QuickBooks Online

After Microsoft discontinued its accounting software Microsoft Money, it seemed that the company has lost interest in small business applications and would be satisfied with the fact that small companies use Windows and MS Office. But lately, even Windows and MS Office are under threat in this segment due to the new SaaS services (including Google Apps). That's why Microsoft is now trying to defend its presence on the SMB market. Recently the company announced partnership with Intuit, the developer of most popular accounting program QuickBooks. A couple years ago, Intuit has opened the QuickBooks online version and the platform for developers IPP (something like Force.com). So, this platform together with the huge QuickBooks user base is of course, an excellent channel that Microsoft could use to promote its products on the SMB market.