One of my ongoing themes is for SaaS providers to show real value-add with their products. Simply moving an application to an on-demand model, while easing some pain points, doesn’t really capitalize on the value of a fully connected platform.

It’s for this reason that developments like Intaccts integration with Track 1099, a provider of automated filing of 1099 forms, gets me excited. I’ve been peripherally involved in some projects in New Zealand that aim to enable small businesses to automatically perform a number of central Government filing requirements – this is a service that is perfectly aligned with the twin facets of centralized/single version software and a data source that leverages web APIs.

One needs only look t the time taken to manually file tax forms to see how an automated and connected system can save huge amounts of time and money, freeing business up to focus on their core business. As I wrote recently in a Rackspace supported whitepaper;

Cloud Computing allows organizations to focus on their core business and abstract responsibility for what are essentially commodity services to a third party. It is the contention of the author that IT departments should be performing highly strategic work – basic maintenance of infrastructure is both a negative drain on their time but also arguably something that is better achieved by highly skilled specialists rather than the generalists

This is even more the case for routine tasks which are essentially of a clerical nature – where errors and omissions can be readily made. Congratulations to Intacct and Track 1099 for showing where the value can lie.