If you are a software developer for education, then you'll already know about the app marketplaces for different devices – like the Windows Store for Windows 8 apps, the iTunes store for iPad/iPod apps and Google Play for Android apps. It's become another route to market for developers, and been a way to reach a wider group of potential individual customers. In the education market it's been a way to distribute apps to individual teachers and schools, and help them to discover software not available through their standard computer build - most education customers get given a device with a standard list of software pre-installed.
So if the apps stores are a good route to market for education, then here's another app store that you should know about – and some free training events to get you started:
The Office Store for Office and SharePoint apps
The all new cloud app extensibility model for Office and SharePoint 2013 enables building a whole new class of productivity solutions for Office and SharePoint. And the new Office Store on Office.com provides the venue for these apps to be delivered to millions of Office and Office 365 SharePoint Online users worldwide. It's still in beta at the moment, but already it's being used by customers to buy and download Office apps.
Learn how to develop apps for the Office Store
Early next year, we will be running two DevCamps for software developers to learn all about the Office Store, and the app development model. It will be a very practical two day workshop, that covers the store, demonstrates what apps look like, and then will step you through the process of building code and even give you options for 1:1 discussions with the programme leads for the Office Store apps.
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In these DevCamps, developers will learn the concepts of the new app model and how to use it for building apps for Office and SharePoint. Topics for building apps for SharePoint range from how to read/write to SharePoint as a service using its rich APIs whether the JavaScript/managed code object model or via REST/oData, how events that happen on SharePoint can drive actions in your app, to using SharePoint search via the APIs. Topics for apps for Office include how to build task pane, content and mail apps that render in the Office client applications, use the JavaScript object model to interact with documents and mail items, and how to deploy apps for Office as standalone solutions or part of an app for SharePoint. Other topics will cover how to think about elasticity, scalability and reliability of your backend services and the steps for getting your app into the Office Store. | ||
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There's plenty of information to get started on building Office apps available now, so that you can get started, and hopefully the DevCamp will help you zoom ahead further.
Register for one of the free Australian DevCamps for Office apps
Make a date: Find out more about all the DevCamps (Australia, and beyond)
DevCamp for Office apps in Melbourne 7th and 8th February - Register Here*
* Today, this is still saying Sydney 6th Feb, but will shortly be corrected to Melbourne 7th Feb