Both our Provider and Enabler lists remain the same for August, but our member companies have by no means been idle. With some good news and some bad news, we’ve got our eyes on them all as we consider any changes to September’s list.
| ASPnews Top 50 Archive |
|---|
| » August 2003 Top 50 » July 2003 Top 50 » June 2003 Top 50 » May 2003 Top 50 » April 2003 Top 50 » March 2003 Top 50 » February 2003 Top 50 » January 2003 Top 50 |
Our Top 50 list for September sees a change on the Enablers side as a result of an acquisition. Earlier this month, search provider FindWhat announced plans to acquire Web services ISV Miva (see FindWhat.com Gets E-Commerce Tools). The move is an attempt by FindWhat to bolster its sagging ad base by strengthening its position among the small businesses that were the early adopters of paid search.
While Miva’s product line will not disappear — it will operate as a division of FindWhat — it will no longer be the core business of the company, making FindWhat ineligible for inclusion in the Top 50.
To fill the void left by Miva, we turn to hosting automation service provider Ensim. As we said last month, we’ve been keeping an eye on this company, who has long been a major player in the hosting automation software space.
This week, Ensim and rival SWsoft each debuted tools to help HSP customers offer premium services (see Ensim Serves Up Power Tools for HSPs). But the big news that pushed Ensim ahead of competitors like SWsoft came in late July, when Ensim teamed with Microsoft to launch a new Operations Support System for the hosting industry (see Ensim, Microsoft Team on Hosting Infrastructure).
Ensim Unify, developed in collaboration with Microsoft, aims to break web hosters out of the “stagnation” they’ve been in by making it easier to implement hosted applications like Microsoft Exchange, as well as existing or custom-built services.
We see more changes ahead for both sides of our Top 50 list in the coming months. There’s been no shortage of negative attention on two of our Top 50 companies this month: there’s the ongoing drama of Oracle’s attempt to take over PeopleSoft (see Oracle Steps Up Pursuit of PeopleSoft); and MCI, formerly WorldCom, is in the process of buying the remaining shares of Digex it doesn’t already own, and meanwhile hopes to emerge from bankruptcy and keep its executives out of jail (see MCI in Deal with Dissident Creditors, Ex-WorldCom CEO Pleads Not Guilty on Fraud Charges). Others on our list have been strangely quiet of late, but rest assured, we’ll investigate fully to make sure the list remains relevant.
Top 20 Providers
This is the list of companies that, in the view of ASPnews, are the world’s 20 leading service providers. For inclusion, companies must meet the following criteria:
- Have the provision of network-based applications and/or services as their core business
- Have a substantial and active end-user customer base for those services
- Be able to demonstrate proven revenue streams
- Be innovators in the online delivery of software-based services
- Be recognized as a leader by others within the industry
| Company | Description | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Appshop | Enterprise ASP | Fremont, Calif. |
| Atomz | Enterprise ASP | San Bruno, Calif. |
| BlueStar Solutions | Enterprise ASP | Cupertino, Calif. |
| Concur | Web service vendor, enterprise ISV | Redmond, Wash. |
| Corio | Enterprise ASP | San Carlos, Calif. |
| CrownPeak | Web service vendor, enterprise ASP | Los Angeles, Calif. |
| Employease | Web service vendor, business service provider | Atlanta, Ga. |
| Intacct | Web service vendor | Los Gatos, Calif. |
| LivePerson | Web service vendor | New York, N.Y. |
| NetLedger | Web service vendor | San Mateo, Calif. |
| Outtask | Enterprise ASP | Alexandria, Va. |
| RightNow | Web service vendor, enterprise ISV | Bozeman, Mont. |
| Salesforce.com | Web service vendor | San Francisco, Calif. |
| Salesnet | Web service vendor | Boston, Mass. |
| Surebridge | Enterprise ASP | Lexington, Mass. |
| UpShot | Web service vendor | Mountain View, Calif. |
| USi | Enterprise ASP, application infrastructure provider | Annapolis, Md. |
| Vocus | Web service vendor | Lanham, Md. |
| WebEx | Web service provider | San Jose, Calif. |
| WebSideStory | Web service provider | San Diego, Calif. |
Top 30 Enablers
These are the 30 companies that, in the view of ASPnews, are the most influential software or infrastructure providers for the ASP and Web services industry. For inclusion, companies must meet the following criteria:
- Have a substantial and active customer base of providers
- Be active in their support and promotion of network-based applications and services
- Invest in innovation in the online delivery of software-based services
- Be recognized as a leader by others within the industry
| Company | Description | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Abridean | Infrastructure ISV | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Agiliti | Application infrastructure provider, managed hosting provider | St. Paul, Minn. |
| Apptix | Private-label service provider | Sterling, Va. |
| BEA Systems | Infrastructure ISV | San Jose, Calif. |
| BMC Software | Infrastructure ISV, infrastructure ASP | Houston, Texas |
| Cisco Systems | Systems manufacturer | San Jose, Calif. |
| Citrix | Infrastructure ISV | Fort Lauderdale, Fla. |
| Computer Associates | Infrastructure ISV | Islandia, N.Y. |
| Digex | Application infrastructure provider, managed hosting provider | Beltsville, Md. |
| EDS | IT service provider, managed hosting provider | Plano, Texas |
| New! Ensim | Infrastructure ISV | Sunnyvale, Calif. |
| Groove Networks | Infrastructure platform vendor | Beverly, Mass. |
| Grand Central | Web services provider, application infrastructure provider | San Francisco, Calif. |
| Hewlett-Packard | Systems manufacturer, infrastructure ISV | Palo Alto, Calif. |
| IBM | Infrastructure ISV, systems manufacturer, application infrastructure provider | Armonk, N.Y. |
| Interland | Managed hosting provider, Web hosting provider | Atlanta, Ga. |
| Macromedia | Web services provider, Infrastructure ISV | San Francisco, Calif. |
| MetraTech | Infrastructure ISV | Waltham, Mass. |
| Microsoft | Enterprise ISV, Web service vendor/aggregator | Seattle, Wash. |
| NaviSite | Application infrastructure provider, managed hosting provider | Andover, Mass. |
| Netegrity | Infrastructure platform vendor | Waltham, Mass. |
| Novell | Infrastructure platform vendor | Provo, Utah |
| Onyx Software | Customer relationship management ISV | Bellevue, Wash. |
| Oracle | Enterprise ISV, enterprise ASP | Redwood Shores, Calif. |
| PeopleSoft | Enterprise ISV, enterprise ASP | Pleasanton, Calif. |
| Progress Software | Infrastructure ISV | Bedford, Mass. |
| SAP | Enterprise ISV, enterprise ASP | Walldorf, Germany |
| Sun Microsystems | Systems manufacturer, infrastructure ISV | Palo Alto, Calif. |
| Ultimate Software | Payroll and employee management ISV and ASP | Weston, Fla. |
| VeriSign | Web service provider, infrastructure ISV application infrastructure provider | Concord, Mass. |
What do you think of our choices? What ASPs and infrastructure providers are missing that deserve to be here? And what companies do you think made that list that shouldn’t have? Critique our selections — or make your own list — in the ASP Discussion Forum.