Michael Kophs, Cloud TSP
A while back I blogged about adding Apps from the Office App store to Excel. You can also add apps to the latest version of Outlook, Word and Project as well. Now if you think Office Apps are cool, then you’re going to love SharePoint Apps!
The last time I checked, there were 171 Apps in the SharePoint App store. Most are free, some you have to purchase. OK, not quite the store size we’re used to, I get it, but there is still something very compelling about the Office and SharePoint App Store. 1) The current apps offer instant BUSINESS value and functionality to Office 365 (sorry no ill-tempered bird games, zombies or highly addictive word games) and 2) the new App Dev platform is based off of open standards, allowing for a much simpler development model. We can certainly expect the number of quality apps to rapidly grow in the coming months.
Following are screenshots of a few FREE apps that I think are pretty cool and could easily be deployed and adopted by any business using SharePoint Online (part of Office 365) or even SharePoint 2013 on-premises. Each screenshot is linked to the Office App Store:
Easily display the weather of each of your company offices on your SharePoint home page:
Here’s a must have App for every organization. Display your company news on your SharePoint homepage with this interactive news app that automatically cycles through each news item:
Easily download and deploy this Recruiting App to assist with your HR departments recruiting efforts:
Need a quick and painless way to track employee PTO requests? Check out the timeOFF Lite app:
Explore the app store and easily add apps that you find compelling to your Office 365 account and test them out yourself! Here are few links to get you started in your App evaluation:
Office and SharePoint App Store
Development Center for Office and SharePoint Apps