IBM to Deliver Broad Range of Products, Services and Support to Prepare Service Providers for Surge in Network-Based Applications
IBM Targets High-Value Business-to-Business Services as Key Focus of New Service Provider InitiativeIBM Targets High-Value Business-to-Business Services as Key Focus of New Service Provider Initiative
San Jose, CA (October 26, 1999) – IBM announced today an aggressive campaign to deliver a broad range of products, services, and support programs that will enable service provider companies worldwide to increase their revenue by offering new higher-value services to business customers.
The IBM initiative, Service Providers for e-Business, is an integrated portfolio of offerings and support programs created to deliver new business benefit to service providers, including Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that provide hosting and access, Application Service Providers (ASPs) that provide subscription or rental-based applications, independent software vendors (ISVs), and integrators. Among the new offerings is ASP Prime, a support program targeted at enabling independent software developers (ISVs) to make their applications ready for new emerging network-based business models.
Service Providers for e-Business draws on resources from across IBM and its 45,000 Business Partners to help service providers take advantage of the surging demand for critical business applications that can be delivered reliably on a rental or subscription basis over networks.
“Service providers offering new value-added e-business applications are in the early stages of what we think is one of the most important business trends today,” said Jim Corgel, general manager, IBM Global Service Provider Industries. “To seize on this opportunity, service providers need a technology company that can deliver more than the components needed to deliver access and hosting services. IBM is committed to delivering all of the business tools service providers require to take advantage of the tremendous business opportunity before them.”
“IBM’s Service Providers for e-Business initiative brings together everything Interliant needs to differentiate our services using IBM-based solutions, such as the Lotus ASP Solution Pack. By offering such a comprehensive initiative, IBM is simplifying our task of helping businesses take advantage of the Web,” said Jim Lidestri, president, Interliant.
Key elements of Service Providers for e-Business are:
-ASP Prime, an IBM PartnerWorld for Developers initiative to help ISVs prepare their applications to be hosted by service providers and delivered to customers over the Web. This support for developers includes education, application evaluation, technical support, and a wide range of consulting services for qualifying ISVs. The ASP Prime initiative leverages the experience of IBM’s newest server line — NUMA Q, the former Sequent Computer Systems company. IBM also announced today two solution centers, dedicated to the ASP Prime initiative, where ISVs can take advantage of the technology, tools and expertise required to prepare for the ASP business model. One solution center is focused on helping UNIX and Windows NT developers; the other for developers using the AS/400 platform.
Source: IBM