Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Packaged
Data
center
service
provider
Application
service
provider
Application
maintenance
service
provider
Private
application
service
provider
Proprietary
One to one
One to many
Configuration of service provision
Figure 14.1
types of application outsourcers.
Application Outsourcing (AO) is a service wherein the responsibility for the deployment,
management, and enhancement of a packaged or customized software application is handed of
contractually to an external service provider. AO entails specific activities and expertise aimed at
managing the software application or set of applications. Contractual service-level agreements
(SLAs) are set at the application level and include responsibilities for
◾
Application availability
◾
Application performance
◾
Application enhancement
Figure 14.1 presents the positioning of the various types of application outsourcers based on the
type of application being outsourced (proprietary vs. packaged) and the configuration/location of
the service provision (one to one or one to many).
The salient characteristics of the various categories are as follows:
1.
Top-left quadrant
: Represents
data center service providers
that provide application host-
ing services and support to other divisions and are typically managed internally by the
enterprises.
2.
Bottom-left quadrant
: Represents the
application maintenance service providers
that provide
hosting, maintenance, and support of custom-developed application at the enterprises'
site(s).
3.
Top-right quadrant
: Represents the
application service providers
that provide operations and
maintenance of both packaged and custom-developed application to disparate enterprises
using the same outsourcing infrastructure (hardware, software, networks, operational staff,
etc.). We describe this category in Section 14.7.1 “CRM Application Service Providers (ASPs).”
