The cost savings of an application service provider (ASP) facility, based on application server technology that is deployed, hosted and managed from a central location, make the ASP model a viable option for companies.
This is especially true for organisations that require access to packaged applications for multiple parties. Whether accessing an application from within a local area network or across international borders, the subscriber need not purchase the applications that are hosted in an ASP environment.
According to Vaughan Gerson, First Technology KZN`s technical director, the ASP delivery model speeds implementation, minimises the expenses and risks incurred across the application lifecycle, and overcomes the chronic shortage of qualified technical personnel available in-house.
"First Technology has developed an ASP strategy that allows companies to subscribe to Internet-based solutions that make the `always on` business world easier to manage. Our current solution allows flexible configurations and can be easily deployed into an organisation`s existing investment with little change required," he adds.
This includes a hosted solution that will initially present customers with two distinct services: spam control and do-it-yourself Web design and maintenance.
The Web-based remote management spam control solution takes a completely new approach to stopping spam, resulting in excellent detection rates.
"Many organisations either implement their own e-mail content filtering solution or they utilise their ISP`s spam blocking technology. In both instances the offering can be very expensive," he says.
Gerson says that if an organisation purchases its own content filtering solution and places the server on the LAN, spam is blocked once it has used the Internet bandwidth supplied by the ISP. This configuration does not prevent unwanted mail from utilising the organisation`s bandwidth: oversized messages are only blocked from internal delivery and this means bottlenecks on the organisation`s Internet link remain a problem.
"Our hosted content filtering solution is ISP independent. Companies configure their domain name to pass all e-mail to the content filtering server hosted by First Technology. E-mail is then scanned for viruses and spam activity, and based on a set of customised rules configured by the domain owner, the mail is either blocked from delivery or passed onto the company`s e-mail servers," he explains.
The solution has an easy to use Web-based interface, which allows IT administrators anywhere in the world to control the content filtering rules for their organisation`s mail as well as release mail that has been identified as a false positives.
For its Web design offering, First Technology utilised an easy-to-use tool: Just in Time Publisher (JiT) which allows Web site owners to easily add content and images to their sites through a browser interface.
The latest version of Just in Time Publisher has modular options and templates that allow users to add menu items and navigation buttons, as well as change colours on the site in minutes.
The JiT solution is subscription based and requires the Web site to be hosted by First Technology.
"JiT Publisher allows the site owner to have complete freedom and control over the editing of content, images and backgrounds within a site. Anyone with authoring rights will now be able to maintain, update or change the site from an Internet browser anywhere in the world," Gerson concludes.
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First Technology is one of SA`s largest, independent IT solutions providers, offering customers solutions and services that maximise business productivity, reduce the risk associated with deploying new technologies and minimise the total cost of IT ownership. The company has fully-fledged branches in every major business node across SA and maintains one of the largest teams of highly skilled technical personnel in the country.
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