Archive for January, 2010
Intuit News: They’ll Be Partnering with Microsoft for More PaaS
Intuit and Microsoft announced today they will be partnering to create web applications that will automate tasks for small businesses. The main progression is for Intuit, which will now be able to reach out to the Microsoft .NET and Azure developer network.
The companies will be integrating the respective capabilities of their cloud platforms—Microsoft Windows Azure and the Intuit Partner Platform—with an aim to allow developers and channel partners to deliver products to enterprise users of Intuit’s QuickBooks. Developers can currently access the beta version of Intuit SDK for Azure, and toward the end of 2010, they’ll have access to Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), which includes SharePoint, Exchange, and Communications Server.
Intuit execs said the partnership will help them build a best of breed suite of applications for small businesses, which will eventually provide them collaboration abilities both internally and with business partners. Some tech pundits, like Dennis Howlett, see Intuit’s larger goal as this: using Platfrom-as-a-Services as a way for delivering lots of aaS functionality, expanding their reach, and developing deep domain expertise to encourage growth.
We’ll likely have to wait till later in the year to see what comes of it.
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No commentsMint.com Rules! Intuit to Phase Out Quicken Online in 2010
Intuit Inc. completed its acquisition of Mint.com last November, and is now moving to phase out its Quicken Online software in favor of that purchase.
To tell the story of Quicken Online and Mint.com is to examine the financial management preferences of different age groups. Mint.com began as an online personal finance management platform in 2006, and as such, a large number of its users were in their 20s and 30s. Intuit’s products, meanwhile, were desktop applications used by Baby Boomers and some older Gen-Xers. Like most new web-based applications, Mint was sleek and simple, and appealed to fiscally-responsible young people who didn’t care for the (seemingly) excessive data entry associated with Intuit’s products.
At the time of Mint’s inception, Intuit had easily cornered the personal finance market with Quicken, and two years after Mint.com began, Intuit released Quicken Online to compete. Needless to say, Quicken Online never took off, and Intuit acquired Mint.com last fall. Upon purchasing Mint, Intuit officials said Quicken Online would be phased out—this leads us the present.
Mint.com is going to retain its brand, and Quicken Online software will be combined with Mint’s technology. Quicken Online users will be transitioned to Mint.com, and users will be able to manage personal finances between the internet and their home computers. There have been some questions as to whether or not Quicken users will adapt to Mint.com. It’s always difficult switching from a system with which you’re comfortable, so the change will likely be difficult for some older users. Still, Mint has a sharp offering—and is going to start offering mortgage management soon—and its interface differences don’t preclude its being liked by former Quicken Online devotees.
Popularity: 6% [?]
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