Recommended Free Tools
In this title, ASP means application service provider: a company that hosts business software and makes it available to customers as a service. It does not mean Microsoft’s separate web technology, Active Server Pages, which processes server-side scripts to generate webpages. In 1999, announcements from Cisco and Microsoft showed companies building hosted-software programs and partnerships—but those announcements alone do not prove broad market adoption or success.
What did application service providers host in 1999?
The idea was broader than hosting a website. Providers were pitching access to business applications and services—including online commerce, corporate messaging, collaboration, purchasing, media streaming, and line-of-business software—managed outside a customer’s own systems.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Microsoft’s September 1999 announcement named providers offering managed Exchange messaging, Office 2000 collaboration, corporate purchasing, media streaming, and business applications. It also cited Qwest Cyber.Solutions as offering managed SAP R/3 and Siebel hosting on Windows NT Server and SQL Server. These examples document what Microsoft promoted, not an independent evaluation of service quality or customer results. Microsoft’s September announcement
What happened during 1999?
April: Cisco announces a hosted-applications ecosystem
Cisco announced a Hosted Applications initiative intended to connect software vendors, service providers, system integrators, and technology partners. It named Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, KPMG, Sprint, and Citrix among the participants. This was an announced ecosystem; it is not evidence that every planned service launched or reached customers. Cisco’s April announcement
#1 Best Overall
September: Microsoft’s Complete Commerce program reaches general availability
On September 13, Microsoft announced general availability of Complete Commerce for ASPs, a program for hosted business-to-consumer commerce aimed at medium and large enterprises. Microsoft said the program began as a pilot in November 1998 with 10 service providers and had grown to 25 by the September 1999 announcement. Those are Microsoft’s reported program figures, not an industry-wide provider count. Microsoft’s Complete Commerce announcement
Microsoft president Steve Ballmer characterized customer interest this way: “We are seeing a lot of demand from customers for applications hosting on the Windows NT platform to save on total cost of ownership,” the company’s announcement. This is an executive’s statement about demand, not a measured market statistic.
October: Microsoft announces hosting kits and readiness programs
At ISPCON on October 26, Microsoft introduced ASP deployment kits for business-service hosting, an Office Server Extensions Program for hosted collaboration, and a Windows 2000 Readiness Program to prepare providers for Windows 2000-based hosting. These were announced tools and programs. Microsoft’s description of providers increasingly adopting its platform reflects the company’s own framing. Microsoft’s October announcement
December: Microsoft describes its platform strategy
At a two-day ASP Summit in San Francisco, Microsoft described a platform strategy built around Windows DNA 2000, Visual Studio, SQL Server, COM+, and application services. It named Pandesic and Digex as examples of companies using or aligned with that architecture. The announcement’s text dates the speech to December 2; its search metadata labels the page October 19. The body date is the clearer guide to when the event occurred, while the discrepancy leaves the page’s publication chronology uncertain. Microsoft’s ASP Summit account
Why were businesses interested in hosted applications?
Hosted applications promised a way to use business software without running every part of the service in-house. Microsoft’s Ballmer pointed to total cost of ownership as a customer concern, while the programs described by Microsoft and Cisco connected software, hosting, integration, and technology partners. The announcements reveal the value proposition companies were making; they do not establish whether customers actually saved money or achieved better outcomes.
The scale figures require similar care. Microsoft reported that WebJump hosted more than 512,000 websites on Windows NT, which it said represented over 5 percent of internet sites tracked by Netcraft. That is a figure reported by Microsoft and attributed there to Netcraft—not an independently checked measurement here, nor a share of the 1999 ASP market. Microsoft’s WebJump announcement
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the 1999 record does—and does not—show
The documented picture is one of pilots, program launches, partnership building, and platform plans. Microsoft reported Complete Commerce’s move from pilot to general availability and its growth in participating providers; Cisco and Microsoft described partner networks and hosting initiatives. Together, these show organized efforts to make hosted business software available, not proof that the whole market had already succeeded.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →The cited announcements do not provide an independent market-wide adoption rate, customer-satisfaction measure, or comparative performance study for ASPs in 1999. They also do not support ranking providers by price, reliability, service quality, or customer outcomes. Those judgments would require evidence beyond companies’ own announcements.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
