* Autotask offers 'Professional Services Automation'
Over the last few years there has been a slow but growing migration from supporting critical business functions internally to using Web-based ASP-style hosted business application services.
According to my crystal ball, this trend is going to accelerate over 2005. The logic is obvious: For all but the largest of businesses running complex applications, in-house is simply not cost-effective. If you are a small to midsize business then installing, deploying, configuring, managing, and upgrading large-scale business critical
applications in-house represents a huge overhead.
A business application platform I just learned about exemplifies the depth of business services that these ASPs are offering. Autotask’s eponymous Autotask product targets professional service companies with fewer than 250 employees. Autotask describes its product as “Professional Services Automation,” a good tag for the basic services that underpin most business operations.
Autotask’s core features include CRM, Project Tracking, Project Portfolio Management, Contract Management and Billing, Time and Expense Management, and Customer Service and Support.
There are also two groups of add-on extensions for Autotask. The free extensions include AutotaskAlert, which monitors queues and a personal task list; AutotaskConnect for Microsoft Project, which supports importing of projects created in Microsoft Project directly into Autotask; Autotask Data eXchange (ADX), which imports customer lists, leads, prospects, contacts and so on into Autotask; and AutotaskExpress, which provides desktop data entry with secure upload to Autotask.
The charged-for extensions are:
* AutotaskInside for Microsoft Outlook, which provides integration of Microsoft Outlook e-mail, calendar items and contacts with the online Autotask service.
* Quote Management Extension, which creates detailed line item quotes that can be e-mailed or mailed.
* Client access features, so that customers can see work in progress, view status reports and create service desk tickets online.
* Employee expense management, which records, submits, approves and tracks expense reports.
* AutotaskConnect for QuickBooks, which supports transfer of billing and payroll data to Intuit QuickBooks in real-time.
* AutotaskConnect for QuoteWerks, which converts quotes into Autotask project plans.
* Online Lead Capture, which captures leads from a Web site directly into Autotask CRM.
Another extension, Autotask for Microsoft Office, provides full online integration of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook with Autotask.
Autotask’s pricing is based on a monthly subscription fee – the company quotes a cost of about $1 per day.
