Asp Industry consortium forms regional committee in nordics

ASP INDUSTRY CONSORTIUM FORMS REGIONAL COMMITTEE IN NORDICS Scandinavian Leader Elected and European Director Named LONDON, 7 DECEMBER 2000 - The Application Service Provider (ASP) Industry Consortium, the fastest growing industry body in history, announced the formation of a Scandinavian committee and the election of Morten Moland of Genesis IT to a one-year term as chairman. The organization also announced the appointment of Tracey Dalby as its new European Director. "The ASP computing model holds great promise for vendors and customers alike," said Moland, vice-president of sales and marketing at Genesis IT. "To date, the Consortium has done a good job helping ASPs prepare to meet the increasing demand in the marketplace. In the Nordics, we now want to focus our attention on educating end users so they can move to this new model with confidence. This will enable our customers to spend their time on their core business and strategies, rather than worrying about their information technology (IT) infrastructure." Research organizations predict that the worldwide ASP market will reach $22 billion by 2003. Scandinavian companies are expected to be the most enthusiastic European adopters of this computing model over the next two years. National or territorial committees operating under the umbrella of the global ASP Industry Consortium have been launched recently in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian region. "These committees will address issues that are more local and regional in nature, while still being able to access the resources of the global organization," said Jeff Maynard of Netstore plc (UK), the Consortium's Regional Vice Chair for Europe. "We are counting on a strong and growing Nordic group to add its expertise on mobile communications to the global work of the Consortium." Moland has worked in business development, sales and marketing and managing director roles in the IT industry for over 15 years, with the last 3 years spent in the ASP segment. "The strength of the Consortium lies in its diversity," said Moland. "As we continue to grow, I will encourage the formation of national organizations throughout the Nordic region so that we can better serve the needs of both our customers and the industry on a local, regional and global basis." The next meeting of the Nordic organization will be held in Stockholm on th the 25 of January. In a separate announcement, the Consortium has appointed Tracey Dalby as its new European Director. "The ASP Industry Consortium now has more than 100 members in Europe, and that number is growing on almost a daily basis," noted Maynard. "We're very fortunate to have someone of Tracey's experience who will now be able to focus exclusively on the needs of our European members." Dalby comes to the Consortium from the Institute for International Research (IIR), where she spearheaded their ASP and co-location research and conferences. Over the last 18 months, she has tracked the ASP industry and worked closely with a number of publications, ASP industry players and the ASP Industry Consortium. "It's an exciting time in Europe for new business solutions and ideas," said Dalby. "I'm looking forward to working with our members and with the IT community at large to help educate the marketplace on the ASP computing model and its benefits." About the ASP Industry An application service provider manages and delivers application capabilities to multiple entities from data centers across a wide area network, giving customers a viable alternative to procuring and implementing complex systems themselves. In some cases, ASPs even provide customers with a comprehensive alternative to building and managing internal information technology operations. ASP customers also are able to control more precisely the total cost of technology ownership through scheduled payment schemes. Though the ASP market is relatively new, computer industry analysts foresee rapid growth and multi-billion-dollar annual sales within the next few years. End users cross industry lines and include anyone from the small office/home office (SOHO) client to large corporations, and from complex businesses to specific verticals. About the ASP Industry Consortium Founded in May of 1999, the Application Service Provider Industry Consortium is an international advocacy group of more than 700 companies formed to promote the application service provider industry by sponsoring research, promoting best practices, and articulating the measurable benefits of this evolving delivery model. Its goals include educating the marketplace, developing common definitions for the industry, as well as serving as a forum for discussion and sponsoring research. Among the technology sectors represented among the ASP Industry Consortium membership are Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), Network Service Providers (NSPs), Application Service Providers (ASPs), as well as emerging business models and other sectors supporting the industry. Information on the ASP Industry Consortium - including a full list of member companies - is available at www.allaboutasp.org or by contacting the Consortium's headquarters at: ASP Industry Consortium, Inc., 401 Edgewater Place, Suite 500, Wakefield, Mass. 01880; Tel: 781-246-9321; Fax: 781-224-1239; e-mail info@aspindustry.org. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/12/07/20001207BIT00780/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/12/07/20001207BIT00780/bit0002.pdf