ASP is an abbreviation of English Application Service Provider. It is often translated as an application service provider, which refers to a configuration, rental, and management application solution for a professional service company for business, and personal services. It is popular that ASP is a business rental mode. Enterprise users can directly rent ASP's computer and software systems for their own business management, thereby saving a lot of funds for IT product technology purchases and operations.
In foreign countries, ASP appeared earlier in 1998, which is accompanied by the needs of the Internet. It has five features: 1. ASP is used as business core, that is, ASP provides customers with access and management of applications; 2. ASP sale application access, that is, ASP can provide customers with rental form of application services, customer companies It is possible to make a large-scale investment in terms of equipment, software, personnel, etc. without having to apply for his application requirements, and the ASP businesses are given, and the investment risks and initial inputs of enterprise application systems are greatly reduced according to certain cycles. 3, ASP is centrally managed, that is, ASP services typically operate in a central location. The client is required to remotely access the application; 4. ASP provides a standardized application package for multiple customer services, ASP provides a set of standardized application packages. Different customers provide specialized application services, thereby reducing the application cost of customer enterprises; 5, ASP and customers provide corresponding services according to the contract, from the customer's point of view, ASP is a service providing related services according to the content of the customer agreement, and ensures application System service can run a service organization.
Compared to the application software in which traditional companies operate, ASP has greatly enhanced its security, reliability, and scalability. Customers don't have to purchase hardware devices, configure software, and have greatly lowered. ASP will become the dominant mode of future enterprises using software.
ASP advantage
Reduce the initial investment of enterprises, convenient cost control
After using the ASP mode, companies have been controlled in IT expenses. Enterprises do not have to undertake the necessary soft, hardware installation, purchase, upgrade fees, huge communication fees and professional development and maintenance personnel, but only the way of monthly rent. , Pay a certain fee to the ASP service provider, thereby reducing the company's soft and hardware capital investment. The annual input fee is relatively fixed, and the application system is more reliable, and security is also saved by professionals.
Meet the demand for distributed companies to long-distance office
In the increasingly competitive society, the occupation of the market has become increasingly becoming the goal of the company, and the multi-point office has gradually become mainstream. In ASP mode, enterprises meet the interaction of business, and information at any time, to promote the pace of market expansion.
The ASP's largest application environment features that it is universally, that is, as long as you can access the Internet, you can enjoy the convenience services brought by ASP. Especially for enterprise applications with dispersion characteristics, if the Group's enterprise users have multiple branches, ASP's centralized data system is more capable of playing its superiority.
The ASP service is realized from differently synchronous and collaborative management: cross-regional applications, effectively solved the needs of different level information integration and collaborative management of the group enterprise and distribution model. Through ASP mode, end customers will spend minimal money, have the opportunity to exposure to IT technology with international advanced levels, most effectively use applications, concentrate on their core business.
User companies do not have to set up a separate IT department because the hardware system is more durable, the software system is maintained and optimized, and the development of the ASP is responsible, so that a large number of system maintenance costs can be reduced, and the worries are saved.
At the same time, they can invest in the funds under IT to have the greatest competitive advantage, accelerate the growth of the company, and move faster to success.
ASP market
ASP is considered to be the fourth stage of Internet applications after ISP, ICP, and e-commerce, and is also the best way to combine traditional industries and Internet. Of course, the implementation of the ASP business has strong challenges, and ASP is an alternative growth mode for growth in China's market. IDC-related persons, including ASP (application service providers) and NSP (network service providers), the market size of service providers, will increase from $ 115 billion last year to $ 400 billion in 2004.
In foreign countries, ASP initially provides applications such as Microsoft Office, Exchange, Outlook, and later adding management applications including finance, CRM applications, etc. In the field of CRM applications, a relatively typical ASP provider is: Salesforce.com and intranets.com, rightnow, etc.
