I just completed my Registration for Web2.0 here in San Francisco.  Bill and I then snuck in to see our QuickBase booth and check out all the other exhibitor’s spots.  What a set-up!  It should be an exciting couple of days and I’m looking forward to showing off some of the early developer apps we already have running from last week’s announcement of the QuickBase Developer Program. 

 So stop by our booth, say hi, and check out the apps.  I’ll be attending a bunch of the sessions as well and twittering (@acce) the QuickBase experience. 

Today we have announced a new developer program and toolkit for Adobe Flex in  beta.  This is huge news for us, and I want to take a moment and talk about what it is that we are doing.
The QuickBase Development Program is our Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering, that allows independent software developers to build their own custom solutions on top of QuickBase using Adobe Flex.
We really think it’s the best, easiest way for a developer to build their own Software as a Service business. Why?

• It’s an extremely fast development platform. Our customers know how fast it is to build QuickBase applications with sophisticated functionality. Flex is a great front-end for QuickBase; it runs on almost any browser, any operating system, and allows for rich, expressive user experiences.
• The QuickBase platform pre-solves a lot of the drudgework with creating a new offering. Every web app needs - login authentication, user and role permissioning, database access, reports,  an open API, etc.
• Our pricing model. We charge developers based on the resources they use.  Our goal is to keep the pricing low enough to enable developers to release products that can be competitive in the market, and not have to charge a lot per user just to cover their expenses.
• Developers can set their own price, but we take care of the billing. This is actually a huge pain in the neck for developers. Handling financial transactions securely and well can be a time sink for a small organization, especially if they see some success… We already know how to do this, and take away this pain. We’ll bill and collect from your customers, subtract the resource usage, and pay the difference.
• Integration with QuickBooks data – The architecture takes care of QuickBooks integration to these new applications, synching of customers, vendors and employees.
• Access to millions of potential customers.  One difficulty of any new release is to get access to customers. These new applications will be listed on the Intuit Solutions Marketplace, which reaches millions of small businesses looking for QuickBooks add-ons.

We are not charging for the developer program; no fee to join; no fee to list an application with us when it’s ready. We really want the program to be for everyone who has a dream, and some ability to code (or to find someone who can code). Space is limited for our beta, though, and we are taking requests now. Check out our developer program page for more information.

I’ve been meaning to write for a while now on some my recent conversations about QuickBase with CIO’s and IT managers – but I didn’t know if folks would believe me.   When I started at QuickBase 4+ years ago, SaaS barely existed and concepts like having someone else host your data and having end users build their own business applications was heresy to all but the most “enlightened CIO” (read: daring, bold, visionary, crazy). 

But in the past 6 months, I’ve had fantastic conversations with IT folks who are pushing SaaS throughout their organization and pushing us to deliver even more for them.  The response to our QuickBase Enterprise Edition has been exciting and I can feel the momentum building.  It seems we’ve found the right balance between delivering for the needs of IT (visibility, security, reliability, etc.) and the Business user (customization, fast deployment, adoption, ROI).  The industry and the mindsets have evolved and we’re in the right place at the right time!

But don’t take my word for it.  Check out some excepts by Jeff Kaplan’s (from Think IT Services) review of SaasCon this week:

“…when SaaScon opened its doors on Tuesday morning there were over 900 registrants, approximately three times last year’s attendance…

Getting this many IT decision-makers to attend SaaScon clearly shows they no longer view SaaS as something they can ignore or try to avoid. In fact, each of the speakers, as well as those IT managers who I talked to, said they now view SaaS as a potential solution to many of their IT management needs rather than a threat to their jobs….

“The CIOs who spoke at SaaScon represented a major endorsement of the SaaS concept and the conference attendees proved that IT is getting onboard the SaaS bandwagon…”

I got an interesting email from one of our Enterprise Customers, Gerawan Farming, that I thought I’d share.  Here’s an agriculture company leveraging technology to be more accurate and efficient – and it was “easy with QuickBase.”  Feel free to send me stories of ways you’re using QuickBase to create customized SaaS applications for your business.
 -Alex

From: Diego Mendoza & Dan Gerawan
Subject: Scanning Barcodes With QuickBase made easy.

For years we have been stuck with the task of manually writing down information. One of the Major problems is incorrect serial no, part number, misspells or even employee names. With QuickBase we simplified this process. Simply create a Barcode. I use Code 128 because it is a very high-density barcode symbology and used extensively in the product tracking industry. For Barcode creations I use Bartender by Seagull Scientific. Much Like QuickBase, it’s easy to use and you will have professional barcode designs ready in minutes.

We’ve tried numerous barcode scanners in the past and for our tasks we settled with the Wasp USB Model WLR8900. The setup is so easy you will not believe it. Simply Plug it in to an available USB port and let Windows do the rest. It’s that EASY! The Wasp WLR8900 barcode scanner will send Scanned Data to your active on screen Quickbase Application.

Some examples of our use:

Say you want to look up an employee quickly. Simply Scan their employee badge into the lookup field. Or the employee needs to perform a daily audit of a piece of equipment. Simply scan the assigned barcode to the lookup field and it will bring it right up. It’s really that easy.

Have you ever wished you could take a class on QuickBase? Well, now you can.

Intuit QuickBase teams up with Real World Training to deliver instructor-led classes in various cities around the U.S. Real World has been the endorsed trainer for Intuit since 1998. They have a stellar reputation and now expand their offerings to include QuickBase. We couldn’t be happier about it.

The QuickBase class serves anyone who designs and manages applications. Sign up - and bring a few colleagues, too. You’ll learn how to:

• Translate your process into a working QuickBase application
• Tailor an existing or new application to fit your needs exactly
• Customize data-entry forms and dashboards
• Craft reports to share information and get things done
• Have QuickBase email automated notifications, reminders and reports
• Control what viewers can see and do within your application
• Share your applications with colleagues

Each 2-day course includes class dinner with the instructor, a course manual for you take home and a free copy of O’Reilly’s QuickBase: The Missing Manual. Discover how QuickBase can make you, your department, and your company more successful.

Learn QuickBase. Reserve your place today! View schedule and register.

We created a LinkedIn Group dedicated to connecting the Intuit QuickBase Network.  Feel free to join the group and spread the QuickBase love.

So now that I’m all a Twitter (@acce) and Duncan Riley has suggested being in the right network as one of the ways to be on top of the latest news…can anyone recommend some good networks I should be plugging into? Obviously, I’m most interested in Web 2.0 trends, B2B SaaS, Enterprise Collaboration, PaaS, and the Red Sox.