I think Intuit has done a pretty good job in balancing the Shrink Wrap version of “Quickbooks Pro” and “QuickBooks Online” (SaaS).

Also, I think that the shrink-wrap version costs much less than the online version if you factor in how often people upgrade a stable software. Even with Intuit tries to force you to upgrade by sending repeated emails and making payroll data obsolete etc.).

I am not sure what it is feature wise but the QBonline pro version costs about $35/month. I am not sure how this is justified as long as you do not need to access it from a different computer at starbucks!

But you know, as I think this through, its not all about selling boxed renewals….I think the magic really happens (and this is just my personal opinion, mind you..) when desktop apps and cloud apps can work together… each can then do what they do best. Intuit already has a lot of these kind of apps out there, BTW…. Merchant Services, Intuit Online Payroll, Time Tracker, Field Services, etc etc are just some examples of our web-based applications that work seamlessly with desktop QuickBooks. They allow the people who are mobile to do their job, but keep the central accounting back in the office where alot of business owners and accountants want it.

As you move forward with this very interesting discussion, I’d love to get your take on the box-cloud approach!

And you know, whatever software you choose -SaaS or box – if it is an Intuit product, you now have a friend at Intuit. 🙂

Alison

I was a actually a product manager of a desktop software product back in the day, so I understand all to well that product iteration is just not possible for native desktop applications (i.e. not running on a framework like Adobe AIR) at the speed of web apps. So, it is a bit unfair to compare release cycles between products like QuickBooks (apples) and Xero or LessAccounting (oranges).

And while this line of thinking (and thus the blog post) started by comparing small business accounting products, it really became a much more theoretical commentary on two very different business models that now happen to be colliding in this space. The above-mentioned hurdles of deploying native desktop software (e.g. regression and compatibility testing) essentially preclude it from being a viable product category for the SaaS business model.

As I said in the original post: “Software as a Service businesses have a much different (and arguably greater) challenge, they need to continue to create value for their customers month after month.” While I’m sure repeat (i.e. upgrade) business is essential to Intuit’s business plan and it is clear through your actions that customer satisfaction is of great importance, the packaged software business model means that pursuit of customer satisfaction is focused on a single channel (i.e. more/better features) — if all you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. On the other hand, SaaS businesses think about and act on customer satisfaction much more broadly. Take this (possibly a bit extreme, but very illustrative) example from FreshBooks – http://blog.mrtweet.net/how-freshbooks-built-an-army-of-evangelists-starting-from-one-special-tweet.

Like I said, it may turn out that packaged software (i.e. QuickBooks) makes more sense for me in this particular circumstance (mostly because of price – $180 vs ~$25/month). But, my point was more that, all other things being equal, I’d rather be a customer of a SaaS business than a packaged goods business.

My role at Intuit is actually to create large training programs for accountants… so most of the folks I know are in fact accountants. But I LOVE speaking with and helping small business owners, because their needs are so much more varied and they don’t always have someone helping them with their books.

So I guess I am saying I do this because it is FUN and I learn alot, and laugh alot, every day. And I do get to help people which for me is very fullfilling.

Now, as to your comment about release dates? Hmmm… you are a little bit right, and a little bit wrong there…… Intuit takes customer feedback VERY seriously, and we use that as a basis for what we put into the next release. I get to give feedback as well, and I relay suggestions back to the Product Management team as I hear of them. So that’s all good. The bottom line is that the PM’s hear what they need to hear, and they factor that in for the next release.

Can I tell you what we are working on though or when we will release your particular feature? No – and this is not because I don’t know… I do know what we are working on because I am very tied in to Engineering, but being a publicly-traded company puts a serious hammer down on anything we can announce. Rev rec rules… All of the companies you mention will face the same issues when they go public BTW – this is not unique to Intuit.

The very BEST WAY to give Intuit product feedback is via the “Give Product Feedback” mechanism in QuickBooks… it is under the Help Menu. If you give feedback that way, your voice is added to others who may be asking for the same feature or enhancement, and the Product Managers will then use that to prioritize what goes into the next release.

Hope this helps, and keep the dialogue coming! And if you do decide to go with QuickBooks you will be in great company. AND, you know who to ping if you have questions!

……and you do know we have an Online version of QuickBooks right? and that it will very shortly work with Firefox and Safari?

Alison Ball, Intuit
twitter: alisonatintuit
email: alison_ball@intuit.com