Intuit's Web Application Platform: Great For Business Users. Revenue For Developers

For several years, Intuit has had a Quickbooks marketplace wherein developers could create and sell add-ons to Intuit Quickbooks.

Recently, Intuit created a new offering Federated Applications, which enables Web applications built with any programming language, database or cloud computing resource to be easily published to the Intuit Workplace and marketed to the nearly 25 million employees in small businesses that use QuickBooks.

Developers with existing applications need only to configure their application to connect with Intuit’s PaaS, rather than having to re-write them.

Instead of just using PC-based applications that serve as add-ons or otherwise with Quickbooks you can take advantage of a huge range of hosted applications that are seamlessly integrated into Quickbooks.

When you visit Intuit Workplace you'll see a designation for those applications that are Federated Applications. Applications without this designation will not have to adhere to the Federated Application standards, such as having one logon.

Intuit's Federated Applications have the following traits.

Data: Federated Applications that want to integrate with Intuit Partner Platform data must program against APIs provided by Intuit to enable data synchronization.

Login: A Federated Identity Web API allows users to use their Intuit Workplace login credentials to access the Federated Applications within Intuit Workplace.

User management and permissions: Intuit provides developers with a Web API so that their application can handle processes such as inviting additional users to their application.

Navigation: Developers with existing SaaS applications may have to make minor User Interface adjustments, such as removing sign-in/sign-out links within their solutions. The Intuit Workplace provides this in its toolbar to provide users a seamless experience between applications.

If you use Quickbooks and want to get more out of Quickbooks check out Intuit's Workplace.

If you're a developer looking for a new market for your applications Intuit's Workplace deserves a serious look in addition to iphone and Facebook marketplaces.

tags: apps , intuits , quickbooks | 0 comments