QuickBase Targets Enterprise Deployments
Team collaboration platform and services addresses IT requirements
Intuit Inc.’s QuickBase unit is targeting enterprise IT concerns with its a new Enterprise Edition, a Web 2.0 team collaboration platform designed for business teams and providing visibility and control IT executives need to manage enterprise-wide deployments in large companies. New services, pricing, and support offerings were announced.
“End users’ demand for customization and IT’s need for centralization are at polar opposites today,” said Josh Holbrook, program manager of enterprise research at Yankee Group, in an Intuit statement. “QuickBase is unique in the way it bridges that gap by focusing on the needs of both without compromising what's important to either. IT now has the control it needs, while end users have the flexibility they desire.”
QuickBase provides a platform from which workgroups can create an unlimited number of custom applications that automate business processes or improve collaboration. Users can select from hundreds of pre-defined templates or design an application from scratch.
“The software-as-a-service market is changing from one-size-fits-all, IT-provided applications to customized workgroup applications built by the end user,” said Bill Lucchini, vice president and general manager of Intuit QuickBase. Lucchini says the product is used by more than half of the Fortune 100.
That market acceptance showed the company it could be successful at the workgroup level. Developers incorporated feedback from dozens of CIOs for improvements that balanced IT and user needs. “We’re confident that these new enhancements will help knock down the internal barriers that could stop the spread of QuickBase inside a company and create exciting new enterprise growth opportunities for QuickBase,” Lucchini continued.
QuickBase Enterprise Edition provides several features designed for IT managers, including better insight into usage and tighter security. The product’s Administrator Operations Center displays QuickBase usage within the company, allowing users to find and remove inactive users, keep track of all traffic accessing applications, and identify potential security risks by knowing who is accessing confidential company information whether inside and outside the company. The tool can monitoring user, space, and attachment limits by application and application manager.
Other key applications and features targeting the enterprise include:
Centralized Policy and Administration screens setting of corporate passwords and security policies %%LDAP Integration lets IT integrate QuickBase with existing corporate directory sign in and access rules
IP Address Filtering helps enforce corporate data security policy; only authorized internal users can access QuickBase from the intranet or when connected by VPN
Centralized user management helps IT manage application access across a large numbers of user
QuickBase Enterprise customers receive premium services, including expedited technical support call-backs and quarterly reviews with a dedicated support engineer. The company says an enterprise can roll out QuickBase to 500 users for as little as $1,800 per month. Larger volume discounts are also available. For more information, visit http://www.quickbase.com
About the Author
James E. Powell is the former editorial director of Enterprise Strategies (esj.com).