Joe Dwyer, owner and President of Dwyer Technology recently joined the Intuit Partner Platform team at the Adobe MAX Conference in San Francisco. As an existing Silver IDN developer with an active QuickBooks SDK application currently on the Intuit Marketplace called MobileBiz (an app enabling customers to take their QuickBooks anywhere they go via their mobile phone) and as one of the early adopters of the Intuit Partner Platform with a new Workplace application, we took the opportunity to talk to Joe about his experience on building his new app, TriggerConnect, on Intuit Partner Platform.
What is your new IPP application for the Intuit Workplace?
My application is called TriggerConnect is the fastest and easiest way for a customer to keep up to date with team members working on client projects. It is available as a beta on the Intuit Workplace. With TriggerConnect workers can update each other on all the latest client happenings in a “twitter-like” way, as well as attach photos and other documents for all to access.
The information from TriggerConnect is attached to your existing QuickBooks customer records enabling a single place to view the latest customer updates and contact information, without limiting access to only those that use QuickBooks on a day to day basis.
So, Joe: How long did it take you to build the app?
With the benefits of the Intuit Partner Platform, TriggerConnect went from concept to product launch in six weeks.
OK…So, what was your Flex learning curve?
Our expertise is in building applications that integrate with QuickBooks, but we had minimal Flex expertise at the start. Having several good Flex books and utilizing resources on the web was definitely a good help and we now consider ourselves well versed in the Flex language and techniques.
How was your transition to the Intuit Partner Platform from the traditional QuickBooks SDK?
The transition to the IPP from the traditional QuickBooks SDK was made easier because we have experience building dozens of applications that integrate with QuickBooks using the traditional SDK. So, we know the data model of QuickBooks well and it made it easier to transition to the IPP. Having servers, hosting, registration, and billing all setup by the IPP also removed a large development and ongoing infrastructure cost from our implementation.
You are also available to help other developers build on IPP?
DwyerTech exists to build applications that integrate with QuickBooks. We do this both for companies wanting to have a certified application they can sell, and for those that simply want to eliminate data entry within QuickBooks. Doing this within the Intuit Partner Platform will enable us to have more flexibility and deliver working SaaS applications at less cost to our ISV customers. Being one of the first developers to jump into IPP enables us to work closely with Intuit to make sure we have the core expertise and understand the framework to the deepest level.
We’re looking forward to enabling companies to be more efficient and automated through the use of their existing QuickBooks and the IPP. We have several initiatives that include mobile applications, e-commerce integration, and improved communication within small businesses. The IPP is a perfect solution for our company as it enables us to focus on the application logic and remove the issues and cost of hosting data in “the cloud”.
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You can see a video of the TriggerConnect in action or try the Beta of the app directly within the Intuit Workplace.
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