The term wireless application service provider has been tossed around a lot lately. But what exactly is a wireless ASP and why is it so popular at this stage of the wireless Internet industry?
A traditional ASP model is the implementation of an application that can be repeated across multiple customers with very little customization needed. This cookie-cutter approach allows customers to rent the application rather than buy it. It originated in the wired Internet world and proved extremely popular.
“The ASP model has really caught on in the last year,” said Warren Wilson, senior analyst at Summit Strategies. “WASPs are an extension of that. There’s been a tremendous amount of growth in the ASP market and wireless ASPs are riding on their coattails.”
A different world
The growth of ASPs can be attributed to the fact that they offer applications that can be quickly implemented at a low cost, he said. The less integration work needed, the quicker to market and cheaper an application can be.
Both prove advantageous to the many start-up Internet firms flooding the market, which need low-cost, rapidly implemented solutions.
Now that the Internet revolution has expanded to include wireless services, a similar demand for fast and cheap wireless solutions has emerged. However, the wireless ASP market is not simply a wireless extension of the traditional ASP market.
“Wireless is a different market. There’s more integration needed. Most of those saying they’re WASPs are merely functioning more as wireless integrators than true WASPs. It’s sort of a buzz phrase and buzz category right now,” Wilson said. “There is much work to be done in figuring out what pieces of the desktop functionality you need to transfer to the wireless world for this cookie-cutter approach to apply … Bottom line is people use these labels very flexibly.”
The confusing part is that many wireless ASPs are also wireless portals, content enablers, system integrators or all three at once. In the wired ASP world, the ASP owns everything-the connectivity, the data center and the application. In the wireless world, many own either the data center or connectivity, or both, but usually leverage that to wirelessly enable another’s application.
Perhaps the best way to define a wireless ASP is whether it hosts applications or content from another, be it enterprise application or Internet content. Many times a wireless ASP also will have a professional services group to consult with firms on what content is needed wirelessly and what isn’t.
Changing gears
Because of the huge demand for their services, wireless ASPs are virtually crawling out of the wireless Internet woodwork. Many started out as content aggregators looking to resell their information services to carriers, others were wireless middleware providers that added hosting services to their business plan, or in some cases made it the core of their business plan. Still others entered the space from the Internet industry, adding wireless capabilities.
Those initially touting their own content came to the fold when information services were expected to become the next best wireless application since sliced bread. At the time, exactly where the content would come from was not clear. So several firms aggregated their own content, much of it from either Internet sources or private wire feeds, and then developed a platform to extend that content to any wireless network or device.
Then the wireless Internet phenomena hit and they found carriers had no need to buy their content when almost any Web content was available, so they switched gears and stressed their connectivity technology over their content.
One such company, Geoworks Corp., has restructured its entire business around the wireless ASP model.
“We found enabling other companies with their own content services was much more important than aggregating our own content and reselling it to others,” said Bob Boggard, director of marketing communications.
Geoworks is no stranger to reinventing itself. It started out in wireless by making operating systems for handsets, then introduced the Premion Server+, a client/server application to deliver content to mobile devices and a channel-hosting platform supporting pull and push. It was created to support the company’s Mobile Attitude advertising-based information service. Now, Premion Server+ is the force behind Geoworks’ Mobile ASP service.
Others in this space include i3 Mobile Inc., originally called Intelligent Information Inc., and Datalink.net, originally DocuPro. Both were content aggregators selling content packages to wireless carriers, specifically to paging carriers.
Since migrating to the wireless ASP strategy, i3 Mobile is now the exclusive enabler for all New York Times’ Digital Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Wine-Today.com and GolfDigest.com.
Datalink.net. uses intelligent agent technology and a platform called XpressLink for its Net2Wireless.com business-to-business wireless ASP approach.
Other wireless ASPs are former middleware providers that sold proprietary platforms to enterprise customers and vertical industries to extend their applications and content wirelessly.
Broadbeam Corp., originally Nettech Systems Inc., is not targeting content providers as much as it is targeting independent software vendors-customers with an end-to-end solution already doing business with enterprise firms but which want to offer a wireless version of their applications. So rather than the business buying an application and going to an ASP for wireless enablement, ISVs can go to Broadbeam and wirelessly enable their applications on their own and sell the complete package to the business.
JP Systems Inc. leveraged its InfoBeam technology to refocus its business around the ASP model. It develops and hosts wireless data applications. The company implemented the wireless messaging system used by the New York Stock Exchange and enabled a wireless portal for Netxcell in India.
More than just an ASP, JP Systems also is a mobile portal provider via InfoBeam.net and a technology enabler with the basic InfoBeam product.
Wireless Knowledge L.L.C. actually took a reverse approach. The joint venture between Microsoft Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. originally intended to use a network operating center to both host enterprise applications and also provide a connection point between enterprise networks and public wireless networks. The idea was to create applications in conjunction with enterprise customers and sell them to carriers, who in turn would sell them as value-added services to subscribers.
It may have entered the market too early, for it found reluctance by IT managers to connect to a public network. So Wireless Knowledge now is more of an enabler, selling the WorkStyle Server which enterprises can buy and integrate within their firewall themselves.
These firms all were wireless industry players before adopting the wireless Internet model. Several other wireless ASPs have popped up stemming from the Internet industry, or in some cases out of nowhere, to offer similar capabilities.
They include Astata Corp., MDSI Mobile Data, Wysdom, 2Roam Inc., SmartServe Online Inc., ClickServices.com, Everypath Inc., NowSpeed Inc., Livemind Inc., MyAble.com, Broad-Cloud.com, Bitmo, AirEdge Inc., Symeo Inc., Air2Web, SensCom Inc., GiantBear.com and PhoneOnline.com. There are likely many others out there today, and more are sure to follow.
Longevity concerns
But despite the great demand for wireless ASP services, some wonder how long it will last.
“The interesting question is whether the WASP model has long-term viability,” said Summit Strategy’s Wilson, who recently moderated a round-table discussion with three WASPs and a software manufacturer. “At some point, the distinction between wired and wireless ASPs i
s going to become blurry. The company that does just wireless may find their niche disappear.”
Those touting their
wireless expertise may find it is not such a big help once the wired ASP guys either develop their own wireless capability or partner with others who have one.
“It’s easier for wired ASPs to acquire wireless capabilities than for the wireless side to move the other way,” Wilson said.
At the round-table meeting only one participant felt the wireless ASP model will remain viable in the long term. All others felt WASP was a short-term niche product that will have to evolve to survive.
As such, Wilson expects to see many partnerships between wired and wireless ASPs in the next year. It’s not a matter of technology, he said, but more of sensible positioning in a rapidly changing and growing market.
“Most players coming in have a respectable level of expertise in servicing various types of wireless devices. It’s going to depend more on their ability to define markets and serve them effectively.”
