WE ALL KNOW why the Application Service Provider market was such a disaster don’t we?

You do? Well, why didn’t you speak up at the time, eh? The whole telecoms and networking industry was suspending disbelief and making ludicrous market projections. Analysts told people this was going to be a terra-bezillion dollar market and, in order to fit in, most CIOs dutifully told analysts they had plans to spend heavily on ASP.

It was a case of the bland leading the blind. When nobody actually spent anything on any online application services, the entire industry went into denial, then started blaming each other.

Still, it’s never too late, and NTT has created a new type of technology that has quadrupled the speed of Virtual private networks (VPNs). VPNs offer reassuring levels of security that might persuade people that it’s safe to use an ASP.

VPNs use encryption to create a virtual private line across a public phone link. NTT’s software allows data to pass efficiently through relay devices that link users.

The problem in the past was that the encryption status of the signal changed as it passed through relay devices. This meant the data would have to be re-encrypted. It doesnt now, thanks to this new software.

In tests a 20-megabyte file could be passed in one second, where it took four seconds previously.

The software is compatible with SSL-VPN, which uses the SSL encryption method, the standard for browser software. So you don’t need special encryption devices and software for the user's terminal.

Expect a mass market in two years. So god knows when the ASP market will meet its potential. µ