The Managed Application Provider (MAP) - Is one in your future???

By John Morency
Network World on Network/Systems Management, 05/03/99

The "O" word has never been a popular discussion topic for most system and network managers. The word that I'm referring to is "out-sourcing." And while we're at it, we may as well add "out-tasking" to the mix as well. Use these two words out of context in either a one-on-one discussion or in a public presentation with system and network managers and watch the rapid changes in body language that occur in your listeners. Sense the hostility in the subsequent questions that you get. The reasons, of course, are obvious. They relate directly to perceived threat to career growth, job security and the need to be in control of one's own destiny.

A common myth about "O-initiatives" is that they are almost always done for cost reasons. This only tells part of the story and, in some cases, doesn't even tell the story at all. Results from the latest executive survey performed by the Outsourcing Institute show that four of the top five reasons why out-sourcing is performed is to enhance the ability of the in-house staff to deliver more value-added services and have little to do with cost reduction per se. Often, the key reasons are more related to improving company focus, facilitating effective knowledge transfer, freeing up valuable internal resources and leveraging knowledge that is not available in-house.

Map these findings against one of the hottest new buzzwords - the Managed Application Provider (MAP) - and you begin to get a sense of what may become a significant shift in the way in which managed application services are delivered to end users. What is a MAP, you ask? Simply stated, a MAP is a service provider whose specialization is the implementation and ongoing operations management of one or more networked applications on behalf of its customer. Four key areas that characterize the short term focus include electronic commerce services, collaborative applications (including e-mail and groupware), back-office services (e.g. payroll, HR, supply chain management and electronic payment), and specialized vertical market applications (e.g. legal, financial and real estate). The general focus, however, is not so much on out-sourcing legacy client-server applications as it is on the management of a new generation of applications that share the Web browser as their universal GUI. And this is an area where an Internet-based provider potentially can offer more value to a customer than just basic cost relief.

Many players in the evolving generation of MAPs are a combination of more traditional ISPs partnered with major applications software vendors. These include Navisite in Andover, Mass., Corio in Santa Clara, Calif., Digital Nation in Alexandria, Va., EDS Network Computing Services in Plano, Texas, Multisoft in Atlanta, Oracle in Redwood Shores, Calif., Portera Systems in Campbell, Calif., Interliant in Houston and Planet Computer in Denver.

A subset of the key assessment criteria that users need to utilize when assessing this new generation of providers is actually somewhat similar to the criteria that would be used to determine a provider's ability to deliver a managed VPN service. This likely the case when it comes to the in-house experience level at consistently managing high quality network connectivity between the customer and the provider as well as the level of server-based operations management experience that the provider staff has, particularly when it comes to managing mission critical 7-24 environments. Other key criteria apply as well, but alas, time and space have run out. I'll address more of these key criteria in my next column.