A business service provider (BSP) is one of several categories of

service provider A service provider (SP) is an organization that provides services, such as consulting, legal, real estate, communications, storage, and processing services, to other organizations. Although a service provider can be a sub-unit of the organization t ...

in the business world. As opposed to an

application service provider An application service provider (ASP) is a business providing application software generally through the Web. The ASP model The application software resides on the vendor's system and is accessed by users through a communication protocol. Alter ...

which provides application components over a

computer network A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. The computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections are ...

, the services provided by a BSP are more in the area of infrastructure: mail delivery, building security, finance, administration, and human services.

Types of business service providers

Back Office BSPs

Back office A back office in most corporations is where work that supports ''front office'' work is done. The front office is the "face" of the company and is all the resources of the company that are used to make sales and interact with customers and client ...

operations are the off-site delivery of a range of non-core service functions, including routine administration tasks, customer service and

technical support Technical support (abbreviated as tech support) is a call centre type customer service provided by companies to advise and assist registered users with issues concerning their technical products. Traditionally done on the phone, technical suppor ...

. Offshore back office operations involve the ongoing use of an outsourcing base in another country.

Front Office BSPs

The

front office The front office is the part of a company that comes in contact with clients, such as the marketing, sales, and service departments. The term has more specific meaning in different industries. Types General offices The function of front office ...

is the part of a company that comes in contact with clients, such as the

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

sales Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in ...

, and service departments. In the hotel industry, the front office (also known as front desk) welcomes guests to the accommodation section: meeting and greeting them, taking and organizing reservations, allocating check in and out of rooms, organizing porter service, issuing keys and other security arrangements, passing on messages to customers and settling the accounts. Examples *Front Office Solutions Provider

References

;General * * *

Types of business service providers

Back Office BSPs

Front Office BSPs

References

Further reading