Intuit having a crack at the UK SaaS market?

The other week I received an email from Intuit‘s UK PR company. I’ll dispense with the amusing fact the author originally thought my name is Martin (I have been called a few things in my life, Martin is not one of them) but she said:

Intuit is just about to launch a beta of a new software offering for the UK and I wondered if you would be interested in participating. Ahead of the launch, anticipated in 2011, Intuit are inviting a selection of small business owners , accountants and journalists to participate in this beta to ensure they’re offering the best service possible before it is launched to the general public. As such beta participants will be asked to perform specific tasks, complete a short survey and tell Intuit what they think.

I’m not that interested and said I would likely give it a spin but only in the interests of research. Not heard back. (sigh)

Next, I get an email from a professional in practice who is told:

Be the first to try QuickBooks Online. And tell us what you think
QuickBooks Online is a quick, easy, and secure bookkeeping tool for your business. It works from any internet-connected PC or Mac, and with no software to download, you can use it anywhere, on any computer.

Only a select few small business owners are being invited to participate in this beta. It’s an exclusive trial so we can ensure we’re offering the best service possible before we launch it to the general public.

Then I see that eagle eyed Duane Jackson reckons it has arrived. But here’s the kicker from Intuit’s site:

We’re charging a small amount each month for the QuickBooks Online Beta. This lets us test the sign up process properly, so we can be sure it’s easy to use. The beta is scheduled to last for around three months.

Once the beta period finishes, we’ll send you a £20 Amazon gift certificate to say thanks for taking part – as long as you’ve been an active participant². (The best participants will get certificates worth up to £200, so it pays to get involved!³)

At the end of the beta, if we decide to roll out the full version of QuickBooks Online, you’ll automatically be moved to the full version of the QuickBooks Online service you selected during the beta, if and until you cancel. (You can cancel by sending an email tobetauk@intuit.com.)

We’ll automatically charge you the current price of the service you’ve selected. Terms, conditions, pricing, service and support are subject to change without notice.

[My emphasis added.] Oh dear…questions for Intuit:

1. So which is it? Am I and a ‘selection of….’ potentially part of a beta or is it a free for all?
2. Should I trust my data to a service that may – or may not – materialise?
3. Why would I pay to test your sign up process? Didn’t you do enough of your own testing? (assuming that’s the truth in the first place)
4. What safeguards are in place to ensure that a catastrophic outage of the kind reported in June do not occur for UK users?

Once again we see a traditional vendor not understanding what it means to offer a SaaS/cloud service. Whomever were their advisors need taking out the back and given a good thrashing with a cluestick.