Too Much Confusion in ASP Sector, Says Gartner ASP Analyst, on IT Radio Network

Business Wire, March 2, 2000

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 2000

"We see a plethora of suppliers entering the market. There's a lot of confusion about who the players are and who the winners are going to be," said Rita Terdiman, president and research director at the Gartner Group (NYSE:IT) in a recent interview with the newly launched eBusiness audio Webzine IT Radio Network.

Terdiman sees a trend forming toward renting applications by function rather than by brand.

"People won't really rent software by name," said Terdiman. "They'll say, 'I need a payroll process for my organization of 500 people with certain tax regulations' ... The actual vendor of the software won't be as important as the functionality."

During the interview, Terdiman also discussed Oracle's (Nasdaq:ORCL) move into the ASP space. She compares Oracle's closed strategy to that of the early days of Apple.

"Their strategy is reminiscent of Steve Jobs back in the 1980s. He didn't want to open up the Macintosh world to other vendors, and as you know, that strategy was not the best in the long term for Apple. I think that Larry Ellison and Ray Lane will probably, over the long-term, open up their offering to other vendors."

Terdiman believes Oracle is resisting opening up their applications to vendors because they're trying to control the server delivery quality.

"Oracle may lose some control over its customer base," said Terdiman. "However, I think over the long term, with the way the market is going, which is a relationship-based market, that they probably will change their strategy."

Terdiman sees tremendous growth in the ASP model.

"Forrester predicts that total ASP revenues will grow to $22.7 billion by 2003," said Terdiman.

According to Marc Holland, ITRadioNetwork.com host, "The ASP space might be confused, but one thing is clear. The future is big."

The entire interview is available free online at www.ITRadioNetwork.com

About IT Radio Network

IT Radio Network is an online audio business magazine that features a daily dose of tech trends, company spotlights and one-on-one interviews with the very people reshaping the world of technology. The site is produced by Sky Radio, a wholly owned subsidiary of InterRep Information and Communication Services Inc., which produces radio programs for online magazines, a network of corporate Web sites, several major airline carriers and CEOLive.com.

Also appearing on the IT Radio Network are Oracle (Nasdaq:ORCL), Red Hat (Nasdaq:RHAT), Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq:SUNW), Motorola (NYSE:MOT), Interwoven (Nasdaq:IWOV), Sprint PCS (NYSE:PCS), Forrester Research (Nasdaq:FORR), Meta Group (Nasdaq:METG), Gartner Group (NYSE:IT) and InformationWeek (NYSE:CTP).

Upcoming guests include Dell (Nasdaq:DELL), Peoplesoft (Nasdaq:PSFT), PSINet (Nasdaq:PSIX) and Corio.