C&W goes ASP and says: SMEs, don't buy another PC

a-Service is an end-to-end, pay-as-you-go offering and Jeremy Thompson, CEO of the company, claims users "may never need to buy a computer again". The 'a' stands for application, according to Thompson, who added the company did not want to use the prefixes 'e' or 'i'.

The service marks the start of a move by telcos to offer complex services. "Telephone companies will absolutely become a channel for services," said Janet Waxman, analyst at IDC.

C&W is, in effect, acting as a project consolidator for an offering which mixes leased lines, Compaq PCs and servers, Microsoft applications, 24-hour support, software upgrades and security based on C&W's current data centres.

Users of a-Workspace - the first product to be released under the a-Service brand - get 'legacy-free' Compaqs, access to 800MB of secure online storage with backup, firewall and unlimited internet access, Office2000, 24/7 customer support via help-desk, email and web, as well as online training and administration services.

Monthly prices are £175 for Office2000 and £199 for Office2000 and Exchange2000 on 24-month contracts. Thompson said: "We will be rolling out other applications, such as sales force automation, CRM, accounting and ecommerce, very soon."

a-Workspace will be sold through 40 resellers, all of whom are already in the computer services market. One of the first customers is Regus, the UK-based global temporary office chain.

a-Services was launched in the US last month and will go to Australia before the end of the year. Next year it will be rolled out in those parts of Europe with a C&W presence and in Japan.