Exploring the new ASP Business Model: Business Circles Oriented ASP Platform

Application service providers (ASPs) offer multiple users a subscription-based access model via the Internet to centrally managed applications. To compete the high attractive ASP market, lots of companies have began to provide ASP service, many kinds of ASP business models have been suggested. But few ASPs have managed to deploy these business models profitably, and ASPs still did not find the proper profit model yet. Through a review of relevant literature and empirical evidence gathered from the study-based investigation, and by the analysis of the ASP platform´s establishment and operation, this paper has found the essence of the multi-roles participation in the ASP platform, and proposed the business circles oriented ASP business model. And then, using two exploratory case studies, this paper examined the features of business circles oriented ASP business model and summarized some key success factors for ASP platform operation