Application Service Providing covers the management, hosting and delivery of software and services to multiple customers from centrally located servers across the Internet or a private network basing on a rental or leasing agreement. The market value chain can be segmented into Application Service Providers (ASPs), Software and Content Providers, Software and Content Developers and on the demand side business and private users. Operating a typical ASP solution model requires suitable application software, data centres, network services, suitable hardware and the implementation and integration of heterogeneous systems under special consideration of the customer needs. The purpose of this study is to analyze and describe the current state of the art and future development of Application Service Providing (ASP) within the European Market. The main objectives are the analysis of user and system requirements differentiated by target groups, a business process analysis as well as the analysis of used applications within the ASP field. The study also evaluates challenges of ASP, pricing and payment strategies, ASP services, support and providing terms and finally technology and infrastructure used in the ASP context.
