The Future: Big Corporations Become Distributors for Small Business Apps
by Anita Campbell – January 21, 2009 at 1:20 am · Filed under Information Architecture, Web 2.0
We’ve seen the future for small business developers of software apps – and it’s having the big guys distribute your app on their platform.
What Wal-Mart did for entrepreneurial inventors of new consumer products … what Amazon did for authors of new books … and what eBay did for antiques dealers and other small etailers – various companies are now doing for developers of software and media applications.
We are seeing large popular products become distribution channels for smaller “satellite” products, through an associated marketplace. These are places where small developers of products can go and more easily find customers and distribute their apps without the costs of developing market channels on their own.
Perhaps the highest profile apps distribution platform is Apple with its Apps Store.
USAToday has an article about how application developers are using the iPhone as a way to get noticed. And it’s more than just getting PR or visibility – they’re making money, too. App developers are clamoring to get in to the App Store because they get results. For instance, Pandora, the online radio service, is reported to get 40% of its new subscribers from the iPhone. And it’s all because Apple makes it easy with its Apps Store – easy for both end users and developers.
But iPhone apps are just a start.
RIM, makers of the ubiquitous BlackBerry, recently announced that it is accepting developer applications for its new Application Storefront, which will allow BlackBerry users to download software applications to their BlackBerry devices.
Google has a similar opportunity in the works for its Android Market, a marketplace of apps for its new Android phone.
And it doesn’t stop with mobile devices. No – software apps are also being distributed online through centralized venues. Of course, we’ve long had places like Tucows and Download.com, where if you had a small piece of shareware or a low-priced software app, you could distribute it.
But now ecosystems are developing, with apps designed to work with particular products such as the iPhone.
The Intuit Marketplace is one of the highest profile examples of a marketplace for SaaS software applications. It’s more than just a marketplace, but is actually a platform that helps developers cost effectively build hosted online applications. By participating in the Intuit Partner Progam, Intuit tells developers of B2B software they can “Easily build Intuit Workplace Apps and then sell them to our millions of small business customers.” Intuit goes on to say it’s … “The fastest & easiest way to build your SaaS business – without the hassle of building your own server, database, and billing infrastructure.”
Intuit allows you to use their QuickBase infrastructure to develop the application. They make it easy to integrate with the flagship Intuit product, QuickBooks. They host the application for you. You pay only for the resources you use. And they’ll even provide a platform at the Intuit Marketplace so you can sell your app to the 4 million small business customers that Intuit has.
Currently in the Intuit Marketplace Workplace Apps collection there appear to be hundreds of applications available. For more, read the review by Alex Criss of the Partner Platform and the Intuit Marketplace.
Small businesses have seen the future, and it’s about partnering with the big guys to develop, host and distribute your software application as a service.
January 22, 2009 by robmayer · 1 CommentFiled under: Uncategorized
SlideRocket is building a marketplace of content and services for presentations. Stock photography, cartoons, custom fonts, music and fx, maps, illustrations, video, flash animations all of which can be quickly acquired and integrated into your slides right within the application. On the other side of the marketplace are services like graphic design, copy writing, printing, rentals etc. Think of it as the iTunes for presentations.