Intuit Sets Collision Course With Microsoft With On-Demand Apps

Intuit is developing software-as-a-service sales, field service and warehouse management applications that will put the company into head-to-head competition with Microsoft, NetSuite and Salesforce.com. The applications are part of a product roadmap the company announced Thursday at its user conference in Dallas.

Intuit, known for its QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions accounting and business management software that's widely used in small and mid-size businesses, also unveiled a new release of that flagship product that supports more concurrent users and offers new multi-currency support.

The new sales, field service and warehouse/inventory management applications make up the Intuit Enterprise Suite, a set of on-demand applications that will link to QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions. "We want to have solutions that go significantly beyond accounting and bookkeeping," said Angus Thomson, vice president and general manager of Intuit's mid-market group.

Intuit is developing the sales application in-house and is using core technology from Corrigo's WorkTrack Service Management and AccuCode's Velocity Inventory software for the field services and warehouse management applications, respectively. Thomson said the applications are being adapted to work with QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions that will provide a single workplace view of the applications.

The field service and inventory management applications will be generally available next month and a beta release of the sales management application will debut at the same time. Intuit's channel partners and direct sales force will both sell the on-demand applications. Thomson said the new product would provide solution providers with an opportunity to expand beyond financial management applications.

"It's the sales management application I'm most excited about," said Mario Nowogrodsky, principal at Mendelson Consulting Inc., a Pembroke Pines, Fla.-based VAR and systems integrator. The Intuit channel partner said the on-demand applications would help him expand sales to existing customers and prospect for new ones. Nowogrodsky said he currently resells CRM application modules from Legrand Software, "but I'm always open to something better," he said.

QuickBook Enterprise Solutions 9.0, available now, offers improved database concurrency that lets administrators back up files while other users are on the system. "There's no longer a need to kick everyone off when you're backing up files," said Nowogrodsky, who also praised the software's improved user interface. Report performance is improved by as much as 44 percent, according to Intuit, and the software now offers multi-currency capabilities. And the application's capacity has been increased from 20 to 30 concurrent users.

Intuit is also sweetening the financial incentives it offers channel partners. "We're making a commitment to the channel this year that's more significant than in the past," Thomson said.

Where the company previously offered 25 percent discounts on sales of QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, it will now offer 35 percent margins on the five-user version of the product, 40 percent on the 10-user version and 45 percent on the 15-, 20-, 25- and 30-user versions. The company also will pay commissions on full service plan renewals -- something it didn't do before.

For the new on-demand applications Intuit will pay channel partners 15 percent of ongoing subscription fees for deals they close.