Microsoft has today opened the doors of its Office Store, which has been created to sell applications and add-ons that can be used with Microsoft’s Office suite of software and SharePoint services. This new venture aims to enhance the functionality and user experience of Microsoft’s popular productivity tools by offering a wide range of third-party applications and add-ons.
Microsoft takes a 20 percent cut of any sales from the Office Store, which enables developers to create and sell directly to end users. This revenue-sharing model is designed to incentivize developers to contribute high-quality applications to the store. Microsoft is now hoping developers will repackage and develop new applications to make the Office Store a success.
Enhancing Productivity with Integrated Tools
Microsoft explains: “We know our users spend an incredible amount of time using the Microsoft Office suite – think of how much time you spend reading through email, writing reports, analysing data, preparing sales figures or sharing proposals with your team. We also know that many critical tools and many critical information sources live on the web or in applications outside of Office. We’ve built the store so you could integrate the very best of the web with the powerful features of Office and SharePoint.”
The Office Store aims to bridge the gap between the Office suite and other essential tools and information sources. By integrating web-based applications and services directly into Office, users can streamline their workflows and improve efficiency. For example, a project manager might use an add-on to integrate a task management tool like Trello directly into Outlook, allowing them to manage tasks and communicate with their team without switching between applications.
Opportunities for Developers
The launch of the Office Store presents significant opportunities for developers. By creating applications that enhance the functionality of Office and SharePoint, developers can tap into a vast user base. The 20 percent revenue share model is competitive and provides a strong incentive for developers to innovate and create valuable tools for Office users.
Moreover, the Office Store supports a variety of application types, including content apps, task pane apps, and mail apps. This flexibility allows developers to create a wide range of solutions tailored to different user needs. For instance, a content app might provide users with access to a library of stock images directly within Word, while a task pane app could offer advanced data analysis tools for Excel.
For more information about the new Office Store, jump over to the press release published announcing its arrival over on the Microsoft website. To view the Microsoft Office Store, you will need a Microsoft account and a preview version of Office, SharePoint, or Exchange 2013.
Source: ZDNet
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