Intuit announces cloud products for Quickbooks

Last month, Intuit announced a new cloud computing strategy that would target mid-market businesses already using Quickbooks to manage their finances. Today, the company announced a suite of applications that will connect with Quickbooks to link finances with sales, warehouse and field operations.

The company said that its mid-market users - those with less than 500 employees - have been asking specifically for these types of products for them. They're looking for ways to get the different arms of the business - purchase orders and invoices, for example, to connect with things like inventory and distribution channels. And by handling it in the cloud, the data can be updated and accessed in real-time by people working in the various divisions.

I questioned Intuit about the stability of the cloud with business-critical data like this - after all, we've seen some problems with big-names working in the cloud, including Amazon and Google. But Intuit quickly countered that they had a solid reputation with managing other data in the cloud that's just as sensitive and valuable, if not more: our income tax returns, via the online version of Turbo Tax. That's a good argument. I've used the tax software and have no complaints.

The sales program was built by Intuit while the warehouse management software is powered by AccuCode and the field service software is powered by Corrigo. The suite will be released next month. Pricing has not yet been released.