An application service provider (ASP) is a business providing application software generally through the Web.[1] ASPs that specialize in a particular application (such as a medical billing program) may be referred to as providing software as a service.
The application software resides on the vendor's system and is accessed by users through a communication protocol. Alternatively, the vendor may provide special purpose client software. Client software may interface with these systems through an application programming interface.
ASP characteristics include:
The advantages to this approach include:
The disadvantages include:
An ASP hosts software applications, which its customers access over the Web instead of running them on their own computers.