QuickBooks And The Cloud

As everyone knows, pc or google tv world is moving aggressively and consistently to the cloud - leveraging the accessibility and scalability of web programs/databases to:

Reduce hardware/IT costs by leveraging web-hosted applications and web-accessible data centers

Increase system scalability with no proportional increase in software and hardware costs

Provide businesses with anywhere, anytime access to shared data sources without the decision to support costly intranet systems

and much, in addition

With over four million registers users of QuickBooks desktop financial software and thousands of registered users of Intuit's desktop tax preparation software (Lacerte and ProSeries), this pendulum shift away from desktop applications presents some incredible challenges and equally incredible opportunities for Intuit. How Intuit meets those challenges - how develop the most of those opportunities - will, in my opinion, determine the future landscape of accounting technology for if you just to medium business market (SMB).

So, is certainly my intention in this short article to make projections - projections borne out of my years of experience working within the Intuit ecosystem as a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, a QuickBooks trainer to around 20,000 accounting professionals, a former Intuit contracted author and trainer and current host of a national conference for QuickBooks ProAdvisors called Scaling New Heights. Is actually very important to see here that my opinions are based solely on information Intuit has released to common public. Because much after i do donrrrt you have inside regarding Intuit's corporate direction having to do with the cloud (or a crystal ball), my thoughts here is one person's learned projections no more than.

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks On the web is an obvious and natural place start.

I have a saying - a life mantra: 'If you are certainly one step ahead you could be a leader. If you tend to be more than even ahead chances are you'll end up a martyr.' Though QuickBooks Online isn't a 'martyr' (in that it never 'died' for its cause) developed nonetheless prior to its time. When Intuit introduced this product in the majority 2000 they employed innovative technologies develop a functional (though simplified) edition of QuickBooks. QuickBooks Online was a product full of promise because a product shackled in the market's inaccessibility to internet and the populace's general distrust on the security and stability of web-hosted software.

So, for many people years it seemed Intuit sidelined service in favor of the harder lucrative and immediate returns from QuickBooks desktop box sales.

But, Intuit recently began pouring tremendous marketing and R&D dollars behind item or service. At Scaling New Heights 2010 BJ Schaknowski (Director of Intuit's Solution Provider Channel) announced 'big and exciting changes' for QuickBooks Online coming very speedily. I can an individual (with Intuit's permission) these types of developments are under way and in addition do show incredible promise for the application. The additions of inventory, payroll processing and an SDK across the past few years are only a sign of Intuit's overall investment in the product.

Joe's Projection

There are still 147,000 subscribers to QuickBooks Online. I project in the year 2020 Intuit could have over thousands of users of QuickBooks Online - representing at least 20% with the QuickBooks member list.

What Intuit Must do to Get There

Employ AJAX technology that permits you to the user to move throughout merchandise with multiple open records. In other words, the user needs regarding able commence creating an invoice, call a customer list and then navigate in order to the invoice without saving the invoices or losing their knowledge.

Allow consumer to view multiple screens at must not time - even if doing so requires them to open the screens in new browser windows/tabs.

Significantly improve the product's internal reporting knowledge.

Increase database scalability so users can:

Upload the entire QuickBooks data. Currently the database must be no more than 70MB to upload the information to QuickBooks online.

Support databases well over 1GB - or even 10 GB bigger.

Support at least 30 simultaneous users.

Expand the feature set, their general, so QuickBooks desktop users:

Lose paul the octopus than 10-15% of capabilities of QuickBooks desktop when migrating to QuickBooks Online

Enjoy features that aren't available in QuickBooks desktop - features that will lure the desktop user to the web-based edition.

QuickBooks Hosting

In my estimation hosting is Intuit's strongest and most immediate critical for the cloud movement. Television . is fully developed it really is readily available within this market. And, Intuit's current desktop product is fully supported in a hosted environment without any R&D on Intuit's half.

Intuit's titans leverage hosting technology require no projection - and also the ability to see their direction with hosting requires no significant insight. It is happening even due to the fact write this article - with Right Networks way outside in front of other hosting providers.

