Computing. Server Recentralization. Application Recentralization and Thin Client Computing. Web Technology: The Internet, Intranets, And Extranets. The Past Is Prologue: Software Delivery Via Web Technology. Conclusion. 4. ASP Arrangements and Traditional Outsourcing. Different Kinds Of Outsourcing. In Situ Outsourcing. Out-Tasking. Beyond Market-Speak: Asps And Outsourcing. Lessons From Outsourcing. Customization And Asps. Application Service Delivery: The Network Is The Key. Conclusion. 5. The Contemporary ASP Market: Vendors, Intermediaries, and Aggregators. Infrastructure Services Layer. Application Services Layer. Integration Services Layers. Analytical Services Layer. Conclusion. 6. So, What is Holding Up the ASP Revolution? Outsourcing And The Economy. Customer Inertia. Building An Empirical Case. Technical Hurdles. Performance Measurement Gap. Security. Standards And Best Practices. The Right Applications. Conclusion. II. ASP ENABLING TECHNOLOGY. 7. Basic Concepts: Application Software. What Is Application Software? Application Design And Performance. Conclusion. 8. Basic Concepts: The Role of Middleware. Determinants Of Application Performance Move Outside The Box. Middleware. Flavors Of Middleware. Rpc. Mom. Orb. Tp Monitors. Back To The Future. 9. Basic Concepts: The Application Server. From Application Software To Application Server. The Rise Of Application Servers. Out Of The Box Web-Enabled Software On The Rise. Application Server Market Growing. Application Servers For Single User Applications. Citrix Systems. New Moon Systems. Tarantella. On To Frameworks. ORACLE iAS. 10. Basic Concepts: Web Technology. Onto The Web. Context For Web Technology. How It Works. Security: A Mission-Critical Component Of Web Technology. Expanding Interactivity. Conclusion. 11. Putting It All Together: The Hosting Environment. The Application Hosting Environment. The Basic Application Hosting Infrastructure. Adding High-availability Features. From High-Availability To Performance And Scalability. Securing The Infrastructure. Security 101. Layers Of Security. Physical And Logical Design. Conclusion. 12. Networked Services. Delivering Services Across A Network. Private And Public Networks. What Is A Private Network? Onto The Ring. Last Mile Issues. Virtual Private Networks And Proxies. Spawning Yet Another "Sp". III. BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP. 13. Building an ASP Solution. Overview Of The Asp Review Process. Preliminary Steps. The Requirements And Objective Setting Process. Setting Objectives. Where To Find Information About Asps. Use Of Consultants. Isv Notes. Conclusion. 14. Setting ASP Selection Criteria. The Rfp Process. The Requirements Specification. Introduction and Identification of Goals. Detailed Specifications Section. Time Line for Implementation. Vendor Response Q&A. Risks. The Business Information Section. RFP Response Instructions. Financial Information Request and Bid Price. Rfp Response Review And Vendor Selection. Conclusion. 15. ASP SLAs and Contracts. Contracting For Service. To The Service Level Agreement. Application Deployment Tasks. Application Service Monitoring Tasks. Customer Service/Operations Tasks. Frequencies, Weighting, And Other Matters. Conclusion. 16. Managing the ASP Relationship. Vigilant Oversight. Beyond Application Measurement. Conclusion. Afterword by Traver GruenA A Kennedy. Glossary. Index.