The ABCs Of ASPs Cut down on your software costs by sharing.
By Aliza P. Sherman •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
I know, I know! Just when you think you've mastered theimportant Internet acronyms for your business, suddenly there areASPs. Until recently, ASP stood for active server pages, aninteractive, Windows-based programming language developed byMicrosoft.
These days, ASP also stands for application service providers,companies that host costly software applications that you can thenlease from them to use as needed. Basically, your staff connects tothe ASP's servers through the Internet to access and use thesoftware. Rather than paying hefty sums, especially for enterprisesoftware, you pay a small amount per use.
While ASPs are supposed to save your company money, thesoftware-sharing concept has yet to become the norm, usuallybecause of slower Internet connections used by smallerbusinesses.
Aliza Sherman is an entrepreneur and author of Cybergrrl:A Woman's Guide to the World Wide Web (Ballantine Books).She is currently working on her next book and new company.