ASP is a great service, but there is no market in China, no market. Of course, the market is not started, does not mean no market, but this is a huge potential market. Who can seize the opportunity reasonable, and the appropriate cut will come in, and will dig a huge market.
ASP in China
Enterprise users in China's application markets, given a certain distance from corporate concept, development level and abroad, and the national network development speed is slow, so there is doubts about data security, confidentiality and network stability, resulting in ASP application market develop slowly.
The immature of traditional CRM software is also one of the main reasons for the ASP market in China's CRM applications.
In the Chinese market, the customer group facing the ASP service can be divided into three categories:
High-end users: large-scale group companies, manufacturing enterprise supporting services, interior systems of chain enterprises ASP, thin client, centralized control. Mid-range users: small and medium-sized enterprises with low IT budgets and high application requirements. Low-end users: Sales represent the personal application.
As a high-end user, the company is characterized by the dispersion in the country, high wide area network cost, establishing and maintaining a huge CRM system will pay expensive costs for software, hardware and human resources. As an outsourcing system, the ASP service has saved this part of the expensive fees. On the basis of security, stability, fully through the remote access service of the company, mobile users can access the offline shared server, 24x7 operation, online ( E-mail, web), Wireless (PDA, Pocket), Wired (Phone, Fax) Support and other services.
As a small and medium-sized enterprise, the cost of cost-effective costs in the growth process, and avoid expensive expenditures such as software, hardware and human resources, can concentrate, and fully operate funds in the high-speed development of enterprises. .
As a low-end user, the domestic sales representative has not been more excellent, suitable for sales management tool software, and similar software providers' strength and brand are not enough to fully promote the application, more sales representatives use the original notebook record or Use Excel to record and statistics. As an ASP service with strong strength and excellent brands, it is possible to provide them: the acquisition, anytime, anytime, anywhere. China's development of rapid Internet cafes and offline PDAs can make sales representatives where CRM is arriving.
From the perspective of domestic development status, in high-end users, automobiles, insurance, consumer goods, medicine, electronics, tourism, trade and other industries are suitable for ASP services. The supporting service providers of the automotive industry such as engine, tires and car dealers, etc., focus on sales settlement and service marketing, especially national regional applications, and the information capacity of the terminals is weak, for large ASP systems, especially EService There is a big demand.
The insurance industry is the favorite of CRM and the most hate of CRM. Love is that insurance should best best best apply CRM; hate, the terminal application of insurance representatives is the biggest problem. The flexible ASP service can meet the insurance representative to carry out CRM services as you want by PDA, mobile phones, phones, fax, and networks. The pharmaceutical industry is also a sales representative of industries that are relatively scattered, and its sales managers, representatives need real-time to understand sales, customers, and their chain partners involved in the CRM value chain. It is increasingly integrated, and the company can closely combine companies, sales representatives and partners.
The strategy of developing ASP services in China can be positioned in "rural surrounding cities", that is, cultivating huge personal users, and uses low-end users to attack larger group enterprise user markets.
China's sales representative group is a huge number, and the sales management tool software market for sales representatives is a blank, zero star's existing software from scale, brand, product, etc., etc. cannot form an advantage. With excellent ASP services, provide rich access modes and payment patterns, which can be used to strive for this market group.
From the domestic traditional CRM software market, more than 50% of CRM sales comes from the small and medium-sized application market. This is a market that does not have in-depth development, and there is no CRM software supplier posses an absolute advantage in this field. It is even relative advantages. With the continuous development of China's economy, the CRM application market for small and medium-sized enterprises as the main body must develop rapidly.
Of course, enter China CRM's ASP market must do market surveys and forecasts. The free trial of the non-discount in a certain stage is a necessary condition for the domestic users fully understand the ASP service.
Different market promotions for different customer groups, after understanding, it is to guide users into ASP services.
My ASP hypothesis
Most time in 2003, I made achievements in CRM consultation as an independent consultant, which specifically manifesses the contract and implementation of business training, open lesson training, and CRM consultation. This is a gratifying performance in the less mature CRM market in China, which also understands the actual needs of many companies.
