Intuit Apps Showcase is Today!

We're showcasing SOS Inventory (formerly OE Companion) at the Intuit Apps Showcase today. We'd love for you to watch. The demos will be streamed live at http://appcenter.intuit.com. We'll be showing off some of the exciting new features that we've recently added to the product.

The online audience will get to vote for their favorite app. Just like American Idol, be sure to vote early and vote often. :-)

Update on the New Release

Last month I mentioned a new update to OE Companion that was planned for late April. With our upcoming release on the Intuit Workplace (and the IPP, as mentioned in my last post), we've decided to push back the April release just a bit. We're going to integrate the two releases and make them available to the public in July, with our official launch on the Intuit Workplace.

There are two reasons. First, we want to make one smooth transition for all of our customers. We don't want you to have to migrate multiple times or even to have decide whether or not to migrate multiple times. That is particularly important for our ProAdvisor audience, as their clients will be affected. The second reason is that we are still a small company. We don't want to spread ourselves too thin by trying to support too many releases at once. It's better to keep them integrated.

If you are someone who has been waiting for the features in the new release, please email us at support@oecompanion.com. We'll talk through options with you, and we might be able to upgrade your account only.

We're a Finalist in Intuit's IPP App Showcase!

We found out late last week that the new version of our app, which will be available later this summer on the Intuit Partner Platform, is a finalist for the IPP App Showcase. You can read more about the contest here: http://ipp.intuit.com/Overview.html

Basically we'll present a demo of our app later this summer and compete against other finalists. I think we'll have a very strong offering in inventory and order management, especially given our tight integration with QuickBooks Online. Thank you to all of our users who have contributed suggestions to the product over the past two years. You are the ones who have made our product great!

Major Update Later This Month

OE Companion is getting a facelift. By the end of April, we'll release an optional beta version of a major upgrade to the software that you can use if you wish. Sometime around the beginning of June, we'll upgrade every customer to the new version automatically. This is a very exciting time for us. We've learned a lot about what you want our product to do, and we've spent over a year recasting the software to better meet your needs. Here are just a few of the major items coming soon:

• Serial number tracking.


• Multi-location capabilities.


• Shipping integration.


• Faster, sleeker user interface.


• Detailed control over user permissions.

This is just the beginning. We're moving our software to the next level. It's been a long time coming, and we appreciate your patience, support, and your trust. Stay tuned for an exciting 2011.

Purchase Orders now in QuickBooks Online

Recently Intuit added basic purchase order capabilities to QuickBooks Online. We're thrilled about that, as it shows that the QuickBooks Online product continues to mature. Personally I hope that they eventually make it as strong as the QuickBooks desktop product or even stronger. It would just be nice if they updated their online SDK to match their desktop SDK. But that's a topic for a different post.

The purchase order and inventory functionality in QuickBooks Online costs $9.95 per month. OE Companion remains $19.95 per month. So for only $10 extra, you get all the additional functionality provided by OE Companion. That's quite a bargain, and it will be an even better bargain in the near future because ...

The beta release of our new version is coming very soon. I'll post later with more details of the upcoming features along with information on how to participate in the beta.

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Happy Holidays from OE Companion

This has been a wonderful year for OE Companion. This time last year, we were still writing code needed to create a marketable product. Now we have not only a solid product but also a rapidly growing user base.

We are working on a major overhaul of OE Companion. Over the first half of next year, we will release many of our most-requested features. We're also redesigning the user interface to make it much more user-friendly. Whereas 2009 was simply about getting a product into the market, 2010 is about making an amazing product.

Thanks to everyone for making this a great year, and happy holidays to you and your family!