(from Management Service Provider)

A company that monitors the network performance, website statistics, etc. of an e-commerce business. MSPs are often best suited to bricks and mortar companies that are not interested in hiring a huge e-commerce department, but also don't want to just colocate a few servers and hope for the best.

As an application service provider (ASP) lets you use computer applications without worrying about keeping software updated and virus-free, a management service provider lets you get your business online and keep it running without worrying about redundancy, connectivity, usability and logistics.

I spotted this term in the October 2, 2000 issue of Information Week, but it has undoubtedly been around for at least several months before that date.

MSP is a graphical programming environment designed for music and multimedia applications. MSP is a new addition to an older program, Max. Max operates on incoming and outgoing MIDI signals (and generates MIDI signals), while MSP operates on and/or generates digital audio signals.

Max and MSP are not seperate programs, however, they are merged into one program and elements from each can be used simultaneously (i.e. using a MIDI signal to control a digital audio signal, and vice versa).

Max is named for Max V. Mathews, computer music pioneer and sailing enthusiast. MSP does not officially stand for anything, but could perhaps stand for "Max Signal Processing" or "Miller S. Puckette" (the original creator of MAX), as well as other, less probable, acronyms.

For a brief description on the way Max (and therefore MSP) works, see the node on Max.

MAX/MSP are now owned by Cycling '74 (www.cycling74.com)

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