ISSUES
& INSIGHTS
Due to the fact that the ASP market is so new, there are a number of issues that face any
company looking to outsource their applications to an ASP. In this section we will examine
several issues that we consider to be most important to your choice of which ASP to use. Security
When you entrust your critical applications to an ASP, security should be a
major priority. What level of security does your ASP offer you?
Do they have a written policy on security, and if so, how do they implement it? Have they
had a third party audit their security measures?
Do they offer any or all of the following?
Firewall
Secure Sockets Layer
Intrusion Prevention
Anti-Hacking Software
Third-Party Security
Disaster Recovery Plans
Incident response times
Employee Screening
Service Levels/Support
As a company choosing an ASP, the Service Level Agreement offered to you
should be very comprehensive.Not all companies require the same level of service,and
company should be very meticulous in reviewing Service Level Agreements and make sure that
the ASP they choose can cater to all of their needs.
Things to consider here would be:
Do they guarantee uptime?how do they measure it?
Do they have staff on hand 24 x 7?
Quality of staff?
Who is responsible if problems do arise?
Infrastructure
Do they own their own infrastructure? If they use partners, who are they? Are the
components integrated well?
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