As part of its growing Smart Business strategy, IBM said it would offer Smart Cube appliances that integrate specific software components that are easier to run and manage than traditional servers and PCs. The appliances can be set up in minutes to get applications running quickly, as opposed to hours or days for traditional servers.

As part of the strategy, the company on Tuesday will announce that it has partnered with Intuit to deliver an appliance that integrates IBM's hardware with Intuit's QuickBooks financial software. Once powered up, the appliance and software can be set up and configured in four steps, IBM said.

The software is targeted at small and medium-sized business that want to quickly integrate software into their business environment at minimal expense, IBM said.

Starting at less than US$8,000, Smart Cubes are an inexpensive option to get an integrated hardware, software and services package compared to traditional servers, said Matt Friedman, vice president of strategy and marketing for IBM Smart Business. The combined effort of buying the server and software, and setting up back-up and security features could end up costing more, he said.

After set up, Smart Cube appliances are remotely monitored by IBM, which tracks their health and pushes out software patches and updates. That could help reduce downtime and maintenance costs, Friedman said. Each Smart Cube also includes IBM's Tivoli Storage Manager software to back up and restore data.