PublicationDate:October12,2001ResearchBriefWhenASPsandBPOsCollide:EmergenceoftheBSPsAbstract:EarlysignsoftheBSPmodelappeartosolvethelimitationsoftheASPandfull-blownBPOmodels,buttheBSPmarketisstillataninfancystage.ThisResearchBriefdefinestheBSPmarketplace.ByRebeccaSchollKeyBusinessIssuesHowaredeliverystrategieschangingforprofessionalservicesegmentsbecauseofnewtechnologies,suchastheInternetormobilecomputing?Whatarethebusinessbenefitsderivedfromprocessandapplicationsolutions,andhowcanvendorsdevelopinnovativego-to-marketstrategiesaroundthebenefitsprovided?RecommendationsIBy2005,organizationswillneedfullbusinessprocessmanagementfromtheirapplicationsolutionstrategiestoensureoptimumvaluefromtheirASPinvestment.IUserorganizationsmuststartinvestigatingopportunitiesinBSPnow.BSPservicesmayprovideacheaperandfasteralternativetofull-blownoutsourcingandensuretruebusinessexpertise.IUserorganizationsmusttakeacross-departmentalviewoftheirorganizationwhenevaluatingthebenefitsofBSP.2WhenASPsandBPOsCollide:EmergenceoftheBSPs©2001Gartner,Inc.October12,2001MarketplaceDescriptionInabusinessenvironmentthatrequiresspeedtomarket,seamless,integratedprocessesandane-business-enabledstrategy,companieshavediscoveredthattheycan'taffordthetimeandmoneyittakestosearchforthehighlyskilledpeopletheyneedtomakeithappen..Toaccessnoncore,yetcritical,businessprocesses,thesecompanieslooktooutsideprovidersforthetotalsolution.Theydonotcarewhichsoftwareapplicationstheyareusing,andtheydonotwanttoputtherequiredinvestmentandeffortintoselectingapplicationsfornoncorebusinessareas.Theywanttosourcebusinessprocessesquickly,efficientlyandcost-effectively.Earlysignsofthebusinessserviceprovider(BSP)modelseemtorespondtothisneed.ThisPerspectivedefinestheBSPmarketandprovidesexamplesofitsuseinvariousbusinessprocessareas.Untilrecently,thechoiceforcompaniesthatwantedtooptimizetheirinternalbusinessprocesseswasthreefold:IApplicationlicensing—Organizationscanpurchasealicensetoanapplicationandmanagethisapplicationin-house.Thisisthemostcommonsituationbutalsothemostexpensive.IApplicationserviceprovider(ASP)—OrganizationscanrentapplicationsfromanASP.Itcostslessthanlicensingenterpriseapplications,buttheclientstillmusthandletheadministrativetasksandassociatedcostswithrunningthebusinessprocess.IBusinessprocessoutsourcing(BPO)—OrganizationscandelegatetheentirebusinessprocesstoaBPOprovider,enablingthemtofocusontheircorebusiness,buttheyrisklosingsomecontroloverthebusinessprocess(theso-called"notinventedhere"syndrome).Eachdecisionhaddrawbacksorperceivedproblems.Companiescouldnotfindamiddleground,andmanywereleftwithpartiallyoptimizedprocesses.EarlysignsoftheBSPmodelappeartosolvethisproblem,asdescribedinFigure1.Byautomatingthedeliveryofbusinessprocessesandenablingclientstoperformtransactionsthemselves,theBSPmodelsolvesmanyofthelimitationsoftheASPandBPOmodels.TheBSPmodelalsogoesbeyondpurecostreductionandoperationalenhancement.Itenablestrueprocesstransformationbyincorporatingbusinessknowledgeandtechnology.3©2001Gartner,Inc.October12,2001Figure1BSP:AutomatedBusinessOutput101304-00-01Process-centricAutomatedtransactionprocessingLimitedhumaninterventionOne-to-manydeliveryBusinessoutputRemoteBrowser-basedaccessBSPApplication-centricProcessenablerLittle/nohumaninterventionOne-to-manydeliveryTechnologyoutputRemoteBrowser-basedaccessASPASPBSPBPOBPOProces...
