Cable & Wireless quietly shut down its a-Services application hosting offering, due to underwhelming customer interest.
The carrier originally launched its a-Services initiative in September 2000 with the promise of affordable and easy-to-use software rental services. According to a company spokesman, however, "the market demand wasn't there. It was a great product and technology, but it was two or three years ahead of its time."
Cable & Wireless' a-Services offered users access to Microsoft Office applications that were hosted on Compaq servers in the company's Reston, Va., data center. Customers paid $170 per month for the package of services, which included accessing the application servers via dedicated Internet access connections.
While other application service providers (ASP) such as USinternetworking and Applicast were offering more complex application hosting services, Cable & Wireless focused on lower end applications. But with both USi and Applicast now in bankruptcy proceedings, both models appear to be flawed.
Cable & Wireless says it decommissioned a-Services in January. Some of the employees that were working on the project were reassigned, while others were let go with severance packages.
The company says its decision to get out of the ASP business was not influenced by its purchases of Web hosting service providers Digital Island or Exodus in the last 12 months. The company's decision was based on lower than expected customer numbers, the spokesman says.
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