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NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: JEB BOLDING on
APPLICATION SERVICE PROVIDERS 12/19/01 Today's focus: Service providers in a post-Sept. 11 world Dear Wincenty Kaminski, In this issue: * Service providers' role in business survival * Links related to ASPs * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ THE STORAGE OPTIONS Ever since September 11th, spending on storage has increased. How are you ensuring that you're choosing the right network storage options? Network World's Deni Connor evaluates the networked storage options. Before you start spending next year's budget check out what Connor has to say at: http://nww1.com/go/ad219.html _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: Service providers in a post-Sept. 11 world By Mike Jude Something profound occurred on Sept. 11. On that day, a new paradigm for business was illuminated in an unambiguous way. Centralizing business operations was finally shown to be a remarkably bad idea for business survival in both the financial and the horrifyingly obvious sense. It turns out that service providers, which have been looking for a reason for their value proposition, finally have an example of what can happen to businesses that do not outsource critical IT functions. For many businesses in the World Trade Center towers, Sept. 11 meant more than devastation of their place of business, it meant loss of critical intellectual property, customer and billing information and critical infrastructure-supporting business operations. Service providers are in a position to mitigate many of the risks that businesses face in the new world of terrorism. However, they have been slow to preach this message. The reason for the slowness is probably because of a perception that the IT infrastructure actually worked pretty well on Sept. 11, so why is anything more required? Additionally, service providers, like many other businesses, recognize that the public would find it very poor taste if they tried to capitalize on the tragedy. As to the first point, the fact is that the WTC illustrated not the strengths of the present system, but its weaknesses. Witness the stories of vendors such as Sun having to truck in workstations. And who can forget that half of the switching capacity of Manhattan was lost when Verizon's central office was contaminated? IT infrastructure is no longer an adjunct to business, it is the business operation of the enterprise. If IT is lost, so is the business. As to the point of sensitivity to human suffering, who could argue with the sentiment? However, while many service providers would rather not use Sept. 11 as a marketing tool, it is still necessary to point out that businesses that outsource IT become less of a target for terrorists or subject to the vagaries of natural disaster. Service providers offer the astute enterprise a way of mitigating risks and reducing the exposure to disasters. Of course, enterprise IT organizations need to ensure that the service providers they pick offer more security than can be found internally. Thus, things like diversity and backup procedures, as well as data security, become important. Service providers can do more, of course, than just offer disaster recovery support. By outsourcing things such as e-mail and customer relationship management, a basis for operations is established that can be reactivated as quickly as new terminals can be acquired. Additional outsourced applications, such as enterprise resource planning functions, can ensure that the care of employees will not falter during recovery. Although many functions probably would not be outsourced, it is still possible to envision a process by which IT mirrors some key functions so that in a disaster, at least most of the business can continue unchecked. Sept. 11 illustrated just how vulnerable we all are. It is also a wake up call for IT to reconsider outsourcing. Service providers can be a large part of the solution. Now is the time to start the dialogue. _______________________________________________________________ To contact Mike Jude: Mike Jude is senior analyst at Enterprise Management Associates. He can be contacted at mjude@enterprisemanagement.com _______________________________________________________________ Register your company on Buy IT, NW Fusion's Vendor Directory and RFP Center and generate new business quick and easy! Promote your brand across our network and access millions of dollars in RFPs. It's the most efficient way to connect with buyers of IT services. Get listed now! http://www.nwfusion.newmediary.com/091201nwwprovnwltr2 _______________________________________________________________ RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS WorldCom rolls out low-cost managed hosting Network World, 12/17/01 http://www.nwfusion.com/archive/2001/128449_12-17-2001.html Breaking ASP news from Network World, updated daily: http://www.nwfusion.com/topics/asp.html Archive of the ASP newsletter: http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/asp/index.html ______________________________________________________________ FEATURED READER RESOURCE Network World Fusion's The Edge site Network World Fusion's The Edge is a resource devoted to the advances in service-provider networks that are shaking up the old telecom order. In classic Network World fashion, we focus on the hardware, software and services coming to market - but this time from the vendors targeting legacy carriers, new alternative local carriers, ISPs and application service providers. http://www.nwfusion.com/edge/index.html _______________________________________________________________ May We Send You a Free Print Subscription? You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered at your fingertips each day. Now, extend your knowledge by receiving 51 FREE issues to our print publication. Apply today at http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/nl _______________________________________________________________ SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World e-mail newsletters, go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/notprinteditnews.asp To unsubscribe from promotional e-mail go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/ep To change your e-mail address, go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/changeemail.asp Subscription questions? Contact Customer Service by replying to this message. Have editorial comments? Write Jeff Caruso, Newsletter Editor, at: mailto:jcaruso@nww.com For advertising information, write Jamie Kalbach, Director of Online Sales, at: mailto:jkalbach@nww.com Copyright Network World, Inc., 2001 ------------------------ This message was sent to: vkamins@enron.com
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