In a bid to meet growing user demand for its applications hosting services, FutureLink Corp signed a deal with Compaq Computer Corp this week to build out its datacenters using high-end Compaq servers.
Under the terms of the agreement, Compaq has extended FutureLink a $20m lease line of credit to buy the servers as well as taking a $2.2m equity stake in the ASP. FutureLink’s president and COO, Glen Holmes, told ComputerWire that the ASP would use the money to expand the capacity of its Calgary datacenter to offer services to 6,000 people, from just 1,000 today. It will also finish equipping a second data center, in Irvine, California, to give it enough capacity to handle 10,000 on-line users.
Compaq’s $2.2m investment will be dedicated to joint marketing efforts to promote FutureLink’s hosted ASP services on Compaq hardware. FutureLink is already an exclusive Compaq shop and Holmes said the relationship will continue when the ASP expands its services next year by opening additional data centers. He said the company was already in talks with large service providers, such as Exodus, to open two more centers.
According to Forrester Research Inc, the ASP industry is projected to reach $6bn by 2001. FutureLink targets the small and medium business markets. Unlike other ASPs, it does not sell direct to customers, rather it partners with ISVs and their channel partners to offer hosting facilities for their customers. Among its 75 ISV alliances, the ASP has relationships with Microsoft (for its hosted Office offering), Corel, Saleslogix, Onyx and Great Plains, among others.