Right Networks is clearly the leading hosting clients are a new program recently established by Intuit known as Intuit Commercial Hosting Tv show.

So, practical question is not if Intuit will leverage hosting engineering science. The question is the place where they can perform so. Hypothesis the partnership approach could be the direction Intuit is taking at struggle to function.

Why wouldn't Intuit simply build individual hosting tools? They could - certainly - but I do not project that may happen. Their corporate direction at this moment is squarely focused on the development of 'true' web-hosted products/platforms (as described in the sections below). Also, hosting is outside their core business model, will divert R&D dollars from various other pressing cloud strategies (detailed below) and will, typically the end, not generate very much profit as building partnerships with existing hosting makers.

Joe's Projection

The QuickBooks hosting industry is a key strategic technology for both Intuit and it's customers. I believe this technology will remain the cornerstone of Intuit's cloud strategy until leastwise the year 2020 in which Intuit will leverage third parties (and predominantly Right Networks) in an Intuit managed ecosystem through at least the next 5 extended.

Chances Intuit will build their own hosting technology within your next 10 years - 20%.

Chances they'll partner with existing owners -100% (already happening).

What Intuit Must Do today Get There

Absolutely virtually. Intuit is already leveraging hosting technology who has already made hosting technology the cornerstone of its current cloud strategy for QuickBooks financial software. In doing my opinion Intuit will be extremely successful with its current hosting strategies if they:

Effectively regulate - even though over-regulate - hosting of QuickBooks by third party companies.

Empower as compared to compete their own third party hosting partners

Ensure the Intuit Web Connector remains 'hosting friendly' so hosted users can fully leverage the array of web-hosted products that integrate with QuickBooks.

Use hosting as a starting location for a larger cloud strategy that leverages web-hosted employment applications.

Cloud Applications that Integrate with QuickBooks

As using the hosting model, this method is already underway and it can be clear Intuit is creating a tremendous purchase of web-applications that synchronize light and portable QuickBooks desktop database (.QBW).

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This can be a two prong strategy for Intuit:

Cloud applications developed by, acquired by or branded by Intuit. Intuit is actively (and aggressively) acquiring cloud applications, developing cloud applications and branding cloud applications as part of something to seed a growing community of cloud users from its extensive QuickBooks desktop user base. Some examples include:

Intuit Field Service Management ES (branded application developed by Corrigo)

Intuit Proline Practice Management (Intuit developed - Pilot)

Intuit Shared Booked (Intuit developed - Pilot)

Intuit Online Payroll (Acquisition of PayCycle)

Intuit QuickBooks Connect (Intuit developed)

Intuit A merchant account

Cloud applications developed by third persons. This strategy is absolutely nothing new for Intuit. Others have been developed web-based applications that tie to QuickBooks combined with the 1990s. Creating the most recent years these web-hosted applications have begun dominating a lot of the any such market. This presents a viable, diverse and highly scalable slate of cloud alternatives users of QuickBooks computer system. Perhaps the most game-changing solution on market place is a supplement called Method (http://www.methodintegration.com). Method stores the QuickBooks data in specific to it web-hosted SQL database and synchronizes this database with the QuickBooks database real time using a proprietary synchronization utility. Effectively, QuickBooks desktop begins operate as both a desktop application together web-hosted application simultaneously (within the limits of Intuit's SDK), while the web-hosted application is highly scalable and supports an unlimited number of simultaneous targeted prospects.

The Intuit Partner Platform (IPP)

Web-hosted applications that integrate with QuickBooks are just part belonging to the strategy. Intuit is making a much larger play within the space - the advancement a platform on which third parties can host their QuickBooks-integrated applications.

I believe the IPP is Intuit's largest web-based initiative - larger than QuickBooks Online, larger than its strategic relationships with third parties and even larger than its own cloud based applications.

The IPP is not unlike the Apple App Center. In fact a highly marketed Intuit App Center (branded name) is one of the benefits of developing an application on the Intuit program.

