Packeteer Inks Service Integration Agreements
Building on an initiative to bring managed applications solutions to application service providers (ASPs), Packeteer Inc. (www.packeteer.com) announced technology and service integration agreements with a number of major vendors and ASPs. Packeteer's ASP initiative, focused on providing networked applications infrastructure for ASPs, centers on the new AppVantage system. Under the terms of technology and service integration agreements, Packeteer is working with companies to build new services enabled by the AppVantage application subscriber management system. AppVantage is a policy-based application subscriber management system for the growing ASP market. The new system is designed to ensure the performance of hosted applications. It also validates and presents reports showing that ASPs are meeting their customer obligations; provides a point of demarcation that delineates the ASP's responsibilities and the customer's responsibilities; and integrates billing. ASP application vendors are working with Packeteer to ensure that their applications are automatically recognized within a hosted environment that is enabled by the AppVantage system. Packeteer says a few ASPs will begin testing by year’s end. Packeteer has signed technology and service integration agreements with solution vendors and service integrators to build additional services on the AppVantage platform. These vendors include Citrix Systems Inc. (www.citrix.com), Compaq Computer Corp. (www.compaq.com), InfoVista Corp. (www.infovista.com), Portal Software Inc. (www.portal.com), and Hewlett-Packard Co. (www.hp.com). Analyst firms are predicting substantial growth in ASP markets. Forrester Research Inc. (www.forrester.com) estimates the total application and content hosting market will grow from $150 million today to $6 billion by 2001. Within that overall market space, International Data Corp. (IDC, www.idc.com) says the market for high-end, net-based applications services will grow at a compound annual rate of 91 percent to $2 billion by 2003.