September ASPnews Top 50

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 

»  2001 and 2002 Archive 

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.

Get the Free Newsletter!

Subscribe to our newsletter.

Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

News Around the Web