Intuit to Push Azure, Microsoft Online

Intuit will promote applications built on Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform, as well as the Microsoft Online suite of hosted applications for communication and collaboration, to its developer partners and to customers of its popular QuickBooks small business accounting software. The partnership, announced shortly after the commercial launch of Azure in Jan. 2010, could attract developers to the Azure platform, small businesses to Microsoft Online services, and Azure developers to Intuit.

The Intuit Partner Platform

The Microsoft deal involves the Intuit Partner Platform (IPP), which was introduced in 2008 and provides a way for third-party developers to build and host “software as a service” (SaaS) applications that might appeal to QuickBooks customers. QuickBooks is used mostly by small and midsize businesses, and Intuit claims 4 million customers, including 250,000 accountants. Partners have built more than 30 applications on the IPP, covering common business management functions, such as expense reporting, customer management, and project management, but also more general business functions, such as Web conferencing and sending faxes by e-mail.