Book Review
Department Editor: Warren Keuffel, wkeuffel@computer.org

All About ASP

Shantha Mohan

The Essential Guide to Application Service Providers by Jon William Toigo, Prentice Hall, 2002, ISBN 0-13-019198-1, 401 pp., US$34.99

The ASP, or application service provider, is a recent phenomenon that promises to remove all the headaches and costs of implementing and maintaining critical business applications while providing all the benefits of using them. The Essential Guide to Application Service Providers aims to provide practical guidance on all aspects of ASPs, from understanding ASPs to technologies that enable them and managing ASP relationships.

Latest in the series

Written by Jon Toigo, an independent consultant, this book is part of Prentice Hall's Essential Guide Series. Toigo divided the book into three parts. Part 1, "ASP Fundamentals," introduces the ASP concept, compares the ASP with conventional corporate computing models and outsourcing, and presents issues with current ASP models that need to be addressed to gain wider acceptance. Part 2, "Enabling Technology," presents middleware concepts, application servers, Web technology, hosting hardware design, and network requirements. Part 3, "Business Relationship," discusses selecting an ASP, creating contracts and service-level agreements, and successfully managing long-term ASP relationships.

Outdated information

A major problem with this book is that a lot of its information was outdated by publication. Many featured companies are out of business, and some featured technologies, such as the technology Hewlett-Packard acquired from Bluestone, have been abandoned in favor of third-party solutions. We can attribute much of the timing to the dot-com market meltdown. However, in general, lists of companies like these are great in trade magazine articles but less valuable in books offering "how-to" information, such as how to choose an ASP or how to structure a contract with an ASP.

The book also tries to be all things to all people, which results in skimming the surface of complex topics such as enabling technology. I also found the typos and style inconsistencies distracting (for example, "Pesident" for "President" and "USI" in one instance and "Usi" in another). On the positive side, the book has some really nice graphics.

If you're a seasoned IT professional, skip the book. You're better off going to a Web site such as www.aspnews.com for information on the current ASP scene. If you're a novice, this book might help get you started, but be prepared to study and practice more before you can grasp the nuances of the ASP market.