In the China CRM market, as the company's continuous maturity, more and more companies have urged the needs of the service system, especially in the national chain or after-sales service, maintenance mechanism, etc. They are very interested in using the ASP mode or browser mode, and is very interested in sharing customers, inventory, logistics and settlement in the country, and the budget prepared to invest relative to China is not a small number. As a hypothesis, if I operate the ASP, what do I do?
Our CRM service is unique in the Chinese market. Because the Chinese market only provides CRM systems and lack of neutral CRM training, consultation, etc. select. In addition, we have a market advantage because we have a number of senior familiar CRM experts who have been working in the Chinese market, they all have a wealth of business management system R & D and implementation experience, and is the earliest practitioner in China's CRM market, familiar with CRM promotion, Sales, consultation and implementation, more importantly, they have established comparative authority personal brands in the Chinese market.
We will not independently develop CRM products from beginning to end, just provide consulting services for companies. However, in view of the market needs, we will choose a foreign CRM system that meets our company philosophy as business partners, jointly exploit the Chinese market, and provides better solutions for Chinese business users.
Market positioning:
We position our market in CRM consulting services and foreign CRM suppliers' partners.
According to our internal survey, the China CRM market will enter the development period in 2004; the market will develop to 2005 in 2005, according to the investigation company's estimation.
We have to focus on service, cross-regional operations or services such as services such as maintenance, especially automotive, auto parts, machinery, electronics manufacturing, distribution and other industries. These industry IT foundations are relatively weak, interested in data concentration and outsourcing services, while cross-regional non-tight partner nature does not allow corporate headquarters to force partners to use local systems, unified customer resources and transparent inventories, service settlement, etc. The value will increase the purchase standards they are willing to pay and continue to purchase services. We have to try to provide rental services for professional individual users, including solutions for sales, service management.
We will work closely with the media, and the typical successful user cases in each industry will promote more industry users with effective publicity. We have worked with many well-known domestic electronic industry publishers, and we have launched a series of CRM publications, as a powerful weapon to promote the market. We will start from providing training for target companies to provide CRM planning, CRM consulting, and finally provide ASP solutions to provide professional one-stop service for corporate users.
competition:
At the current Chinese market, we have no competitors, because domestic CRM suppliers such as MyCRM, TurboCRM have not provided Eservice or even Service services, foreign CRM suppliers have no action, such as salesforce, netsuite, rightnow, etc. Not officially entered. China Market, SAP, INYX, Saleslogix, etc., and domestic CRM systems are still more than SFA.
Our solution is first-class in the market, because we are not going to sell products at first, but start from internal needs. At the same time, we have a competitive advantage, because once a cooperation, our solution will use the earliest to enter the EService field in China, form a brand and scale, reduce our cost, and expand the sales profit.
ASP market planning case
Assuming the world's leading ASP provider asp.com enters the Chinese market.
Customer group positioning:
High-end: Fighting group enterprise users (national dispersion, wide-area network cost high) low-end: domestic sales representative group (suitable for national conditions, Internet cafes and offline) personal users consider: sales representative, sales team advantage: Using low-end user base to attack Larger Group Enterprise User Market
market prediction:
Semi-year boot period: preparation, cultivation, guidance; half-year development period: preliminary development of enterprises and personal users the first year of the market: $ 2 million low-end users: 10,000-10 million;
Charge mode:
User points; month, annual service fee; customer number service fee; earnings to draw service charge;
Personal users market strategy:
Professional sales of sales and markets to strengthen the distribution of all kinds of sales networks, organized cooperative users (recommended quantity: 10, 50, 100) or considering member points system
Parallel server address: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, the selection of parallel servers based on the number of address statistics of users;
For enterprise users, providing an enterprise version of the LAN software system, a business offline tool system similar to the ASP system, not only provides remote access, but also provides local high-speed, safe business handling and statistical analysis.
