Take up of ASPs hindered by insecure internet

Uptake of ASP services will be hindered by the low speed and lack of security on the internet, according to the Lucent industry panel.

Niculae Cantuniar, VP of service provider Aduronet, said: "The internet suffers from low security and long waits because of traffic, and these are all barriers to ASPs."

Network managers can secure company data, whether on a Lan, Wan or Man.

But with ASPs vital information can go back and forth between provider and the enterprise across an insecure internet. Susan Barbier, e-business executive manager for Lucent, told the panel: "Part of the challenge for ASPs is to build secure systems."

However, the panel felt that the proliferation of broadband technologies would see the end of delays on the internet. Torsten Scheuermann, executive VP of DSL provider QSC, said: "In business, time is money. Why keep data locally if there is better performance to be found elsewhere? You'll be able to download a 120-page report in less than a second."

The panel also agreed that the main advantage of ASP for a business would be to save money. Olivier Suard, head of billing software at Lucent, said: "Some applications you only use every six months, so it makes sense. If you can outsource infrastructure you won't need so much real estate."

Cantuniar said: "We are looking at enabling 3G on our network so people can access applications using any device. All of the services you see on IP today will eventually be available on wireless."