Non-profits offered ASP software choice
By Michael Hardy
The following article was
published in the Potomac Tech Journal, March 13, 2000.
Hoping to make sales to cash-strapped non-profit associations,
ISG Solutions has launched an application service provider version of its
software integration services.
ISG helps associations select and deploy software to manage
membership, finances and activities, explained chief executive officer Charles
Oakley. The ASP, which ISG launched March 8, will appeal to some of the
smaller associations, he predicted.
ISG, based in Rockville, Md., will run association management
software from a data center in Fairfax, Va. Associations that use the service
will access the applications via a dedicated Internet connection. ISG will
charge a monthly fee, which will be less than the associations would spend
buying computer hardware, licensing the software and hiring the staff to run
it, company officials said.
Savings vary, but for an association with 20 users, Oakley
estimated the ASP would cost about one-third as much as an in-house
configuration.
Nevertheless, ASPs aren't for everybody, Oakley cautioned.
Clients with fewer than 10 users probably won't save much, and some
associations just prefer to keep their computing muscle on the premises.
"We have some clients out there who want total control in
their shops," he said. "It's a frame of mind. We have no problem
with that, because we do both. To us, the ASP is just another service."
Oakley identified a possible market niche for the service
because he saw so many clients having problems. "Many of them wanted to
upgrade to new systems," he remarked, "but they'd postpone it
because they didn't have the IT staff. Or in the middle of an implementation
they'd have staff turnover and ask us to put a project on hold."
The ASP takes the burden off the association to upgrade its
hardware, said Marcel Stennit, IS director of the Accrediting Council for
Independent Colleges and Schools, in Washington, D.C. Because software resides
on the ISG server, a user needs only an Internet connection to run any
particular program.
"We've got travel staff with laptops less than two years
old and they've already reached their max in handling new applications,"
he said. "We've got situations where it's quite a task getting different
platforms to communicate, making sure the different protocols are able to
exchange information without too many errors. ASPs provide that medium, to not
have to worry about compatibility issues."
Stennit's association is an ISG client, but hasn't decided
whether to switch to the ASP service. There are some drawbacks that he has to
weigh, he noted, most notably the loss of control.
"You once had an office that had a few power users who
were able to tweak the system on the fly. When you outsource that, you become
just a dumb user," he said. "You have a problem, you call the
provider and they fix the problem for you. I don't think that's necessarily
always good."
Reactions to ASPs are mixed, even among the smaller
organizations that make up the most likely market, noted Loretta DeLuca,
president of the consulting firm Delcor Technologies in Silver Spring, Md.
"The jury is still out on the whole ASP concept. I think
it's a good service, I just don't know how quickly it's going to be accepted
and implemented," she said. "It needs to find its niche."
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