Intuit Gets Dynamic with QuickBase

Intuit refreshed its Web-based QuickBase application on Wednesday by adding new forms technology, charts, and user dashboards. The enhancements are designed to make configuring and using QuickBase faster and easier than previous versions, according to the company. QuickBase, which Intuit says is used by about half of the Fortune 100, now boasts Dynamic Forms, which allow users to set up forms with point-and-click ease. These forms change as new information becomes available. In a sales management database, for example, forms will now require salespeople to answer buyer qualification questions if the status field changes to "contacted." QuickBase now also includes new chart types and dashboards, which display actions the user needs to take. The features are supported by Intuit's packaged solutions as well. The Manage Your Sales Team pack, for example, uses the new dashboards to post to-do action lists for reps and managers. "QuickBase now has the ability to be configured by business users, the people who know the workflow best," says Jana Eggers, general manger of Intuit QuickBase. "Each new feature increases their workgroup's productivity with applications that fit naturally into their existing workflows." With a starting monthly price of $249 for 10 users, and Intuit's longtime focus on the SMB segment for accounting, the enhancements to QuickBase fall right in line with the company's strategy of creating easy-to-use applications. "Intuit's strengths are its ease of use and the ubiquity of its presence," says Sanjeev Aggarwal, SMB strategies senior analyst at Yankee Group. Aggarwal also says that Intuit's customers are likely to stick with the company as they grow "because of seamless upgradeability from one Intuit product to the next," a key feature for any company looking to target SMBs. Despite the company's claim that about half of Fortune 100 companies use QuickBase, results from a recent Yankee Group report show that QuickBooks dominates very small businesses (two to 19 employees) with 68 percent market penetration, and 37 percent of small businesses. "The SMB market is their bread and butter," Aggarwal says. Related articles: Secret of my Success: Getting More for the Money The Girl Scouts Unite Behind Order Tracking