Internet software company Application Park yesterday launched a suite of Web-based business applications, with plans to market the software through partners in a private-label fashion.
In what could be labeled a big launch by a new Internet software company, Application Park will offer its suite of 32 applications through partners including ISPs, Internet portals and system integrators that target small to medium sized business customers.
“We host all the services but private label them so the application fits seamlessly into an existing Web site,” Aaron Sperling, chief executive officer, explained.
Sperling told ASP-News that current partners include small business portal Peak.com, InterLinux and ISP eCopia.
“We will have three more partners signed this month with plans to have four to six more up and running by the end of July,” he said.
Application Park (San Francisco, Calif.) expects to have more than 25 partners by the end of this year, and is currently talking to some large ISPs and ASPs for partnerships.
The company intends to choose partners who already have a strong presence on the Web, allowing them to quickly distribute these services to a large audience.
The entire suite of applications is individually co-branded for each of Application Park’s partners. “These applications will provide a distinct competitive advantage to our partners,” said Sperling.
Sperling offered a strong work of warning for its target customer base. “We’re raising the bar for companies that want to be your ‘one-stop shop for business services’ on the Internet. As of today, if your business focused Web site doesn’t provide hosted applications for customer relations, marketing, HR, sales and operations management, you can no longer call yourself full service.”
While Sperling admitted that it is a strong statement, he told ASP-News that Application Park is redefining full service.
“Many portals offer the basics,” he said. “The next step is to offer services to help run a business.”
Application Park currently offers two tiers of services. The free service is banner supported and allows for a total of five users to share the same applications. After five users, the cost is $9.95 per user per month. The banner-free service is $19.95 per user.
According to Sperling, there is no difference between the offerings in the two levels, but the company plans to add various premium services to each level.
ASP-News learned that Application Park will add Palm Pilot access to the application in July, along with graphical application capabilities.
While it may seem that Application Park has a similar business plan to CMeRun and Biztro (see related ASPNews story, ISPs get ASP shortcuts, Feb. 17th, 2000) since Application Park hosts applications on behalf of the providers but can own-brand them so they look like their own, Sperling quickly points out the differences.
“CMeRun is focused on aggregating other people’s applications and providing a platform,” he said. “They have a good idea, but I don’t think they are there yet and our pricing is much more affordable.”
Sperling pointed out that Biztro offers an interesting set of services, but doesn’t have as rich a set of apps, not are they customizable.
