USWeb/CKS, Microsoft Form ASP Relationship

USWeb/CKS is expected to announce today that it has forged a broad relationship with Microsoft to offer firms remotely managed application services.

The announcement will expand on a relationship between the two companies, first unveiled in February, to provide firms with a wide range of outsourced applications, from human resources to supply chain management systems. It is part of a growing industry trend towards renting software from so-called application service providers (ASPs), rather than installing and managing the applications in-house.

An industry analyst said the announcement will likely detail the companies' vision on how a variety of different applications can be delivered and managed over the Web. The strategy would be built upon software plumbing from Microsoft.

While officials with both companies would not comment, it has also been suspected that Microsoft may unveil plans for offering its Office business applications online through ASPs.

USWeb/CKS can be reached at www.usweb.com

Microsoft can be reached at www.microsoft.com