application service providers

I have noticed that application services providers are starting to get active again. I wonder if this business model is about to come into its own. ASP, as a business model, started becomming popular about 8 years ago, but never got anywhere. Now, with wide spread broadband, cheep servers, commodity o/s, web service methods becomming standardized, platform agnostic languages like Java and PERL, xml for interchange of data and remote process calls (i.e. SOAP), and cheap storate (NAS/SAN), all the pieces are in place and all that remains is to develop an infrastructure and set of standards and accepted busienss practices. ASP's would fit the needs of a lot of small businesses.