Without going to alot of technical detail (which is outside the scope of this forward-thinking article), developers can build their applications on Intuit's platform using Intuit's proprietary code (native applications) or discovered that build their applications through standard technologies like Java, .NET, PHP, etc. (federated applications). Native and federated applications obtain same marketing and service benefits.

Intuit's play here is multi-faceted:

Intuit manages all billings for the developer and passes 80% through towards the developer. Intuit keeps the 20% as a fee for hosting the application and a fee for your marketing benefits and billing services they offer.

Intuit develops and supports a sync engine that pushes the QuickBooks user's database to as much as the reasoning. The user can then subscribe to as many IPP applications as they like without the necessity to perform additional synchronizations. It's a tremendous help to both the QuickBooks user and the IPP web developers.

Intuit has the ability to provide an array of cloud based applications because of its over four million desktop users while developing and supporting a single 'product' - the IPP platform. Economically, Intuit is capable of benefit on the collective progress of hundreds (or soon turn out to be thousands?) of web-hosted purposes. So, through the IPP, Intuit is establishing itself as one of the main (soon regarding the leading?) provider of cloud technology to the SMB in a fraction times required through more convention means of product development and purchase.

As a lot more people QuickBooks users store their QuickBooks data on their local computers and on Intuit's servers simultaneously, Intuit will slowly transition its user base functionally and psychologically from your desktop really like the foriegn. I'm not sure what form lessons take, although i can see at least two possible scenarios in the following 5 to 10 years:

Intuit develops a new web hosted General Ledger and reporting solution that plays implementingwithin its existing IPP ecosystem. In this scenario Intuit will believe its big IPP applications to manage front end activities like receivables, payables, time management, expense management, etc.

Intuit strengthens both the capabilities of QuickBooks As well as the integration of QuickBooks Online with IPP submissions. If done correctly (and thoroughly) Intuit could empower its desktop users to transform to QuickBooks Online from QuickBooks desktop at literally the as easy as pie - and without the requirement to break any connections the user has setup with IPP developed applications.

Joe's Projection

Intuit's cloud strategy can be involve web-hosted applications that integrate with QuickBooks. During the next a very extensive period these web applications will predominantly integrate with QuickBooks desktop - creating hybrid environments derived from both cloud and desktop technology. I believe many QuickBooks users will leverage hosting technologies in conjunction with these web-hosted applications in the coming ten to fifteen years as a way to fully leverage the cloud.

Then, via the year 2020 I project Intuit will start to get a fundamental mass of users who operate on the combination of whatever web-hosted core application they provide (QuickBooks Online or some back-office IPP database). However, I believe this critical mass will still represent less than 40% of total QuickBooks users.

What Intuit Must Do in order to Get There

Intuit must expand programming options for native applications on IPP and create innovative approaches to lure developers onto the platform as federated applications. I'm sure the Intuit App Center must have over 1,000 market-ready solutions - each with its very own sustainable member list - ahead of the platform could have staying stamina.

Then, Intuit must determine a technique for leveraging distinctive technology in order to much (if not all) of the functionality of QuickBooks desktop. Whatever replacement system they create (QuickBooks Online or constructed new offering) the solution must reside on a remarkably scalable database and must completely integrate with Intuit's own IPP technology.

Overall Conclusions

I believe Intuit is taking the cloud movement very seriously and they believe cloud technology may be the future of both personal and business computing - as shown by the way the company is investing tremendous dollars in developing, expanding and acquiring cloud technologies. As long as they invest their resources carefully, Intuit will maintain its position even though the leader in SMB accounting technology, they'll also expand their reach into other areas of small business operations.

Through the IPP Intuit is ultimately working in order to be in the platform business - a web-based 'operating system' as they say - looked for represents a crucial and highly significantly growth of reach for a company whose DNA is firmly rooted in the management of economic information.

The great unknown is actually Intuit will certainly be a successful web-hosted platform company. They have the drive, and however continuing to increase the quality of their platform, and definitely will that be adequate?

Intuit's failure or success in this critical cloud strategy will perhaps enjoy the greatest impact on the 'Intuit World of Tomorrow.'