For personal users, there is convenient purchase, continuously buy services: cooperate with Lianbang Software, e-commerce website, card, etc., launched a personal user card. Continuing is not deleted, only deactivated; continuing to use the system after renewal; renewal card promotion activities, etc. Product Features:
Provide Simplified, Traditional, English Switching, Automatic Tips, Reminders, etc. to provide a function of setting SMS notification, and even provide data extraction, update, update, update by SMS; ASP mode data security, confidentiality performance; provide ASP The offline operation gadget of the system, offline operating tool software can be installed on a computer, handheld, PDA, WAP mobile phone, and connect the data to the network to automatically update the data of the ASP system. ASP mode
Simple application in key areas
CRM applications that provide ASP services must be easy to learn, easy to use, easy to implement, easy to maintain. Although it is simple, it is necessary to use a simple application of key fields. Key points to interact with customer interactions include: Online Services (E-mail, Chat and Web Forms), Wireless (PDA, WAP and Pocket), Wired (Phone, Fax ) Support, even provide a convenient user interface to make business managers that do not understand technology can configure business processes without having to rely on IT professionals. Permission license strategy
Of course, the ASP service is a global, secure, permission-based, permission policy, providing data access to individual employees, departments, remote office and partners, etc. The service representative (SR) can view the appropriate information by setting the permission license policy, and the partner can view the appropriate data.
Underlying communication platform
An extension, strong, upgradeable communication platform is necessary, foreign name is a message Bus Architecture, which allows all components insert, including database, web server, mail server, telephone gateway, fax , Wireless, VoIP, and third-party applications, etc., it also adapts to JMS technology.
Focus on customer base and industry
In the Chinese market, ASP service providers should avoid the big service, do not view all services through all services. It is best to use a vertical vendor to focus on a market group or a number of advantageous industries, force a user solution. In this way, after precise positioning, it is possible to provide industry-friendly commercial model applications such as market surveys, channel investment, and other majors, more effectively to grasp more business opportunities.
Unique custom service
ASP service providers must realize how to customize services for different users to make users feel unique, and thousands of functions can only combat user enthusiasm and reduce their system budget. Therefore, we must in depth, clear, clearly understand the needs of users, even sell, experience sales process, refine, and feed back into the CRM system with users. Remember, only the features you provide is unique, and it is necessary, he can become a long-term loyal customer with the value of purchases.
How to choose ASP
As a domestic business, how to choose ASP services?
1, analyze its own needs
By analyzing its own business needs, decide whether to choose ASP mode for information construction, use ASP services in that section, what kind of application effect can be achieved.
2. Select the appropriate ASP business to analyze the elements that guarantee its ASP service quality, the most important elements are:
Strong strength, brand excellence provides professional application development capabilities and security and commitment to ensure continuous high quality service
3, integrated performance of ASP applications
Each vendor said that it can be integrated, and it is really not realistic that it is still necessary to make more expenses, so you must carefully understand its integration performance, especially integration with your existing system.
4. Develop appropriate ASP strategies
Although the original system is integrated, although the CRM module of the original system integrates ASP is more economical, there will be many problems: the efficiency assessment of the service, the original system has been played, and there is a comparison of the value and the expected value.
5, choose the best supplier
Try to choose a month-free CRM supplier for free before signing the contract, of course, try to choose high reputation suppliers, and it is best to succeed as suppliers who will succeed as mutually beneficial mutually beneficial mutually benefits. 6, understand yourself
Fully understand the various types of media you serve for your customers, understand your data storage method, clearly understand your customer needs and know how to implement.
7. Hiring a senior consultant to determine the fuzzy demand, this is a very worthwhile investment.
As an independent consultant, when completing this article, it is not helpful to think, in the future Chinese market, many sales representatives at home, on the road, online cafes apply ASP services at any time, then, China's CRM era is really starting!
