Intuit and IBM?

Guest post by Michelle Rehak, IBM Marketing Manager – Smart Market

When you think of IBM you think of a big company who serves other big companies. So today, when I saw that IBM had partnered with Intuit, I took notice. Intuit, the QuickBooks folks have taken their largest solution: QuickBooks Enterprise designed for small and mid sized businesses, and worked with IBM to deliver this application on an IBM Smart Cube. The idea is that both companies can offer a turn key, plug and play solution without all the hassle typically associated with managing IT.

IBM has been working with other ISV’s offering them the chance to showcase their application on IBM’s Smart Market. All the applications on this market run on a Smart Cube and can be managed / monitored via a Smart Desk which offers incredibly simple administration. All this comes with security and technical support for the application and the Smart Cube it runs on. And since the Cube is connected via the cloud, IBM diagnostics are easy and software downloads are automatic. QuickBooks Enterprise is a new application on the market for companies who want a robust business management application without the complexity and robust price.

Will this be accepted by the market? Well the price is OK at $8000 for the application and Smart Cube that it runs on. And the companies are delivering it via a group of business partners that provide the “whole” solution so this should make it easier for customers. Check out the details and let me know what you think.

http://www.ibm.com/smartmarket/us/en/press/press_intuit_announcement.html

Some more press stories on the news: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=18327

So, what the heck is IBM Smart Market?

I’ll be honest with you — when my good friend and a fellow collegue Teri Michigan, introduced me to IBM Smart Market concept last year, I was impressed and a bit doubtful as well. I thought it sounded little too good to be true. The concept called for a business marketplace which could be as easy to use as amazon.com or Apple’s iPhone app store.  I honestly didn’t think that the site could mimic the great usability factor which is often witnessed in consumer oriented sites like amazon.com or Apple’s App store. C’mon, a business marketplace that is as easy to use as a consumer commerce site? You have got to be kidding..

To my surprise, I was proven wrong. The marketplace is online and wow, even my grandmother can use it. But before we get really excited, I wasn’t fully satisfied with initial number of applications that are offered right now.  When I went back to the IBM Smart Market team, I was *assured* that they are being added all the time (as applications get approved etc). Another little pet peeve, unlike amazon.com, commerce is not 100% online yet, (possibly due to technical requirements/customization) – but a link where IBM can contact the application vendor to get in touch with the customer. This would be tracked accordingly to ensure quality experience. However, I do believe that this process will be further streamlined in the near future.

According to Smart Market site ,

IBM Smart Business is a new, easier way for small and midsize organizations to find, buy and manage all of the applications they need to run a smarter business.

The marketplace allows ISVs to publish their applications for the platform, and customers will have the assurance that everything available will work, from the start — without any compatiblity problems. In other words, there is no need to figure out what will work or what will not work with your system, everything on the site is guaranteed to work on the Smart Market business platform a.k.a Smart Cube. The Cube includes all kinds of software (operating system, database, systems management software etc).

I am also impressed with the implementation of the community powered rating system, much like iPhone Store, Amazon and others, which allows you to rate the best applications as well. Good work Smart Market Team. Kudos!

In the mean time, check out the IBM Technical White Paper . In conclusion, I was wrong and it is very much aligned with the idealogy that follows the Lotus Foundations platform — simple, easy and efficient. Take the tour today!