Autotask offers Microsoft small business service providers pre-configured database 27 May, 2008 By Liam Lahey

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The Autotask SMB Edition comes pre-loaded with workflow rules, project templates, service ticket templates, intelligent hyperlinks and sample agreements designed to get users up and running faster, and using best practices developed by Microsoft.

The new SMB Edition retails for $195 (US) as an add-on to Autotask Go!, and $295 as an add-on to Autotask Pro. However, under an exclusive marketing partnership between Autotask and Microsoft, Microsoft SBSC partners qualify to get the new template at no additional cost.

The new template was designed by Microsoft SBSC Autotask users for the SMB Community, officials said.

Stuart R. Crawford, director of business development for Calgary-based IT Matters Inc. -- a Microsoft Certified Business Partner -- said the professional services automation (PSA) market is a growing segment, one that SBSC partners should gravitate towards as those that do would ultimately pack a competitive advantage.

"It's a necessary business application that all IT service providers need today," he said. "Autotask's initiative to offer this to the SBSC will provide partners with leverage in the marketplace. One of the biggest challenges SBSC partners face -- most are only one to three-person operations -- they don't have a lot of cash to invest in something internal.

"PSA is still a choice but within the next 12 to 24 months, those partners with a PSA solution will have a competitive advantage in the marketplace and can actually talk to their clients about it . . . that's the way this business is going. We need to be business consultants and not technicians."

New Autotask customers must identify themselves as Microsoft SBSC partners at the time of initial purchase. After validating their affiliation, Autotask would pre-configure their start-up database with the special SMB Edition templates. Existing Autotask customers that are Microsoft SBSC partners may order comprehensive documentation that would allow them to enter these templates into their own databases, modifying them as necessary to match their existing business processes and workflows. More details can be found at: http://www.autotask.com/smb.

"Some of our customers do not have formalized processes or procedures that are well-documented, so they are starting at ground zero when it comes to configuring the software," said Adam Stewart, vice president, Client Services, Autotask, in a statement. "Small Business Specialists who are new Autotask customers can now get started right away by using these templates either as they are or as a starting point and modifying them later."