Bank of America signs with ASP but can license software later

An economic downturn may not be the ideal time for companies to spend millions of dollars on customer relationship management technology. That's why Bank of America is renting CRM applications from an ASP with an option to pull them in-house later. Bank of America (BOA) has signed on for the Hosted Anywhere platform from Synchrony Communications. The hybrid model that Synchrony offers enables the Cincinnati company to be an ASP for BOA until the bank wants to license the software and operate it on its own servers. Synchrony said it has seven customers signed up to use the new Hosted Anywhere app, but only BOA has been publicly announced. Analysts and Synchrony executives argue that a hybrid approach not only requires a smaller up-front investment than licensing but also cuts the risk associated with the often lengthy process of a company implementing software on its own. Customers still want the option of ultimately owning the software, said Synchrony CEO Mark Richey. One benefit of Hosted Anywhere, Synchrony said, is its ability to move in-house from a hosted environment with barely a ripple. That means all the codes and customization features travel with it when it is licensed, and BOA will not have to sign a new contract.