 
|
|||||||||
              
|
Service center extends Stargate's offerings
Friday, June 16, 2000 By Stephanie Franken, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Stargate Industries, a major Internet service provider to Western Pennsylvania, broadened its focus yesterday by opening a new data and computer services center..
As a so-called application service provider, Stargate will offer its customers computer applications from its new center, located in Green Tree. The center will "host" the computer hardware and software that increasing numbers of businesses have come to need, thus allowing clients to use the applications for a fraction of it would cost to buy and operate the services themselves.
The company's $20 million data center offers high-powered applications, security, and backups that businesses may lease on a monthly basis. So businesses do not need to purchase all of the software and hardware they need and hire someone to install it internally.
"They're saying, 'You guys provide my application service, and let me run my business,' " said Stargate Vice President Chris Sweeney. "Businesses are getting into more 'mission critical' applications. And they're relying on these applications for significant portions of their businesses."
Computer industry experts expect the ASP market to grow significantly in the next few years. Companies signed up for Stargate's service include the Pittsburgh Pirates and start-ups Wishbox.com and MediaSite Inc. And Stargate has teamed up with several major companies who will provide computer services, including Cisco Systems Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Oracle Corp.
They also have formed alliances with Deloitte & Touche, Threshold Technologies and JLS Technologies.
Stargate adds its applications and data center to its established Internet service, which encountered some technical difficulties yesterday.
There was a two-hour outage during a systems upgrade in the morning.
"They had a scheduled outage that ran over a little bit," said Mike Gordon, a spokesperson for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who use Stargate for their Internet Service. "On the rare occasion that it happens, they let us know in advance, and they usually do it during off-peak hours."
|
||||||||
