The agreement with IBM is one of a recent string of deals by the Chicago-based outfit to broaden its services and expand its market presence. The firm in recent months struck a deal with eReliable Commerce Inc., a business-to-business e-commerce services provider, to offer the first private label-version of its online accounting application, and another with global B2B e-commerce platform provider Ariba to develop an online marketplace called PurchaseSource, slated to launch during the fourth quarter.

FiNetrics said it has scored more than 70 clients since it joined the fray of application service providers back in August. ASPs, a software rental service of sorts where users sign up for a monthly subscription service to access Web-based software applications hosted by an outside firm, are springing up in the accounting market like weeds in an untended garden. FiNetrics faces competition in the crowded market from firms such as NetLedger, eLedger, and CPAvenue, to name a few.

Under the agreement with IBM, FiNetrics will become one of 70 Premier IBM Business Partners in IBM's Service Provider for E-Business Initiative. As part of the agreement, FiNetrics will receive marketing, education and sales support to assist in the delivery of value-added e-business services based on IBM solutions. FiNetrics will provide training and sales support to IBM's global sales and marketing teams to extend FiNetrics' reach into the small- to mid-sized business market. The alliance also allows FiNetrics to establish a presence on IBM's SMB websites, and to jointly market the FiNetrics and IBM solutions through promotional vehicles including direct marketing, advertising, web seminars and customer events, the company said.

The firm's AccountingSource offering includes OutNumber, a scalable Web-enabled accounting application powered by mySAP.com; and two components powered by Arthur Andersen: OutPut, a financial outsourcing solution, and OutSmart, controller-level consulting services.

OutNumber will be hosted on IBM e-business technology. As part of FiNetrics standardizing on IBM technology for OutNumber, all FiNetrics customer data will be maintained on IBM's Shark Enterprise Storage solution, the company said.

The firm has lowered the pricing on OutNumber to $19.95 per user per month, down from $49.95 per month announced during its August launch.

-- SmartPros News Staff

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