Orcom Solutions Strengthens ASP Growth With Meta Group Entry

Orcom Solutions, Inc.> announced last week the company's membership in the international IT research and analyst organization META Group. Orcom is currently the largest Application Service Provider (ASP) for billing and customer care in the utility and energy industry, and joins with META in predicting the continued growth of this strategic approach in this market. Orcom's involvement with META Group focuses on its vertical market Energy Information Strategies Group and its Enterprise Data Center Strategies Group. META Group offers its clients advisory services, consulting/benchmarking, proprietary research, conferences and publications and maintains the lowest client-to-analyst ratio in the industry—50 to one.

"META Group has consistently forecasted business trends central to both the emergence of the ASP business model and Orcom's core competencies," said Mark Crapeau, Orcom executive vice president. META research has predicted an increase in outsourcing by utilities, and META has conducted benchmarking projects for utility call centers. "While Orcom has worked with many consulting organizations over the years, we have found META to be at the forefront of the industry when it comes to recognizing and predicting trends. They are intellectually agile and, as such, are able and willing to quickly respond to changes in the market. We find this approach very helpful in a world that moves at Internet speeds."

In addition to Orcom's ASP offering, which provides customer service and billing technology, Orcom operates a Customer Service Center that enables clients to outsource specific business processes including call center operations.

"Philosophically, this is an ideal fit," Crapeau added. "Orcom continues to build solutions that address the challenges in the market, as we have with our ASP offering. Our partnership with META will allow us to remain focused on our clients' needs and to remain well ahead of our competitors."

"The META Group has an outstanding grasp of the future of the utility industry, and we are continually impressed by their commitment to objectivity and providing bottom-line answers," said Dave Deluhery, Orcom's Director of Infrastructure and Network Services.

Edited by Stephen Heiser